The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-02-11

Misunderstanding Sick Elephants
Size of an Elephants Foot-A Bat
tie of Giants.
Dan Conklin In the ST. Louis Globe Dem
crat.
There are no animals which seem TO
thrive better in captivity than elephants
In state of nature they roam over wide
area, and are usually found in the highest
snow levels. In captivity they usually at
tain a good old age. In a state of nature
elephants attain, it is believed, an age OF
from $50 to 200 years. do not know of any
in captivity living to be so old as that, but
there are many which have lived from
fifty to seventy-lve years.
The most dangerous Ill that elephants
are heir TO is the taking OF a chill. They
are also liable to collie as a horse or posi-
bly, even more so. Great care must be eN-
ercised in watering them. If they are al
lowed to drink water that is too cold an
attack of collie Is almost certain to follow.
When an elephant is attacked by collie
dose of rum is the best treatment The
old-fashioned New England rum, for the
manufacture of which Medford Mass.
has long been famous can no longer be OBJ
tanned of good quality so now we use
Jamaica rum. A gallon is the dose FOR
an elephant, and after swallowing that
quantity these huge creatures are as sober
as judges. They never manifest the slight
est intoxication or even jollity. In addi
ton to the rum it is sometimes necessary,
in a case of elephantine collie, to bind hot
blankets about the elephant. We take the
blankets, wiring them out of boiling water
end tasten them firmly around the ele-
plants body. An elephant enveloped in
swaddling clothes in this manner is a Gu
rious sight. Their size seems immensely
magnified.
They never make the slightest objection
to taking dose of rum, but some times it
is necessary to give them Oil as well, ana
then look out for squalls. The dose of cas-
tor or linseed oil IS the same as that of
rum-about one gallon. Four or five men
are needed to assist the trainer In admin
istering a dose of oil. The medicine is pour
ed into galvanzed-iron bottle. Then the
trainer. half by persuasion and half by
force, causes the elephant to open his
mouth, the galvanized bottle is placed on
MS tongue and the oil goes down his
throat nilly willy
Elephants are treacherous animals. They
have very little affection in their nature
An elephant fears his trainer, and may. in
some instances, acquire some regard for
him, but they are liable to attack a strang-
er at any time. would not remain in an
Enclosure at any time with show ele-
phant unless his trainer was present New
er allow yourself to act between an eIe-
plant and a wall. If you do, and are a
Stranger to the elephant and his keeper is
not present he will almost certainly crush
the life out of you. The first thing to do
N IN al fs, -,
derstand that you are his MASTER and that
he must obey you. In order to do this it is
necessary to use the prods with which
every frequenter of a menagerie is fannil-
iar. These are iron points Inserted into
the ends of sticks. A great deal has been
SAID about the use of these prods being
cruel. In reality there is nothing cruel
about it, An elephant has a very tough
hide, and to attempt to control him by any
kind of whip that was ever made would
be as foolish as 1t would be to attempt to
break down brick wall with a straw. His
hide Is very thick, and the prod does not
penetrate 1t sufficiently to cause him any
real pain. whip he would not feel at ali.
and he does not feel the prod any more
than a horse would feel whip
Having taught the elephant to fear him
and TO understand that man Is the ele-
plants master, and must be obeyed. the
trainer gives him very simple tasks at
first. He teaches him to lie down at the
word of command, to rise up on his hind
legs, to stand on his fore legs with his
hind ones elevated, and to perform other
similar feats that Master. Elephant can
readily comprehend, and can easily exc
cute. The method of teaching these things
is very simple. He is first taught to rise
up on his hind legs by having a dainty
morsel of something of which is is very
fond held so high above his head that
/ 10 hn fn rfg tr - M. 9.
| is attached to pole, and held above the
elephants head by his trainer. When this
| has been sufficiently repeated, he grad
! ually learns that he must rise uD at the
word of command, without the offer of a
| reward. similar method is pursued in
| teaching him to stand upon his fore legs.
| A dainty morsel is placed so far below
| him that he can not reach it, even with
his trunk, without STOPPING forward At
| the same time he Is touched with the prod
| on the hind legs, which, of course, he
raises, and thus he gradually acquires a
trick of standing on his head.
The other tricks, which cause so much
wonder and surprise to visitors at circuses
and geological gardens, are all taught by
a similar method. Elephant training Is a
system of rewards and punishmenfs. The
| elephant soon learns that he will be re-
| warded If he does what you want him to.
and that he will be punished If he does
1 not. EtepndHtS are naturally intelligent [,
| and learn readily. In the marching eyo-
lutions which they perform in the tented
arena, they are taught to follow a leader.
! whose motions are governed by words of
command from his trainer.
| Few people have any idea of the great
| circumference of an elephants foot In
the Museum of Natural History in Central
| Park, New York, one day, the elephant
| keeper asked me to guess the circumfer-
enee of the foot of a large elephant named
| Tom, a splendid specimen. | had never
| given the subject of the size OF an ele-
| phant $ foot any consideration, and though
| / have been handling elephants all my life
| made a mistake of ten inches less than II
really was in guessing the circumference
| of Tom foot. We passed a cord around
| one of his fore feet, and found ats circum-
ference to be 4 feet and 8 inches.
"Now," said the trainer, 'If we multiply
MMN