Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1898-03-11
A MENAGERIE AT SEA.
SUCH A CARGO AS WAS CARRIED
BY NOAH'S ARK.

How Darnum's Animals Were Transporte,
to Englandr-Entirey Vessel Given Up I,
Them-A Giraffe Breaks Its Neck FL
Houte-Food For the Four-Footcd
Probably no more extraordinary
cargo ever found its way into the
Thames than that which occupied
every inch Of space on the ship Mas
sachusetts as she felt her way through
the dense fog to Gravesend recently
This vessel had been chartered by the
firm running what is christened the
greatest show on earth, to bring the
component parts OF that truthful
moral and instructive" entertainment,
from its home in the United States to
this country. P. 7. Barnum, the &C
knowledged prince of showmep, il
dead, but those who have followed him
have lost none of the departed show.
mans love of big things.
The Massachusetts, is O vessel oil
5000 tons measurement, but the &C.
commodation afforded proved insult.
ficient and nocessitated her decks be.
ing well-nigh rendered impossible by
the quantities of baggage and impedi-
ments dashed to them on every side.
When she left New York there were
on board twenty.six elephants,
37S horses, twenty-six ponies,
thirty cages of wild beasts, fifty
led animals Of various kinds and 2i2
passengers. The voyage was, however,
not free from mishaps, and on arrival
the number OF passengers was dimin-
ished by two, while four horses and
two monkeys had also joined the ma
iority. The tragedy which appeared
to evoke the greatest regret on the
part of the ships company was the
loss OF Daisy, one of the three CRATES
known to be in captivity. This sad
event was due to the animal breaking
her neck. One would think that the
neck Of giraffe would take deal OF
breaking, but this one accomplished
the feat without assistance, being found
dead in her stall one morning.
A tour of the Massachusetts, tween
decks involved all but an acrobatic
feat. The whole ship was lined with
rows of animals, aud it was necessary
TO squeeze down the narrow alleys be-
tween them and literally rub noses
with them, in order to inspect the mis-
cellaneous cargo. The fiercer animals,
including a gigantic hippopotamus.
two very fine Polar bears, several
lions and tigers, an assortment Of
monkeys, seq lions, seals, etc., were
in huge cages; but the elephants,
camels, goats, buAaloes and horses
were simply tethered one next to the
other, as in a stable, and the effect on
the visitor was grotesque in the ex-
IRENE.
Among the most notable passen-
gers to be seen were the two huge ele-
plants, Fritz, who weighs 1850
pounds, being $50 pounds more than
Jumbo, of kindly memory, and Man
DARN, who achieved the distinction of
killing his keeper while in England
some years ago. The most noted ami
NAL, now that the giraffe has found
watery grave, is Johanna, spoken of
as a gorilla, but actuallya chimpanzee,
q fine grown specimen of her race.
This lady is very human In her ways,
and eats with knife and fork, smokes
aud INDUCES in all the Injuries of
civilization. She suffered o good deal
during the first few days of the
voyage, but soon pulled round and
now appears to be very fit indeed. 1t
is interesting to note that Johanna
kept her spirits up during her trip
across the ocean by dint of consuming
two cases of port wine, 800 eggs and
five strings of bananas.
The catering necessary for so extern
sive collection OF animals is naturally
very complicated and the quantities
shipped appear abnormal. Among
other comestibles taken on board at
starting were 100 tons of hay, 80, 900
bushels of oats, five tons of bran, 2700
pounds Of beef, two tons of carrots,
1000 cabbages and 100 pounds of fish
for the bears and seals. No less than
ten tons of straw were used for litter
during the voyage. London letter to
The Philadelphia Times.
A New Combustible.