The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-06-26
HE'S A STOCK GAMBLER
Big Dan Never Known to Make
Mistake.
ALWAYS PICKS A WINNER
That Is the Reason Herr Souders Draws
No Salary-After an Elephant
That Will Give Ice
Cream.


ceiVes no salary. This is an anomaly in
circus annals. Elephant trainers are us
ually anomalies in one way. But Souders'
anomaly act is such an entirely new
feature that it is worth recording Ele-
phant trainers are high-priced people as
rule. as their vocation requires special APP
titude courage, nerve and more than or
binary intelligence, and an almost intu-
tive knowledge of elephant Character
And vet with all his knowledge there
comes for nearly all of them his finish.
He pays a fatal penalty for the trust he
reposes' in the monsters amicability. An
elephant will apparently remain tractabe
for so years or more. But the time comes,
at some unguarded moment, when his ma
tive ferocity asserts itself, and his train
er stamped into mass of quivering jelly,
has paid the forfeit. The intelligence of
the elephant is conceded. He will stand
for almost any amount of work or train
ing. yet when he realizes the ittleness of
a mere man he walks on him deliberately.
in seeming rage at himself for so long per-
hitting his intelligence to be dominated
by pigmy. my herd of elephants can
do anything" said Herr Souders during an
interview, as he stroxed the trunk of big
Dan" in the menagerie of the big show
the other day. rs that right. DAM he
queried of the monster at his side. Dan
swayed his colossal bulk from side to
side and merrily trumpeted yes
Souders smiled and stroSed the mon
ster's head.
You were greatly amused by the ele-
plant band" he said. well, it is quite a
hit, and believe the elephants enjoy it as
| much as the audience. They are rogush
lot, sure, as ever | saw They like to play
mr. nd do 7
believe they are dead on to the fact that
the music they make on the big brass
horns is not exactly ideal, though in a
way Wagnerian. They think it a great
joke to make lot of discordant noises
after listening to the big circus band, and
1t wouldn't surprise me to know, if the
truth could be got at that they think
Professor Ganweiler and the boys get all
| broke up when the elephant band plays.
And they laugh IN their sleeves, or trunks,
as the case may be, as they go numbering
back to the menagerie after their per-
Torrance"
The big, good-natured German sur
veyed his charge fondly and continued:
"Fhey can do everything but read and
write and speak. l suppose you will laugh
but l actually saw Dan the other day
turning over a newspaper some one had
thrown into the elephant compound. He
had it exposed on the ground so the dis
| play of the circus 'ad' was plainly visi-
| Bile, and himself, Tip and Laura Jean Lib
| by (his brde). and Jumbo were hugely
| enjoying it. Oh, you may laugh, but /
coul tell you stranger things than that.
| You said few minutes since that one of
| the proprietors of the show had informed
| you that l receive no salary. OF course
yon believed it to be press agent story.
Well, let me say to you. l have not re-
ceived cent of salary, nor do l expect to
L; 60, L Il Il
| tell you how it came about, and then
you'll understand the mystery. Last
summer / used to practice the elephants
between the afternoon and night per-
formances a colossal piano l had
| built. While it was evident that in course
of time could teach them to play some
simple airs, l saw too much time that
might be used more profitably elsewhere
would have to be given to it. Now, l am
a great newspaper reader, and with
natural penchant for specializing l give
| good deal of attention to the stock re-
| ports. | noticed last September consid-
| cradle activity in industrial stocks; saw
| how big concerns were being absorbed by
| giant trusts, and reasoning that the mill
| lions the trusts We're paying for these in
| dustral concerns would probably find
| their way back to the managers, | con-
cluded there would probably be a strong
| bull market for several months at least.
| Now if a man could only have a sure tip
on the market few hundreds would
make him independently rich in a year.
How to get the sure tip. Aye, there was
the rub. The solution came to me like an
inspiration. ! was lying in my berth in
the car at louisiana, Mo-, the 9Th of
| September, 1898, thinking over these in
dustrial stocks. American Tobacco. for
| instance, was about lis. 1t occurred to
me that by painting the names of certain
| Industrial stocks on my giant piano keys
| and having Dan go up and put his foot
| on American Tobacco, American Spirits,
American Steel and Wire, one any one of
| the dozen or more industrials, he might
| hit it right. 1t looks like a crazy scheme,
| don't it? But let me tell you how it work
| ed. l rugged up the elephant piano at
| Shelbna the next afternoon, painted the
| names of the different industrials on the
| keyboard and took Dan into the big top
| after the afternoon performance, walked
| him up to the piano and said: Now. Dan,
| listen. l want to pick out a winning stock
| to play in the New York market, and l
| want you to give me tip. Are you on?'
| Dan wagged his ears and trumpeted
| Well, then I continued, get in your
/ work Which of the stocks indicated on
| the keyboard is buy?' Dan walked up
and down in front of the piano, swayed
his big carcass from side to side, looked
| knowingly at me and put his foot on
/ American Tobacco. I repeated the expe-
riment for three or four days in success
/ sion, and he invariably made the same
| selection. 1t seemed mere coincidence,
bur could not get it out of my mind just
the same, and so about the LIST of October
4 I bought 200 shares of American Tobacco
| at 12O, and l kept buying until the break,
just after Ex-Governor Flowers death.
With an original capital of $3.50 l have in
| creased my bank account to s49.S70 and
I've got it all. too, in money, in the bank
| of Baraboo, Wis. Do you wonder that /
want no salary from the Ringing Bros.
! this year?'
The reported looked up into the ingenu-
Gus eyes of the quiet, red-faced German,
who toyed with a beautiful pure white PIG
carat diamond. In the far distant recesses
| OF the big top the magnificent band was
1 playing an overture. The birds sang
sweetly in the neighboring groves, 4lerr
souders smiled benignly, as a man well
contented with his lot in life The re-
! ENtfA lad 81.