The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-03-02
CIRCUS ELEPHANTS
THEY ARE CAREFULLY WATCHED
ALL NIGHT.

The Show Beast Nest Always Be
Scolded and Talked To or He VIII
Get Into Mischief-Ths Boss of All
the Beasts.
The elephant men have to mind their
charges every hour OF the day and
night. The bull" to use circus slang,
sleeps only about two hsurs, and often
does that on his feet. One fool AZ
rican elephant-they can't be taught
to do anything, and the commonest say
Ing about show is that they are not
worth the hay they sAt-has been
known to go three weeks without lying
down at all. The elephant is always
ndgeting about, always swaying that
ridiculous hulk of his, which seems to
be clad in his big brothers cast-off
Dreeches, always stirring up strife, and
always picking at something with his
trunk. He might loosen his stake and
run wild. He must have something to
occupy his mind, and so bales of hay
are always at hand to be doled out to
him. He must be always scolded and
talked to and told to keep out of that,
or get back there, or come out where
he can be seen. When he isn't being
talked to. he In being raped on the
nose with bull hook" An elephant
has hide about an inch thick, a tenn
per that is as uncertain as the toss of
a coin, the cruelty OF an Apache, and
the destructiveness of a tornado. Some
wise and kind-hearted men in New
York who couldn't bear to see a poor
dumb brute suEer, decreed that the
"bull-hook" must not be used. They
didn't have to be with the elephants
all the time. The men who did. either
hid the hook part in their hands while
the agents of the s. P. c. A. were
around, or displayed brGomsticks that
would bring an elephant to time about
as soon as feather buster would stop
a cyclone. The bull hook is shaped like
a boot hook. 1t has a straight point.
This is to jab in where the ska is ten
derest, near the root of the tail 1t is
a sight we'll worth seeing to witness
Patsy Forepaugh (his name is Mears,
but he was with Addie Forepaugh so
long that people hardly know what
his right name is) get the elephants to
bunt the wagons up from the basement
of the Madison Square Garden. He is
the boss Of all the herd, a short,
stocky little man with quick eye-he
needs it in his business-and something
about his looks which says that if you
want to get into fight with him you
had better make arrangements to spend
about six weeks in the hospital. The
workmen get the wagon Slowed around,
so that it will go up the inclined plane.
Then they scatter like trash before a
broom. Here comes Patsy walking
along with two elephants, their atti-
tude seeming to say: I'VE don't want
TO-" while Patsy seems to say: This
one right here. All together now"
They make curious noises. They some,
times whine SO that you can locate the
very spot 1t comes from, and other
times not so unlike the last pedal key
Of church organ. Oftenest it is like
an amateur trying to blow cornet for
the first time. They shuttle up to a
wagon, put their foreheads against 1t,
and up 1t goes. Patsy trots behind
them, making vicious downward jabs
with his hook, while he shouts: Hoo
yah! Hooyahi" They Scull their way
along the inclined plane and toddle
down again for more. Once l saw a
wagon half way up GENE rolling down
while the elephants turned tail and ran
trumpeting with terror. a lion inside,
angry at having his sleep broken, roar
ed. That was all Rooney and John
wanted to hear. They fled, Patsy after
them with his hook, and though they
Snuffed and breathed hard, they had to
come and push that wagon up. Perhaps
they will treasure that up and some
day-well, some day they are sure to
get him.-Ainslee's Magazine.