Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1897-04-15
EXECUTING AN ELEPHANT.
He Scents danger and Plays
Ball with Poisoned Apple.


Tho execution of Tip by poison was ar
ranged by ''Tody" Hamilton as the star at
traction of the annual visit to the winter
quarters of the Barnum Il Bailey show at
Bridgeport, says the New York Fress
About 30 newspaper men went to Bridge
port in special car at MIR. Bailey's invita-
ton.
The place of execution was the elephant
house, which stand in the middle of the
spacious grounds that comprise the winter
Quarters of the "Greatest Show on Earth"
Part of the herd were taken out of the build.
ing, so that Tip had one side of 1t all to linn
self. It was deemed nadvisable to remove
all of the elephants for fear that Tip would
become lonely and suspicious, He is foxy
old fellow, as he showed later in the day
Prof. Wallace was assisted 10y corps from
New York and score Of men connected
with the circus, chief of whom was George
Conklin, formerly Of the Central Park men.
agerie.
The executioner was confident of killing
the animal in five minutes. He had tested
the poison on cat. A spcck of 1t on the
point of the small blade of penknife killed
the creature almost Instantly He didn't
expect, be said, to see the elephant succumb
go quickly as the cat did, but he was satisfied
that the poison was all right. The capsules
were coated with parafne, inclosed in
thick coating of beeswax to disguise the
taste.
Ignorant observers who waited four hours
for the poison to act were ofthe opinion that
the heat in the elephants stomach was not
enough to warm and so melt the bceswax.
The smallest capsule contained poison
enough TO kill the 100 or more persons pres
ent. A dozen capsules were mixed with
pa,lfu of bran mash. The elephant Lad
been on short rations for SO hours and nat
urally was furnishing when the bran mash
was set before him. He gulped down half
the contents of the pail before he seemed to
smell mouse. Then he tried to eject out
what be had swallowed and succeeded to
some extent. Prof Wallace SAID, however,
that lie had swallowed enough to kill him.
Copious draughts of water-the worst
thing in the world for him were given to
him. He drank the water all right. Then
everybody waited an hour for him to keel
over.
As he didn't keel, Prof Wallace then fed
him with halfpeck of nice red apples. Tip
likes apples, but he grew suspicious at once.
Each contained nearly a half ounce of poi
son. He ate five of thcm-so everybody
thought for few minutes until he elected
the whole lot after chewing them meditat.
lively.
Then Conklin made him throw his head
and trunk in the air. shut his eyes and open
his capacous mouth, and threw half dozen
poison charged apples into the cavity. BE
threw them with such force that it seemed
as if some of them must have gone as far as
the stomach, but Tip chewed them up and
spit them out. Although Prof. Wallace in
sisted that Tip ate two of them, Tip was
alive four hours afterward, and it is fair
inference that he did not swallow one apple,
Tip grew too tired to hold his head IN the
air, and ate couple of apples and carrots
just to humor the Lord High Exccutioner OF
Elephants. Unfortunately, neither the ap-
pies nor the carrots were loaded, so Tip
trumpeted for more. This time there were
capsules almost as large as the apples but
Tip didn't like the task, and promptly eject
ed them. So it went all afternoon and far
into the night. Tip was hungry, and con-
sequently ready to experiment with anything
edible.
The executioner expressed the determine
ton of keeping at it all night and until Tip
was dead. When dead Tip will be skinned
and cut in half in order to get his carcass
out of the building. The eyes, tongue and
tusks will be distributed to various institu-
tions, while the skin and skeleton will 60 to
the Museum of Natural History.
Tip was worth, Mr.. Bailey says, $4,000
He is about 81 years old, weighs about FIVE
tons. and is about twelve feet high. He has
been growing dangerous steadily for the las,
six months, and was considered altogether
too wicked to take on the road this summer
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