The sun., 1902-08-25
RHINO TAKES RAEUMATIZCURE
LOOK OIT FOR 4 TESTIMONIAL
FROM SMILES or THE PtRE.
Keeper Bill, Sn, ,der Rubbed In One Bottle
Of Something WIN snake OH In II and
Groans Turned 10 GruntS OF Pleasure
Patient Worth s2s.OtN at Least.

"Old Smiles, the only African two- horned
/ rhinoceroS IN captivity, j. laid up with an
attack of rheumatism In her stall ia the
! Central Park menagcrie. She is being
nursed with extraordinary solicitude, a.
she well might be-, seeing that Director
| Smith has refused an offer Of s2t,COO for her
and could probably get considerably more
/ If he would sell. Animal dealers wi, hin this
country and in Europe have been trying
to get her. as her species is almost extinct.
II is said that she will command more
money than any other wild animal in
captivity.
But she developed n bad case Of infamma-
tory rheumatism in the knee Joint of her
nigh foreleg and when she wants TO get
about in her stall In the elephant house she
Is obliged to hobble on three legs. The
knee joint 10 considerably swollen and the
pain has not improved her temper. Billy
Snyder, her keeper, while nursing her,
has had several narrow escapes from being
!mpaled on her horns
One Jab which reached home would do
the business for Snyder, for by constant
rubbing against the iron s,anchions of the
stall the point Of Old Smiles's bigger horn
Is as sharp as knife blade The keeper
says that in addition, her temper is as
raspy as a file since she has become an
invalid, But for all that Snyder il nursng z
her. A crowd of Interested spectators in
the elephant house yesterday watched
the keeper rub the beasts rheumatic leg
with liniment
Snyder has just returned from his vaca-
ton While up in the Catskills an old
hunter told him about a certain cure for
rheumatism which old hunters had used
up there with sliccess. II il n home remedy v
and is composed in part of rattlesnake
oil. The keeper remembered this when he
returned to the Park and saw Old Smiley's
plight Yesterday morning he entered the
Office Of Director Smith and said.
Smiles is pretty bad to-day and didn't
want to get up of her bed. I've got Aunt
Somebody's Magic Cure for Rheumatics
and I'd like TO try it on her. think 1t will
do her good"
What's it made of9' asked Mr. Smith
'Rattlesnake oil is one thing. They
say up in the mountains that rattlesnake
juice will cure the worst case of rheu-
matism ever was. II will do no harm to
try, anyway"
The director finally consented TO allow
the keeper to try the liniment, while keep
ing up the usual course of treatment by
internal medicines.
Now, though Old Smiles ought TO he
grateful to her keeper for the care he be-
slows on her, she isn't. II he enters her
stall without securely tying her to a
stanchion she r,ishes at him and only his
quicKness saves him from injury Before
applying the liniment yesterday he threw
stout rope about her double horns and
fastened her to a stanchion. Then he went
into the stall. and putting some of the lini-
ment in the palm Of his hand. rubbed the
swollen joint. The spot wss tender and
the beast s~ished her tail about with the
small bunch Of hair on the end Of it,
-Hou-f! hou-ff!" sputtered the rhinoceros
angrily az she tried TO break the rope which
held her fast. The spectators crowded
TO the bars expecting 10 see Snyder run
first But he spoke to her soothingly and
continued to rub the liniment over the tough
hide.
After time Smiles became quiet and the
pain seemed to become less. She lay down
on her straw bed and stretched out the
rheumatic leg as though the treatment
was giving her some relief. The keeper
continued to rub and she Erunted her
sal i-faction
Perhaps it's the rattlesnake that lessons
the pain and, again, maybe. it's only that
the oil makes her tough old hide soft and
pliable," said Snyder But he applied
the liniment three times yesterday and told
the director that 1t seemed To be doing some
good,
Doses of Rochelle salts and other internal
remedies in proportion TO her size are given
TO Old Smiles. She weighs something
over two tons, 80 the doses are not small
A thick carpet of fresh straw is spread
over the cement flooring for her to lie on
Director Smith says that the rhinoceros
caught her rheumatism from the cement
flooring, which retains moisture He in
tends to put wooden flooring in the stall
when she gets better.
Old Smiles l. a remarkable animal in
seNeral ways. Animal dealers who know
about her peculiar anatomical construction
say they never knew Of wild animal bull;
in such way. She has two tongues, one
over the other and other organs in her
body seem 10 he in duplicate also. She
was purchased for Central Park in 1856
for 81 900 from Coles circus. She came to
this country in 1873 when three years old,
after travelling about 2i0cO miles in diff
ferent parts Of the world. She is now
about thirty-two years old Her species
lives to be about sixty OF seventy
The rhinoCeros was kept in a stall in the
lion house several wears ago, and here she
had narrow escape from being killed by
rats. They gnawed holes through her
hide, which j. said to be the toughest of
any animal, and blood poisoning set in.
Mr. Smith had her removed TO her presen,
quarters and put Keeper Snyder in charge
Of her. Snyder trained kitten 10 make
its home in the stall. Now the kitten is a
full-grown ca, and keeps the rats out Of
the place. The big rhinoceros seems to
,.al, -