Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-04-26
Spring At THE zoo
A Great Time for the AMI
mails and Visitors.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A DEMAND FOR AN ADEQUATE
ELEPHANT HOUSE.
Some Recent Acknowledgements
for This Year About
Exhausted.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

| It Is springtime at the Zoo. That means
a great deal when 1t is taken into consider
alton that on a bright Sunday recently
more than 5000 persons visited the park.
| The average attendance on Sundays a
| month earlier did not exceed 1000 Every
thing is lovely within the beautiful inclo-
sure. The peafowls strut about the
grounds, uttering shrill cries Of Joy in well
coming the warm weather. The polar
| bears splash about In their tank apparently
| at peace with the world. entirely unmind-
| full of the approach Of the scorching days
| of midsummer, and the fact that they can
| not lay aside their furs. The reported raw
ages of the moths do not concern them.
The raccoons have climbed to the highest
branches of the tree that graces their do
| main and bask peacefully in the sunshine.
In short. the Zoo at present is certainly
| a Veritable paradise for animals and a
most attractive place for humans. The
sward is we'll cared for and green. The
| landscape gardeners and the road builders
have been at work. One girl visitor of
romantic tendencies remarked the other
day that the national capitals Zoo lacks
only an Adam and an Eve-and possibly an
apple tree-to make 1T Eden.
There Is usually an exception to a gen.
eral rule. and Dunk fills that role at the
Hoo. 1HlS elepHdHt, presented 10 the
! park several years ago, is the malcontent.
lie has figured in the newspapers and at
the Capitol very prominently of late by rea-
son of the assertion that he is cruelty treat
| ed due to improper housing and made
quate accommodations. The result has
| been an amendment to the sundry civil
bill providing for an appropriation of &c.,
600 to cover the cost of new residence for
DUNK. The average man or woman
| would be entirely satisfied with domcie
| only half as expensive, but it Is claimed
| that at least $4,000 should be allotted for
| a house for Dunk" The publicity given
about the result that the majority Of the
visitors to the park call to see him and
express sympathy. He seems to appreciate
| the situation and has assumed the attitude
Of a martyr, doleful expression of the
| eyes being a feature Of his bearing.
Need Of an Elephant House.
| Dunk is quartered in a wooden struc-
ture resembling a railroad round house IN
general appearance. He is secured to ring
| fastened in the concrete floor by asteel cable,
one end OF which Is passed around his left
| foreleg There he stays, week In and week
| out, unable to indulge in exercise. The only
| bath he has known for years is a hose
sprinkling. The condition of things Is
| keenly regretted by the officials of the Zoo
They claim that with no money available
| to remedy the situation they have been
| helpless. representative of the local in
| spector of buildings was at the park few
| days ago. He announced that the support
| ing posts of the elephant shed are rotted
half through 1t Is declared that If Dunk
| should be freed of his bonds he would crash
| through the side of the shed in something
| less than jiffy, and with the expenditure
/ of about as much energy as the ordinary
mortal calls into play in crushing an egg
| shell.
| Referring to the assertion that $4,000 Is
not sufficient by half to provide a proper
| elephant house, it Is pointed out that
| such structure should embrace accommo-
| dations for both the Asiatic and India
| classes of elephants, for rhinoceroses, for
appropriateness. and for tapirs. Several
! elephants have been offered the Zoo; but it
has been necessary to decline the proffered
gifts because 1t was impossible to care for
| the big animals. Two South American
| tapirs are owned by the Zoo, but they are
| in quarters that are conceded to be unsafe,
and they can be allowed to enter the bath
| ing tank only one at time.
An elephant house" should be big at
| fair and very strong. An outside yard for
elephants alone, 1t is estimated, would cost
$1,000. Such yard calls for partitions of
masonry and fences able to resist the effect
Of tons Of animal weight hurled against
| them.
In Other Cities.
Comparisons may be odious, but in this
instance they are at least enightenng. At
tho New York Geological Park, in the
Bronx, the cost Of the lion house was
$4,000. For a reptile house $4,000 was
! expended. A home for monkeys was erect
| ed, the disbursement therefor amounting to
! $4,000. A small bird house, to accommo-
date cranes and the like, taxed the city $751;
600. The bird house at the local Zoo re-
| quired an expenditure of only So, 500. Speak
| ing In this connection. and having in mind
| particularly the elephant, the Zoo officials
| say they have been taking care Of certain
of the animals not in the way they have
| desired, but In the best manner possible
under the circumstances.
| The fiscal year is on the wane, and there
| fore everything Is practically at a stand
| still at the National Geological Park, so far
! as improvements are concerned. The great
| er part Of the appropriation has been ex-
| hausted, and nothing new at all extensive
| in character can be attempted until after
| the list of next July.
There are many things we need. and
| most of them we hope to secure" remarked
one Of the officials, "but until the appro-
priation bill is passed we are not at lib
| erty to talk regarding them
Work will soon be resumed on the ayiary
The building of this immense bird cage was
discontinued upon the arrival Of cold
| weather last fall. 1t Is located near the
| Connecticut avenue entrance to the park
| and is being constructed Of steel bars, with
| a covering of electrically welded wire net
| ting. The aviary Is about 160 feet long, at
| least so feet wide, and fully 50 feet In
| height. 1t viii accommodate herons. cranes,
marsh and water birds and others Of the
and natural pool The cost of the ayiary
| complete will be $4,000.
Recent Arrivals.
| With the exception of the month Of Feb
ruary, all the animals have had opportunity
to breathe the outside air the entire win
| ter and the colony is enjoying excellent
health New arrivals have been few in
number. the recruits consisting of Kadiak
bear and a Rocky mountain sheep The
| bear is a native of the Island Of Kadiak, off
| the coast Of Alaska. and Is described as
| the biggest fiesh-eatng land animal in ex-
| istence. The Rocky mountain sheep halls
from Ouray. Col He is just getting ac-
| quainted with an older fellow OF the same
| species who has been at the Zoo for a year
or more. The antics of the goats have re-
| quired Principal Keeper William Black
| burne to be very much on the alert of late
| for fear the newcomer might be harmed
| One of the striking differences between
the National Geological Park and the ZOOS