The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-12-01
HAGENBECK, LORD OF BEASTS.
His Thrilling Adventures. as Told in
Talk With an English Interviewer.

His Thrilling Adventures. as Told in g
Talk With an English Interviewer.
| Hamburg is a city of strange indus
tries, but perhaps there is none more in
! teresting than that Of Mr.. Carl Hagen
beck. Serving, as he does. as the col
lector of wild beasts for almost every
menagerie in the world, he has dealings
with every savage land. His agents are
to-day searching Tartary and Siberia,
exploring Central America, entering the
newly opened Soudan, working in even
the rebellious Philippines. Just now he
is busy organizing an expedition to
Thibet. In his great garden you find
crowds of wild beasts of every kind.
| Here are eighteen polar bears, and not
| far off is string of a dozen elephants,
newly arrived from India. Half a hum
dred condors, fresh from South Ameri-
ca, are waiting to be unpacked; scores
of alligators are playing together, as
though in their native Florida; while Ii
ons and tigers and panthers are stored
away in almost countless numbers.
Here Is baby tiger, which you can
play with like kitten; not far off is a
fierce Bengal brute striving to tear
down its bars and get at you.
You must have had some strange adj
ventures with your animals, Mr.. Ha-
| genbeck?"
Naturally in dealing with large
numbers of wild creatures one some
times has moments when it requires all
ones presence of mind and skill to es-
cape with a whole skin. Animals have
their moods, like human beings, and
| they have to be watched. One Of my
narrowest escapes was from a young
elephant. We We're dispatching some
beasts In vessel, and / was down at
the dock experimenting their embar-
kation. A young elephant had evident
| ly been worried on its Journey down.
1t was tied up with chain long enough
to permit It's moving somewhat about,
and was standing with my back to the
beast, near the wooden side of the COM
partment. Suddenly, without warning,
1t turned around and rushed at me, and
pinned me to the wall, It's tusks going
each side from between the tusks and
tainted away. In moment I opened
my eyes and murmured to them to lift
me on my feet and see,if l could stand,
LOT was dlraiu my pach was pioheh
They found could STAND, ana l was
helped home. The elephants tusks had
just fitted me, grazing my skin on each
side, but not even tearing the flesh.
But I had perhaps, more uncom-
Portable time with giraffe. We were
putting 1t on board at aSuez. and seve-
raj natives, my brothers and myself had
hold of 1t With ropes1 suddenly IT bolt
ed. The others dropped their ropes, but
l had mine around me ana could not
let go. The giratfe tore along, pulling
me after 1t, and its quick locomotion
made me go with giants strides, twelve
or thirteen feet each. There was
great pile OF broken bottles on our way,
and over 1t went the giraffe. tearing my
face and clothes with the glass. Then it
turned around and rushed back through
Suez again. At last, GREATNESS, bruised,
minutes l lay still, trying to recover my
wind. When 1 opened my eyes | saw
the giraffe standing quietly by me, Sc
curely tied 1t had come to stand
still when dropped off, and little.
naked black boy, who was just by, had
got hold Of the loose rope and tangled
1t round the telegraph pole, SO that the
bird was properly caught.
"There was one adventure with a
snake that still makes me hot and cold
when recall 1t. case of rattlesnakes
came to me, and, noticing an unpleas-
ant smell, put my arms over my face
for shade and peered into the case. 1
saw that there was dead snake there.
Just then one of the rattlers jumped up
and threw itself against the iron bars in
an endeavor to get at me, splitting In its
rage. l took no more notice of 1t at the
time, but next morning my wife drew
my attention to the sleeve of my coat.
The sleeve was covered with great |
patch of greenish stain, the green crys-
tails glistening on 1T. 1t was hot sum |
mer and my face was covered with a |
heat eruption. Had little of this poi
son gone on my face must enevitably |
have died the most horrible Of all |
Deaths"
While talking, we were walking about |
the garden. Mr.. Hagenbeck showing me.
his treasures. Here was a twenty-foot |
snake, with an enormously thick body, |
lying asleep. On the previous day 1t |
had a quarrel with a fourteen-foot
snake. The fourteen-footer was eating
/Is NH ha tvuo