The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1899-09-06
HOW ELEPHANTS LEARN.
some Are More DiRcuk TO Teach
Tricks Than Others of the
Species.


looking and thick-skinned as an
elephant can be taught anything.
tell them all that elephants
are not unlike children. Some are
too dull to learn anything and 9TH
ers catch an idea quickly. Tom" he
went on, pointing TO the large elephant
who was busily engaged in throwing
hay on his back, although irascible In
disposition, is quite intelligent. The
first trick l taught him was to lie
down. This was not so easy to ac-
complish as it might seem, for 1T took
a block and fall at front and rear, with
q gang of 10 or 20 men at each end.
l stood at one side, and as I said Get
down his feet were drawn out from
under him. This had to be repeated
only few times before he learned
what Get down meant for him.
ITO teach him to stand on his hind
feet and on his head block and fall
on beam over his head, a snatch block
and two dead men in the floor and the
services OF another elephant were oil
required. AS l said Get up the ele-
plant in harness walked forward, and
Toms front feet went up, while his
hind feet were chained together. When
l said Stand on your head his front
feet, which had been previously chained,
remained on the floor, while his hind
feet were drawn up until they almost
literally Kicked the beam
"These were his first lessons. When
he learned to drill to 'right-a bout-face'
and 1eft-about-face,' | stood on one
side of him and another man on the
other, and we each had prod. AS 1
commanded 'right-about-face,' he was
pushed over to the right, and left
about-face' he was prodded in that d.
rection. l taught him to waltz In
much the same way, only as we pushed
him back and forth we made him go
clear around, and now he is one of
the best walters In the country. He
learned to ring the bell and fan himself
in one lesson. Both require the same
motion, and they are really the same
trick, although people never think of
that. Yes, he knows which is which
and never picks up the fan or napkin
when l tell him to ring the bell. only
had to put each, one at time, in his
trunk, and with the fan and bell
shook it, and with the napkin wiped
first one side of his mouth and then
the other. He took to hand-organ
grinding like a Mulberry street Italian.
1t Is one of his favorite tricks.
"The elephant is the only animal
whose legs all bend the same way. His
hind legs bend in, and the position re-
quired for creeping Is not very COM
Portable, but he does 1t as we'll as a
baby. His performances on the har-
monica are the most surprising to on
lockers, but the fact is that all the in
telligence required for that Is holding
the instrument. Az be must breathe
through his trunk, every breath moves
1t back and forth discovered that
he holds his breath when he stands on
his hind legs, by trying TO get him to
do that and play the harmonica at the
same time; but his front feet are no
sooner up than the sound ceases until
they are down again.
"His tub is about ga feet high, and it
| took me about an hour to get him to
mount it the first time, and as long
! to get him down from 1t once he was
/ up. l had finally to improvise step
! from 1t before he would come down.
/ He went right up again, however, and
came down, and repeated the movement
I several times in the first lesson. Now
he mounts it and stands on his hind
! feet, his front feet, his side feet and
! waltZes and changes on 1t.
People all seem to think that an ell
/ ephant has no sense of feeling because
/ his skin is thick and coarse. The fact
Is that his skin is as sensitive as a
baby's and if you tickle him with q
straw you will find tout. The flies and
mosquitoes are great disturbers of his
peace and he is tossing hay on his back
now to dislodge them.
Tom had his annual bath and oil
ing few days ago, and the latter op-
GRAFTON prevents his skin from get
ting too dry. In his native state he
treats himself to mud baths and keeps
himself in condition.
"The feet of the elephant have to be
repaired frequently, for they are as
susceptible to corns and stone bruises
as the feet of people, and they have to
be cut and trimmed. You wouldn't
think it, would you, that twice around
Toms front foot, when he is standing
with his full weight upon it, is equal
to his height? 1t is true, and it is a
rule that seldom varies an inch in any
elephant.
"The African elephants have only
| four toes and their ears are very large.
The Asiatic elphants have five toes and
their ears are smaller There are few
African elephants in this country, not
more than three or four. Not long ago,
at an exhibition in New York, there was
a skin of leather with small ears and
comparatively fine texture (the hide
from all elephants has too large pores
to make 1t of use), and 1t was labeled
Hide from an African elephant Peo-
pie don't know anything about them"
N. Y. Post.
An Avalanche of Hail.
One of the most violent hailstorms of
which we have any record burst over