The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1899-11-11
HE SAVAGE RHNocERoS
faEinE Hin L. q Dangsro1s raak-
Years Nothing ana IN Always
Ready for q Fight

IhAre helped TO capture SIX AticEa
rhinoeeroses, and l believe thai al Of
them are yet alive and serving DER
purposes In ~circuses and SooG ] have
seen q herd Of % Wild elephants driven
into an inclosure and made captive al
most without trouble. I hare trapped
four and Ave hons and tigers IN . week.
with never q man even scratched. As
for wolves and hyenas. they can be
caught as readily as fab. It's when you
tackle . rhiDoceros that you tackle
business. It's worry and work and dan
ger from the moment you set about IL
I am talking about the one-horned,
black rhinoeeros Of Africa When ma
ture created him she gave him more
strength according to bulk than any
other animal on earth. She gave him
m abundance OF muscle and but few
nerses. He has o hide almost bullet
proof. 9 vision like q hawk, Q ems Of
hearing as keen as . fox, and his cour-
age Is really sublime. You may add to
all this that the rhinoceros ia always
mad. The hercest Of other beasts have
their good-natured hours, but this fel-
low always has a chip on his shoulder.
Nothing is too big OF too small for him
TO charge. He'll turn on steam and go
crashing through the bushes after 2
will charge into q herd Of elephants or
scatter q family Of lions. II Is agreed
by all men who have studied him that
he IL totally without fear. II he ever
rum away from anything it Is through
mistake. But for two defects in his
physical makeup he'd soon exterminate
all other animals In Africa. His range OF
vision Is like that Of q whale-dead
ahead-and he Is so bulky for his size
that he can't turn except in q consid-
cradle circle.
Icaptured Barnum's frat rhinoceros,
and that animal cost him more than any
four lions or tigers he ever owned. !
was the first animal hunter sent over
TO Africa by an American, and l had II
all TO learn. / sent home lions, CRATES,
elephants, bufaloes and hyenas with
out any great trouble, but II was q
whole year before ! got my first rhinoc-
eros. ! had to make q study Of the
animal and take advantage Of his char
acteristics. The natives had killed ons
occasionally, but such q thing as cap
turing one alive had never been heard
Of. 1t seemed To me that the castles,
way was to moose him. There are well
defined paths all through the forest,
Of Africa, and these are used more oil
less by all animals, especially where
they lead to water. / made a moose In
g new two-inch rope big enough e
take in . rhinoceros, and then climbet
into q tree above TO manage It, 1 spen'
the best part Of three days up Their
before Q victim came along. Hessentet
me and was suspicious, but nevsrthe
less came on and was neatly noosed
] believe that rope would have held
schooner at anchor of Montauk Point
but that rhinoceros made one plung
and broke II like q thread. 1 hadn'
realized his strength up to that time
Ny next move was TO seek o point on
, path several miles from camp and erec
a'barricsde. This bsrricade ran TO
V-shaped point, and was made stronI
enough to hold an elephant. II
rhinoceros took that path he would FOL
low II TO the last inch, and when he wa
: in close quarters we would be on han
c TO tapgle him up. We had q nsito
6 almost before we were ready. Whe
the rhinoceros got along to the BARR
cade he halted for o minute TO sniff th
air. Then he lowered his head an
q went charging down the path.
believed we had him for sure, but b
" struck the logs and rocks at the poir
; Of the V with the power OF o wild locC
motive and battered his way through
8 l now turned to a pit. At a soft spC
on Q path leading to a water hole "
dug a pit 20 feet long, 10 feet wide an
i 7 feet deep. This we covered wit
9 poles, branches and dirt, until no OF
O could detect the danger lurking b
% meath. but we had our trouble for OF
reward. The rhinoceros does most
: his roaming by day, ard IL carelei
whether he follows a path or crash,
e through the bushes. The night aft,
a the pit was ready we caught two hyeni
in II. The next day we caught a dee
the next night another byena, The OF
animal we wanted did not appear. v
y tried again at another point, and III
time II was a success, because / hS
the details more In hand. When the D
i had been prepared l went up the pal
e about half a mile TO an opening ar
hung a red shirt OF a bush. knew tn
L II a rhinoceros sighted that shirt !
o would charge the bush. / climbed
i tree and waited, and In less than I
'e hour / heard an old fellow coming III
IL tilt. lie went through the bush III
d an avalanche, and on the path he -four
u q red handkerchief. lie picked Il ,
" on his horn and charged down II
rs path. On the fap side OF the Dit VI
n, another red shirt, and In his anger II
beast didn't look for q trap. He W
le busting along nj 20 miles an hour VIII.
}. the earth gave way and he landed on b
10 head at the bottom Of the pit. We HI
a time getting him out and into a Gag
and ] don't believe he ever got over i
/. ing mad.-N. Y. Commercial Advertise
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