The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-10-23
NIGHT TIME AT THE zoo,
THE ANIMALS GLAD WHEN THEIR
VISITORS 60 HOME

Bored by Having People Stare mt Them
Exclusiveness Of n Family of Monkey,
Shown PointedIy Ingenious Medical
Treatment Given to q Hippopotamus.
Up at the Zoo the regular night Waterman
does not 60 on duty untll.D o'clock in the even.
Ing. Aman who begins work at II in tbo
morning stays until the night Waterman ar.
rives and is the one who mekes the first rounds
after the animal houses have been closed to
the public.
At this time OF the year. when the DAYS mr..
getting short. the houses are closed at ) p NJ
When the doors bang to and the last shuf1ing
curious Rnzer is gone. the animals almos,
heave a sigh OF relief. The Waterman soys
that they seem just as glad to get rid OF tba
public as human beings would be after a dov
OF exhibition. In the lion house they ara
especially glad to see the last OF their visitors
When they are alone they relax themselyo,
like tired children. The lion house is kon,
lighted all night, but the animals sleep pretty
we'll: In fact, better than they might II il wns
dark and they could hear noises without be.
Ing able TO see what was'Roing on. The watch.
men appreciate the light. 1t would bc ,
creepy job TO patrol the lion house in the darl.
The other houses IRE not lighted, and tha
Waterman often makes his rounds without
even a lantern. He gets 50 familiar with tina
places that he can go about with his eyes shut.
He says that even the monkeys quiet down
when the doors are shut at night. Their lively
time Is early In the morning. when they chatter
at an ear-splittinG rate. The monkeys are Of
a sociable temperament. but even they have
their moments Of exclusiveness.
The proof. OF this Is n story Of a family n,
monkeys that inhabited a closed house open.
ing onto a platform which was shut in by tha
regulation bars. The door by which the
~.lva 49,
but on this particular occasion it was stand.
ing open. and the young monkeys of the family
were disporting themselves on the platform.
At this point along came a group of visitors to
the Zoo and stopped to look at the antics of thu
young monkeys. They had been gazing for
about three minutes when the father monkey
happened to come to the door for u glance at
the weather. He was confronted by a row O,
staring eyes. human eyes bent on seeing all
there was to be seen, and he distinctly heard
the remarks made by the, owners Of those
eyes; remarks not always of q nature flatter.
ing t, himself and his family. And the worm
Calling to his JOYOUS children the father
monkey opened wide the door Of the house,
Then he, jumped out onto the platform and
explain matters. After the last curly Tall had
disappeared, over the door sill he hoped in
himself Then he turned around and, after
giving the bystanders one look of concentrated
contempt. slammed the door in their faces.
W.9eTds could not have more plainly said:
into my, family affairs? You mind your bust.
ness and III mind mine,
80 When one comes to think Of i, it does seem
%X,itation Of any kind from the animal. The
that It makes anybody with instincts OF cour-
tesy feel like apologizing on the spot. Most Of
ing public by simply gazing over the line Of
heads "a front OF the cages: One can scarcely
tbain the hippPopotamuses for taking refuge in
is visible to the crowd. Once in a while a hin,
popotamus lifts his head from the water and,
with snort of disgust, finds that the people are
still staring.
IGooddnessw he seems to say; Cant you take
and splashes until the glass screen in front Of
over and scatter the. crowd: whereup9n a Tor.
hippopotamus chuckiing in his glee. :"
,Speaking of the hippopotamus is a reminder
q. night after the public has been turned out.
" course. the animals get sick now and then.
when me attack Is really serious the Zoo, be;
treatment Some time ago. for instance, Caliphl.
one 9bt :d ha Dig .httppos," was not we'll The ami.
tod Mr.. Smith about it. but as soon as the d.,
rector found out that there was trouble he be-
Pofa@us ate; After a while caiiph got too XXX
quandary what to do He spent a s]ieepiess
night over the matter. for the. hippopotamus is
worth the neat little sum Of 5000. and Mr..
Smith felt himself responsible to an uncom-
The, next day after the, public had been
turned out of the house the director armed
himself with a big force pump and a good stiff
dose OF strychnia and took all the keepers
down TO- where the sick hipEopotamus was Ian.
out OF the tank. and then he had the keepers
drive the animal up, to the front OF the cage
and prod him so that he opened his nouth 10
emit snorts Of resentment. When the hippo
potamus opened his mouth. MI: Smith took
aim with the force pump and fired a good dose
Of the strychnia down his throat, He admin.
istered two doses in this ingenious fashion.
and then he set to work to get the hippopota-
mus Into q perspiration; or the state Of body
man being. He divided the keepers into two
forces. one up on the platform and the other
down in the empty tank. One group prodded
the hippopotamus until he went down into The
tank. where the other group prodded him till
he ran back to the platform. They kept this
up for an hour and q half. until the poor thing
was so exhausted he simply lay down and
move. But the treatment proved ef-
.feetuai, and Caliph was a well hippopotamus in
aida nf fuyn Haya