The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-12-15
CARE OF CITY'S MONKEYS
THEY ARE IN WINTER QUARTERS AT
GARFIELD Park.
j. Clyde Power, superintendent of
Parks, Talks RemfniscentIy
of the Little Animals.

81 am having trouble with my monkeys"
parks. yesterday. You know 1 have four
of the funny little beasts. or rather, the
city has them under my care. and they are
as hard to take care of almost as the entire
park system of the city. In the summer
they frisk around at Riverside Park and
chew peanuts, pop corn and the fingers Of
unwary visitors. and enjoy life much as
the folks on the other side of the bars;
but when the damp, cold days arrive they
are hard to care for Monkeys are very
susceptible to tuberculosis; the slightest
chill is sufficient to give them dangerous
cold, and they never live long very far
north of the equator. To take the best
care of the few we have they are placed
in the Garfield Park greenhouses in the
winter time The temperature of the
greenhouses furnishes a fair substitute for
tropical atmosphere. and the hairy little
jol1ers have so far done well there.
do you know that a monkey would
rather chew and pull to pieces a red flower
of any old species than to investigate the
contents of sack of peanuts? Its a fact
and on that account the little pirates have
to be kept under tight lock while in winter
quarters at Garfield Park. When we first
tried the experiment of keeping them in
the greenhouses we were not aware of the
singular fancy monkeys seem to have for
crimson blossoms, and the monkeys for a
time had the run of the flower houses
Well, in a day there was hardly a gay
looking plant in the place. The monks had
flocked to them like flies around a molasses
barrel, and had Toasted while the blossoms
lasted. We put a stop to that all right.
QUEER LITTLE THIEVES.
"Queer, too, what thieves monkeys are.
If Darwin is right, and man and monkeys
come from the same species of ancient an
imal. some men get their queer ideas con-
corning meum and tuum honestly enough.
One of the long-tailed criminals we have
in limbo at Garfield Park could make a
million a year as professional dip or
pickpocket in New York. We used to have
an old Scotchman around the greenhouses
considerably, and he had an odd way of
carrying all sorts of knick knacks, little
family relics, and hodge podge of stuff
in the loose pockets of his baggy trousers.
He was great friends with the monks and
used to potter around their cage, take them
out and feed them and treat them as if
they were natives of Dundee. Well one
day the old fellow missed a silver gilt
gallantry the field of Waterloo. and he
let out piteous wall. The place was ran
sacked, but no medal could be found A
day or two afterwards he was looking in
every nook and corner for a silver whisky
flask, which he valued more than the life
of John Knox. he always carried with him.
The old fellow began TO be suspicious of
his fellOw-emplOyes, and looked at them
out of the corner of his eye when they
came around. But few days later the
browning misfortune occurred. The old
oh ba a ha Leaf he
to carry gold pieces in. Sometimes he
would carry around much as 500 in
eagles and double eagles. When ii dlsap-
peared he went almost insane and began
10 fancy himself the victim of a conspir-
acy. The whole matter did look decidedly
strange and wholesale ransacking of the
premises resulted. One OF the men took il
in his head TO examine the monkey cage
and the results of his Investigations We're
remarkable. After he had raked and
scraped the cage he picked up old leath-
er boot which the monkey | refer TO used
TO have a lot of fun with. and because ne
enjoyed playing with it so much it had
been left undisturbed in the cage When
the man shook the boot, out rolled the
Waterloo medal the silver whisky flask
and the tattered purse. Mr.. Monkey had
made good use OF his time when in play
with his Scotch friend and had scientihcal-
ly picked his pockets. In some manner he
had concealed the articles in his capacious
pouch and had hidden them with wonderful
cunning in that old boot where no one on
earth had the least idea they were. How
the monk was aDle 10 steal the Things and
hide them without being seen passes COM
prehension. However. il did not turn the
old ScOtchman against his willy friend and
until he left they were as good comrades
as ever. only the man took particular care
to nut his valuables where the monkey
could not possibly get at them in play.
Il think the monks will get through the
winter all right. as We are very careful
not To expose them 10 chils or sudden
change of air, and are also careful about
their diet. When summer comes around
again. III all goes well. they will be on hand
10 furnish a lot OF fun TO the Juvenile vis-
itors 10 Riverside Park"