The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-10


going on The military had to be called
out, and before the disturbance could be
Quelled seventeen men were shot down.
! got to the ground in time to see the
dead bodies OF the poor fellows lying
about Naturally the English authorities
blamed the Buddhists for the riot cred
iting II all to the style in which they had
supposedly fixed up their monkey inten-
uonally to insult and exasperate the
Catholics. But the Buddhists vehement
~ denied any such intention. 1t was for
eign TO their religion and character, they
protested, 10 cast ridicule upon the be-
liefs of others, and they produced from
the archives Of the old temple at Randy,
a very ancient manuscript, in which ii
was set forth, with much close circum-
stantiality Of detail how 200 years before,
a sacred monkey. fixed up in that SYM
bolic fashion. had been brought from
the mainland to Ceylon. They were sim
ply and in entire innocence Of any Him
tent re-enacting the rights and ceremo-
MES of that long bygone occasion which
preceded by a dozen centuries the af-
rrmed event of which their reproduction
was enormously believed a burlesque."
Reference to the modern Buddhistie
notions respecting TRANSFORMATIONS drew
Mr.. Gaylord into a brief explanation of
them, as he had encountered them. and
this, by way of illustration drew out a
succinct narration of his famous exploit
the procurement of a white elephant. the
obstacle in achieving which was precisely
that doctrine of TRANSPORTATION He said:
They believe that human being has
twelve periods of mundane eistence as
man, reincarnations, and between them
his spirit has an appropriate Judgment
in the animal kingdom. The first time
he appears as man he is ignorant of
morality and goodness, is more animal
than human in his promptings and actions
and consequently, when he dies, his spirit,
carrying fun consciousness. goes into the
body Of some vile and yenomous reptile.
There the spirit reflects; realizes the
evil 1t has done, meditates upon 1t and
regrets that its human life has not been
better Again it returns TO human form,
and profitting by experience, really does
do little better, in recognition of which
at death of the body, it is allowed to en-
ter an animal higher than a snake, say a
jackal, or bear, for instance. 1t does some
more retrospective meditating, and its
third human life is improved thereby, as
also its third period of animal life, when
il finds habitation in some fairly decent
sort of beast, perhaps a dog. So 1t goes
on growing better. steadily, but slower
each time more worthy than the past
until it becomes the spirit of a really
good Buddhist when in human form, and
in its interhegnums, the last two or three
times before attaining sufficient purif-
cation to enter Nirvana, it inhabits an
elephant, that--in Buddhist estimation
being the noblest animal. And, of all ele-
plants, those lightest in color are the
noblest, consequently the appropriate tenn
porary abiding places of far advanced
souls.
THAT is the way it was given to me,
not by ignorant common people, but by
no less a person than the eldest uncle
and chief adviser of the King of Slam.
l had gone there to get a white elephant
for the Barnum & Bailey show, and the
king, who was liberal-minded intelligent
young man said so far as l am personally
concerned, i would let YOU have the ami
NAL; but my people would never allow
it. They would not permit you to get it
out of the country alive. And anyway.
you would have to get my uncle's con-
sent So 1 went to the uncle and he told
me what I have just said about reincarna-
tiOns, and then, bringing the thing down
to the question in hand, he went on one
of my brothers died three months ago
and his spirit Is in one of those white
elephants, we do not know which. The
kings second queen and her favorite son
were drowned two months ago, and their
souls are in those elephants. Suppose
send an embassy to Washington to buy
the tomb of Washington, would your Pres
ident sell III? HAD TO admit that rather
goods. But he said, you come here and
ask for identically the same thing. The
white elephants are the tombs Of our
royal family
There was nothing more for me to say.
Then l went to Burmah, where King
Theebaw was long on white elephants
having five-and short on cash His peo-
pie were as much opposed to the brutes,
being taken out of the country as those
of Siam would have been, but the king
was boss and he sold me one at a round
price. l got it away from Mandelay to
Maulmain and then down to Singapore
where it was to go aboard a steamer. But
within ten hours it was dead and the
German physician who made the autopsy
on ii found that it had been killed by
virulent native poison, the action Of which
upon the tissues he recognized. The poi
son had been administered in sweetmeats
fed to the elephant by natives who
thronged about it, In 1883 made another
attempt, purchased a second white ele-
plant from King Theebaw, who was
chronically hard up enough to be willing
to sell anthing-and by taking rigid pre-
cations managed to get 1t away safely
That was the one Barnum exhibited in
this country, and it was genuinely what
they call a white elephant"