The National tribune., 1902-07-24
She OWNS A zoo.
Bears, Lions, Kangaroo, Wolves and
Coyotes Among Her Pets-She Goes
FearlessIy Among Them, and They
Like Her.
fNew Orleans Ti,n.s-Demoerat.l

| - on III ma iduy Ill tHt PIT o'ti
there feeding the bears. She probably
won't see you, though, till she feeds the
cassowary and the ostriches and attends to
the sick cubs in the lion house. Then
she'll be glad to talk to you.'
The attendant handed back the card
and the interviewer sauntered over to the
pit. Several tourists were plunging fran
| tically about the iron grating, apparently
| trying to get snap shots of something down
below and ordinations of amaZement
and fright were coming from women and
children who We're peering into the depths
| There was the flash of white shirt
| waist at the bottom of the pit, and the III
terviewer caught sight of Mrs. Thomas
| Elitch-Long, the only woman in the world
| who owns and manages geological gar
| den. Mrs. Elitch-Long was standing near
| Il claw-scarred tree trunk in the middle of
| the stone pit, while at her side was the
enormous bulk of black bear. The ami
NAL was standing erect, reaching for
| lump of sugar which was held tantalizing-
| Ty above his nose. One great paw rested
On the tree trunk, and the other was on
the shoulder of the mOdishly-clad woman,
who was laughing at the bears clumsy
efforts to secure the morsel. Snuffng
| about the pit We're three other bears, one
of them of the Cinnamon variety and the
Others being black. Seemingly they were
paying little attention to their owner, and
she was giving as little heed to them as if
they had been kittens. After "Jim,' the
big bear. had received his lump of sugar,
Mrs Elitch-Long climbed gracefully out
of the pit and stepped into the little crowd
of sightseers.
Its nothing she said laughingly.
I've fed those bears sweetmeats SO many
times that they would hate awfully to
miss my visits. In fact, while l was
abroad last Winter they seemed to pine
| away, SO my assistants tell me, and I'm
| = ha r-YonS n
welcome when [ returned little while
ago. And the ostriches and lions, and even
Casey, the cassOwary, seemed just as glad
to see me. My animals do not look upon
me as a tyrant, you know: in fact, they
seem to tell me that I'm the best friend
they have"
Probably this explains the success of
Mrs. ElitchLong in the management of a
geological garden-she has made comrades
of the shyest, widest animals in captiv-
ity. Even the coyotes, which are probably
the most difficult of all animals to tame,
have grown to trust their keeper and to
look forward to Mrs. Elitch-Long's fire.
quent visits. Kindness has been the key
note of this remarkable woman's success
in a new field, although her personality
has undoubtedly had much to do with her
influence over some of the animals. Her
coolness and bravery have been more than
once put to the test, but she has always
conquered, and yet she has never had to
use whip on an animal or to force Obedi-
ence through other harsh measures.
Presence of mind saved Mrs. Fitch
Longs life on one occasion, when Daisy, Il
huge bear, escaped from the pit and made
her way into the owners cottage, which
stands near at hand Mrs Elitch-Long
heard an unusual sound in the kitchen
Sitting up on the sink was the big bear.
She had turned on the water faucet with
one of her huge paws and was splashing
the water in all directions. When she
caught sight of her mistress the bear
leaped down and ran after Mrs. Fitch
Long. A pair of great paws were thrown
over Mrs. ElitchLOng's shoulders and the
woman was hurled against the sidebOard.
Within reach was a bowl filled with sugar.
This was dainty that Mrs. Eltch-Long
was accustomed to feed to her bears, and
now it stood her in good stead. She
grasped the bowl and held it under the
infuriated bears nose. The animal quick
ly scented the sugar and began to lap it. |
Mrs. Elitch-Long gradually lowered the
bowl until she finally set it on the floor,
when she pushed it far enough away to
from her shoulders. Then Mrs. Elitch-
Long walked quietly out of the cottage
and summoned the keeper and had Daisy |
escorted to the pit.
On another occasion, when there We're
some improvements being made in the |
gardens, large force of men was EN-
ployed at carpenter work. One of the big
gest bears made its escape from the pit |
and ambled toward the workmen The |
men fled in all directions, and the bear
walked calmly toward the dinner pals. |
He put his snout in each pail, taking the
contents of those that pleased him. and
knocking the rest over. Mrs. Elitch-Long, |
unmindful of the danger to herself rushed
from the cottage armed with broom, and
literally 'shooed" the bear back to his
cage. The men dropped down from ad-
jacent trees and from the roofs of nearby |
buildings, most of them looking shame
faced. Instead of reproaching them for
their lack of gallantry, however, the cOur-
ageous owner of the zoo went indoors and
replenished their lunch pals.
Jim, the largest bear in the pit, cannot
be approached by any one save Mrs.
Elitch Long, and she has been frequently
warned that she will come to harm through
the treachery of the animal. She declares,
however, that Jim is misunderstood, and
certainly the big animal never shows signs
of anything but affection for her, Jim is
the master of the pit, however, and usu-
ally makes it unpleasant for new bear
Three little cubs that were once put in the /
pit aroused Jim's jealousy. The big bear