Anadarko daily democrat. [volume] (Anadarko, Oklahoma) 1901-190?, 1902-02-15
Youth.. Natural History.


OF all the dangerous animals which
boy can meet at night coming home
from the grocery, n rhinoceros is the
worst Without the slightest warning.
and with anger terrible to see, the
thino will charge him and catch him
on his horn and assasslnate him for no
other cause than that he Is boy and
has perhaps been throwing stones at a
cat. II the rhinoceros were as plenti-
full in this country now as 1000 years
ago the loss of human life would be
something awful
There was a time in America when
a woman could not go to the kitchen
door to shake tablecloth without see
ing rhinoceros standing around. They
went about in great droves, plowing
up the ground with their horns and
fighting everything that came in their
way. and only the elephant could STAN
before them. If the weather hadn't
changed they would be here yet. II
got so that it was winter about hall
the time. and, fearing that II he stayed
around he would have to shovel snow
the rhino packed up and went off to
Africa. He is not a happy animal in
his native state. Some one called his
father a liar before he was born, an
he goes around trying to find out VIII
1t was and ready to lick anybody who
says good morning to him. 1t makes
him mad to think he cant climb like
n monkey or run like a zebra. and
every time he sees an ostrich doing
cakewalk tears of rage gather in his
eyes. He gets up mad and goes to bed
ugly, aud 1t is no wonder he has no
friends. Many Of the natives Of Afr,c"
perish every year on the horns of tn
rhinoceros. They go walking along
reading their Bibles or singing gosp
hymns, all unsuspiclous of danger, and
the first thing they know they axe spit
ted on the horns OF a rhino and be-
come angels. No matter how good
native is or how many wives and child
zen he has to support. the rhinoceIo
VIII not spare him. Like an avenginl
demon, he skulks in some dark thick
et and at the proper moment springs
out, with a fierce cry, and the bloody
deed is done. The rhinoceros in
state of captivity is just as bad as when
he Is free. You may feed him on Bart
lett pears and cut loaf sugar but you
cannot win his gratitude. If mis- keep
er scratches his back with a stick, he
VIII hump II up and seem to bestow
his affection, but he cannot be trusted.
Inst ha he
around to the right spot he will take
his life without giving him one hour t.
repent OF his sins. There have beei
Keepers who have whispered words
cheer and friendship into the ears
the rhino and others who have wal
loped him with baseball bat and stab
bed him with a pitchfork. but it was
all the same to the animal have
drawn a picture OF the rhnoceros as
you will find him in his African home
lie is about to charge upon a native
village and redden his horn with the
blood OF the guilty and innocent alike.
When boy stands before a rhino in
captivity, he should not feel hard to-
ward him. The rhino was born that
way ana can't help II. lie was neither
made for an elephant nor a hippopota-
mus, and 1t must worry him all day
long as he ponders over it, II may be
that way down in his heart somewhere
he has a store of affection and that
some day keeper will discover it with
a pick axe, and therefore we ought to
use him we'll and hope for the best. l
had forgotten to say that when rhino
charges an innocent village the ground
trembles beneath his feet. and all ma
ture cries out In alarm, while the dead
and wounded people make up such a
liberal picture Of slaughter that strong
men have TO turn away their heads
and women fling themselves down and
weep. Let Us all be glad that We are
not rhinoceroses.