Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1895-12-13

watch and give warning IN case OF III
trusion. Go into the big menagerie tent
If the show any night after the ele-
plants have gone TO sleep. or 60 into
one Of the elephant cars on a night run,
and yon viii find that. no matter how
quietly and stealthily You have entered,
the eve of one member Of the herd Is
upon yon.
ConkliN believes, as do most all ele-
plant keepers. that the animal can IN
derstand what is said "a IT, Indeed,
trainers assert that it has mere intelli-
gence than any other animal. and that
it is the only one that can be taught 10
mind hy wod Of mouth, without other
cues. That il is endowed TO a limited
extent with reasoning powers is certain.
One German philosopher thinks he has
discovered that this mental development
is due 10 the fact that in the trunk the
elephant possesses a prehensile organ
similar TO the hand Of man. The hand,
he asserts. has played a-lDore important
part in the development Of tile human
intellect than any other agency, since it
brings its possessor into more intimate
relations with the external world than
any other organ. Some menagerie man,
with more practical observation than
the German professor and a smaller
bumpo theorizing, has pointed ont that
the only flaw in this reasoning is that
if it is correct the gorillas and chimpan-
ices ought TO have higher mental de-
velopment than man, because they have
four good hands instead If two, and any
one of the four is stronger than the
eight hands Of four men,
Well authenticated stories of the
sagacity If elephants are so numerous
that il is never necessary to resort to ex-
aggeratian to say something interesting
about TEEN. In their wild state the
leader # "a herd has been seen when APP
preaching swampy ground TO extend one
foot 70 try its solidity before trusting
his weight 20 it. When satisfied of its
firmness, be would 20 confidently on,
and the whole herd would follow in
single file, cautiously stepping in the
footprints of the leader. so that when
the entire herd had thus passed the
ground would look as if a single animal
had gone that way. The same trait of
caution is preserved in the domesticated
animal The action is not the result of
training, but brute instinct always dis
played and bearing a striking resem-
blance to reason.
When Jumbo tried to butt fast
freight off from the Grand Trunk tracks
in an effort to save the baby of the Bar
mum herd, Tom Thumb. and lost his
life in the attempt, it was said that his
action gave unmistakable evidence of
reason though it was poor testimony to
his Judgment that he so greatly under
estimated the force of the locomotive.
In the matter of the food value of diff
ferent materials the reasoning power of
the elephant is very faulty, however.
He will eat almost anything that comes
his way. II. canvasman leaves coat
or vest hanging ON quarter pole with
in reach of an elephant, the big brute
will edge over toward it and watch an
opportunity when unobserved to touch
it with his trunk. Then he will begin
to haul it toward him, putting in rolls
of hay and chewing them between times.
As soon as the garment is at his feet the
elephant will put one of his ponderons
five hoofed pedals on it and begin to
tear it up, rolling the pieces in his
trunk and stuffing them into his mouth.
The sole of shoe is just as good for
him to chew ON as a wisp of hay, and
his natural instinct of mischief inclines
him TO prefer that which he knows is
forbidden him.
The first elephant brought TO America
for exhibition purposes was Old Bet,
and it has often been remarked that the
American circus was built on her shout
ders. Different accounts fail to agree i'll
regard to the date Of her importation,
which is placed all the way from 1916
to 1888 by different writers of old time
"reminiscences. Old Bet was brought
over in the ship America, of which Cap
tain Crowningshield was master, and
she landed, according to the harbor rec
ords, in Philadelphia in April, 1898.
She was but feet high, and the sum
of $40. 900 was paid for her, the largest
price that had been paid mp TO that time
for any animal, either here or in Eu-
rope She was first exhibited in Phila.
delphia and astonished the public daily
by drawing the cnrks from 80 bottles
of beer and drinking the contents On
the Goth Of June. 1929, she passed
through New York on the way to Bos-
ton,
Old Bet had been bonght on the COM
munity plan by number of farmers Of
Putnam county, n Y, at the instance
of one Ludwig Bistadler, each mortgag-
ing his farm aud putting $500 into the
venture. They exhibited her under wag-
on sheds at hotels by putting a piece of
side canvas up in front of the shed. The
admission was 20 cents for adults and
l21e cents, or York shilling, for chill
dren. This gigantic geological institute,
as the caravan was called. travelled east
as far as Pawtucket, R l. where the
in spite Of its dociIe DISPOSE
ton, was shot and killed. AS the tin
stifuten contained no other attractions
the show closed The same proprietors
then imported a second elephant, which
they also called Old Bet. and they en-
larged their exhibition by adding TO the
collection lion and two horse cage
and one monkey in box strapped on to
the hind end Of the lions cage The
second Old Bet landed in 1888. Follow
ing her to these shores the next pachy
derm to arrive seems to have been No
gul, very big fellow with long tnsks,
who was burned on the steamer Royal