Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1897-07-29

NE COMMITTED TAG THtfTs ron
WHICH A MAN WAS DISCHARGED.
4 Midnight Adventure ., the winter
Quarter. Of AN Elephant Herd -- How
sly Pet. Got Away Prom Ills stake aud
stols . Bae Of Data.


sso,s nag Of Oats.
Pete is tho baby elephant of ono "
the big circus herds. During hi, con.
finemcnt in winter quarters he played
trick on his keeper, which the man re.
lates as follows;
Pete is II tiny little fellow and does
not weigh more than 600 or 500 pounds.
but l actually believe he wS.d cat us
many pounds of oats if he had access
to them. The elephant house was dui;
one night, and supposed every one Of
the animals was sound asleep, when my
attention was attracted by a suDdurd,
rasping noise, apparently coming from
the farther end Of the big herd. Instead
of walking down in front of them all,
| went arorud aud came in at the other
end Hiding behind some bales Of
straw, pecred cautiously over to where
the little rascal was chained, and there
he was, carefully lifting his stale out
of the ground | saw IN au instant that
he had had the stake out before that
time, for all he had to do was TO lift it
up and il came out He sliprcd his foot
chain down over the tapering end OF the
stake and was free.
"Across the room, distant perhaps 90
feet or more from his place. were piled
some sacks of grain, containing about
100 pounds each. Picking up the foot
chain very carefully with his trunk, so
that it would not rattle or jangle upon
the floor, he began the most delicate.
pt, ylt . L.,
that separated him from the grain ]
ever saw, and never imagined an clo-
phant could go SO quietly. ! crouchod
behind the bales of straw, afraid to move
for fear he would hear me and stop.
''On he went, cautiously, slowly, but
steadily, until he was within reaching
distance of the sacked grain. Then he
laid the chain down and picked up a
bag of oats with his trunk. His journey
back tc the herd, 20 feet away, was
performed even more cautiously than
had been his advance, for he had to
drag the chain without making a noise
All the time he held the sack of grain
tightly in his trunk, and his mouth
must have watered when he thought Of
the feast he was going to have. He
reached the herd at last and went up 10
great big Babylon, who stood like q
bronze statue, her massive sides loom.
ing up like the sides of house in thr
gloom. Pete stopped, and Babyl0l
whom l had imagined fast asleep, too
the oats. They got into the bag IA
jitfy and then began feast. Pete u lc
his mouth and munched away hEe
man eating dry crackers on wage
He knew that his big companion i,
crime would get the most of the oats i
he lost any time. Babylon put away n
most half the oats at the first jump Oh
of the box, and poor little Pete, wit
his mouth full, looked at her with hi.
watery little eyes, as much Us to say
oh, what hog' and gulped the oar.
down his little throat at the risk Of
choking to death.
81 thought itwas about time 10 MAKE
noise, just TO oiscULccrt thon. ha.,
seen enough to assure mt that hustl,r
who had been discharged haGu't been
instrumental in the disappearance of
divers and sundry bags of oats, and, ~
walked around toward the other end
of the elephant house, wondered what
I should do to punish the thieves. The
big one had had a painful operation
performed few months before, and ]
thought that any sight of the instru-
ments that had been used ut that time
would give her Il good fright When |
had reached my own sleeping room,
purposely made n noise and heard the
shutfling sounds of sly little Pete as he
shambled back to his place. He picked
his stake up, put it down in the ground,
and would have put it through the ring
in the chain if be had had time. When
came along, he was leaning against
the wall asleep. 1 gave him gentle
prod. and he awakened suddenly, with
that sleepy stare that person has when
awakened from slumber. But he soon
knew that / was ON to him, for, when |
ordered hiIs to open his mouth, he
didn't want to do it. He finally obeyed,
and there were the oats. His mouth
was jammed fall Of them. didn't do
anything to him, but walked over to
big Babylon. She was his partner in
crime, but she was playing possum too.
Il had good deal Of trouble TO wake
her up and more to make her open her
mouth. Much to her chagrin, imagine,
it was full of oats, and she had the
empty sack closely rolled up and packed
i'll with them. She was sheepish and
ashamed, i assure you, if ever an ele-
phant put on that expression. To pun
ish her l ordered her to sta down and
open her mouth and made motion as
If to pass Il great Iair of forceps into it,
which had been used during the opera
ton l referred to. She shut her mouth
and cried like "A baby, and was so thor
oughly frightened that she never tres
passed again. But that sly little Pete