The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-01-11
TEACHING TRICK ELEPHANTS
System Largely a Matter of Block and
 Fall

System Largely Matter of Block and
 Fall
 While the elephant is not carnivo-
 rous beast that would as soon eat a
 man as look at him, it is dangerous enough to inspire interest. Also, it is
 hard to see how to teach it to do aero
 batic tricks. One would almost as soon | try to teach a barn to do skirt dances.
 Instructing these bulky pachyderms is | largely a matter of block and fall ou wish to teach the elephant to stand | on his head. Chains are passed around his hindquarters and he Is hoisted up | into the air often enough for him to un
 derstant what is wanted of him by the trainer.
 In posing, the animals have to be lifted into position. For example, one
 has to stand with his forefeet on an
 others hindquarters, while he flourish
 es his trunk aloft in theatrical atti- tude. To teach him to do this you pass a chain around his throat and another around his trunk to lift it up to the sa-
 lute. The assistants haul away on the neck chain until the elephant begins to choke. Naturally, he rises up on his hind legs to ease his neck and paws the air for breath. As soon as he is up far enough the elephant on whose back he is to place his forefeet is backed in un der them. It is a common thing to see elephants ears torn into fringes and their thick hide lacerated till the blood comes with the hook the trainers carry One of the sad features of this life is that the elephant is ungrateful for his education and watches every chance to kill his dear teacher.
 If an elephant is to be taught to waltz one man gets at the front end and another at the rear end of the beast, and each ehoves his end around till the an- imal learns that when he hears the | word "Watz!" it means that he is to | whirl When they walk with their fore | feet on rolling tub one man goes be- | fore and another behind the tub and | steady it for the elephant with crow | bars stuck between the tub and the | ground, Tn the see-saw act the ele- | plants at the end and the one in the | middle have to be held in position by | tackle and by men. The job of teach- ing elephants calls for the exercise of | muscle as well as mind.
 But some of the showiest tricks are ] the easiest taught. When Md. Snyder saw Lockharts S elephant blow the har- monica to the great delight of the null titude he bought five-cent harmonica and taught Tom in the park to do the same thing in ten minutes All there was to it was to get the elephant to hold the thing with the finger of his proboscis. As he breathes through his ,runk he couldn't help blowing and sucking through the reeds. He did not play any of the popular tirs of the day. | That would have been a little too much | o expect, but he will blow on it and | waltz at the same time. This man is a very ingenious trainer md thinks of many quaint little tricks hat please the public. All such things $ ringing q bell or grinding an organ re taught the elephant by putting the bject in his trunk, and moving it for i'm. When he dances with bells tied round his foremeet ane foot and then he other is lifted by the helpers ey Sutherlandin Ainslee's.