The evening times., 1898-11-21

been cleared In boom of building lots. !
The barking of the sea lions, the hooting |
of the owls and the trumpeting of Dunk, I
the s!eepless old elephant, could be dis |
tinctly heard. AT midnight he was |
aroused by a noisy outbreak. The Shrek |
ing, howl.ng and roaring surpassed any |
thing that had ever oppressed his ears !
or his fancy before. he had some reason |
to think the animals had broken loose Or
had been released by a keeper suddenly
gone crazy and were in a wild and furi-
Gus race for town and human meat. 1t
began with the barking, yelping and
bowling of the dogs, OF which there are
about thirty in the kennels and many
more in a private collection just outside.
Evidently not a dog was silent.
To this were added the characteristic
cries of the hyenas, cayotes. wolves, wild
cats, notably the seals and sea lions, the
buffalo and apparently the whole menag-
erie. While the general effect was terri
flying to nerves unused TO il, the typical
notes of many of the animals could be
distinguished. Ii lasted for a minute in
its fullness and then gradually died away
in mournful wailing. For the rest of the
night the visitors sleep was disturbed
now and then by the crying and sobbing
OF two sea lions, than which. perhaps, no
sound except the wailing of a woman is
more heartbreaking.
This general outbreak is what the
neighbors hear at least four times every
day, presumably at feeding time, and they
have grown too used to il to pay atten-
tion TO IL. Yet the creatures are not so
hungry as to make a fuss about being
served. Yesterday number of visitors
gathered before the cage Of a splendid
puma that was stretched on shelf in
his roomy quarters gazing into space,
when the keeper opened the door, cleared
space on the polished floor and put 1t
a piece of beef as big as a roast for a
family of six. The puma did not spring
at ii, did not even turn his head or his
eyes or give an indication that he had an
interest in il, but continued in his medi-
tatiye state This is the way with all
the majestic and dignified prisoners who
never look at anybody, but always
through people and beyond. Nothing can
attract their direct attention In his own
time the puma stretched himself, yawned,
sprang lightly down and carried the meat
to the back part of the cage and ate il
slowly and daintily. In the adjoining
double cage were two very different speci-
mems Of the TETON, a peculiar animal,
smaller than a small fox with the nose
of the ant-eater. They fairly danced in
their impatience and uttered weak little
cries that were a mixture OF entreaty ana
scolding. The difference between the no
bier and the meaner wild animals in their
treatment OF human Spectators IL very
/ marked. The former preserve their dig
nifty by declining to pay any attention 10
people who crowd about their cages,
while the coyotes are fearful, the foxes
either timid or mendicant, and some 9TH
er creatures resentful and vicious.
it Is doubtful whether the lions. tigers
and leopards Joined in the chorus that
/ alarmed the stranger, so Indifferent do
they seem to all the sounds and sights
. he "a annarAnffN
! Instructed her TWO five month-o!d cuts
TO repel the advances of people with no.
bic scorn. AT any rate, playful as they
are. they are without curiosity about their
visitors. All through the night the victim
OF insomnia may hear the hootinG of the
. owls Of which there must be fifty OF many
different varieties, and occasionally there
I is prodisious yawn from the elephant
and the melancholy below of some of the
many bovine animals, sounding like
( Long Island Sound foghorn.
This Government Geological Park, for
(which there is an annual appropriation
/ OF about SS00J0 for current eXpenses-in-
cluding the purchase OF animals-is the
/ special pride and perennial pleasure of
majority of the 2S0G00 people who inhabit
the District Not the great Capitol, not
I the golden-domed library, the Monument,
4 the Corcoran Gallery, not even the new
. cab service has any such unfading inter-
/ est TO the resident population. The site
is ideal and probably unequaled in the
United States. The park proper. or that
part devoted 10 the animals, contains rs
! acres plane measure, and very much more
If the hills are considered. ii is connect
4 ed with carefully kept woods, through
! which there are drives, as in Central
1 Park, which add hundreds of acres TO its
apparent size. 1t has been left, as far as
practica bic. in its native wildnesS. There
has been no vandal cutting down of forest
trees. no leveling of the hills and no lin
ing of the rushing Rock Creek with zinc.
1t has hills more than loo feet high, some
Of them rocky and precipitous and others
grassy wooded and sloping. The consid-
cradle stream that runs through II, wind
ing about the base of the heights. has
always water enough 10 form waterfalls
1 and to splash and swirl about the rocks.
The margins are varied with Overhang-
ing shrubbery and grassy slopes and
I there are pools where the waterfowl gath
/ er.
There is a noteworthy absence of the
artificial except in the center. The ami
mails are scattered all over the grounds
and kept in the most suitable surround
ings. They are invisible from the main
drives and walks and the stranger would
never suspect their presence. A notion of
how far the purpose to respect nature is
carried may be had from the arrangement
of the drinking places. The thirsty per-
son draws water from the rocks or the
tree trunks in which the pipes are hid
den. The object is TO avoid the use of
iron hydrants. The main drive passes
through the woods for some distance be
fore it enters the park. Near the en-
trance. on the left, and concealed from
view by huge projecting rocks and trees
at the base Of a perpendicular rocky wall
more than eighty feet high, are the quar-
ters Of number OF seals. with their cubs,
sea lions and monster bears There are
many chambers in the rocks and in front
are the pools. The animals are kept in
by stout iron bars, and every one has
room for half a dozen.
The idea Of conceaiing the animals from
the principal drives has been carried out
as far as practicable. The grounds have
the appearance OF a simple, ordinary
park. like a wooded section of Central
Park On the right of the road near the
entrance Is an arm of the creek that ex-
pands into 4 bay, TO which descends a
grassy slope. In the water are storks
pelicans, swans and other water fowl not
native to this section. The main road
then crosses deep ferny ravine which
spreads out into a flower garden. Ahead
on the top of the hill, are the main and
fishery buildings, and beyond another hill
with a large building surrounded by an
inclosure in which are buffaloes. Across
the road from the latter is another hill
densely wooded, on the summit of which
is a building for two fine Arabian camels
Around the central building wire fences
| inclose the pastures of an endless variety
1 of birds. from the smallest duck to the