The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-10-30
TOLD ny THE onD cIRcrs MAN.
Last of the Great Giraffe, tho Growing
Attraction OF The show.

HNH vi " NTcUN pArnue, InG T0Wntn
Attraction OF the show.
FINALLY snid the old circus man. I'VE lost
the great elghteen-foot giraffe. the greatest
single attraction tho show ever had. I've told
you something of the wonderful things the
giraffe used to do. He had the intelligence of
a human being. and his great size made every
thing he did seem more strange and wonder
full still. He lost his life finally In an act that
was one of the most striking things we ever
did. and that used to make us all stand around
ourselves when 1t was on.
We had Mt that time an eighteen foot ana
conda that was a great snake. / don't mean
for size 80 much. though. of course. an eigh-
teen-foot serpent is sizable, but for what he
could do and what he'd let us do with him.
Tho great act in which the giraffe finally lost
his life was an act with this anaconda. made
possible by the snakes intelligence. though
still more by the power over him OF our snake
man, who could make him do wonderful things.
but who. as 1t turned out. could not control
him absolutely, nor change his nature.
The act consisted In tying the giraffe to the
anaconda placed In the ground as a post. Our
snake man had got the anaconda 80 that he
would hold himself perfectly rigid and permit
himself to be carried about in that way like n
pole; ana r we H iset 70 daa make e hole In the ground
snake. in that; and there he'd stand. q post If
teen feet high: What we set out, to do and
show. was to have the giraffe seem standing in
the ring tied to q post. to have him pull up the
post to which he was. tied, have the post coil
itself around the ,giraiTe's neck, and then
have the giraffe walk of out OF the ring with
1--WE tried the snake first on the centre pole.
burying. him near II. and hosting him out
by a little boom rugged out from it. and letting
the centre pole and we gradually trained him in
that way, not TO c~onstrict after being pulled up.
the giraffe sort OF accustomed to What was
expected OF him; and we had some actual
trials, Of course. before we produced the act in
the ring. The giraffe never liked it: never.
He'd had an experience with an anaconda be-
fore.-perhaps you remember my telling you
We used to sink the snake. as told you,
about three feet, which brought the upper end
Iaw eim tba 5he tho fSp to OF t of tb post s]irs aSegt b three feet %s
had a headstall on the giraffe, and a halter
1Sp fro, The thrEatlatch made fast Ground
with a little loop.
neople very much when they came in, to see
the great giraiIe hitehed e q post like that.
their eyes of Thin. and pretty soon. when the
time came fer opening the chow. band boom,
of growing and people kind OF getting on edge
and all ready, all OF a sudden, tho band would
halt right where they stood. the talking would
all stop In q second, and you could Just feel The
quiet Then s3mething seemed 70 make every
feet a little biz. and incline his head and take
and lift. He'd lift 1t out, clear OF the ground.
so that you could see under the point Of It. be-
tween It and the earth, and there he'd hold it
for a minute, swayinG q little but not much. and
hanging Just n little of from the perpendicular
because the loop Of the halter rope was a little
''Then the people would see something diff
ferent that they wouldn't laugh at. They'd
see the point 'of the post curl up and slide over
the girniIe,s shoulder and around his neck.
mendous 20 see him turn the coils until there
was left at last nothing but his own neck and
ing up above 1t. Then. at the word Of com
mnnd, the great giraffe would march of. carry
ing the anaconda SO. as proud and brave and
every minute. as he knew. Then everybody
under the canvas would draw n long breath.
the longest breath you ever heard. and l used
to breathe a little freer myself then, off some
where behind the canvas. where 1 could look
on; because there was q good many thousand
ing Of the love we ali had for him: and then the
band would come in with a grand crash. and
the clown would crack a Joke, and the ring
master would crack his whip. and the show
But one day, the end came. The giraffe
ured tread. head pretty well up. One dav. az
he. was moving along In that way toward the
entrance. we saw him shorten step with his
nigh for ,s nct more thar an inch or two.
Watching him, and he set the leg down stiff
and his nose went up a little higher, and we
culver In the head Of The anaconda. and in the
same instant-all these things happened in an
instant-the coils around the CRATES neck
"The next minute they were down on the
ground. and long before we could helD him
the great giraffe was dead"