The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-03-15
CHEAP MONKEY LABOR IN PERU.
Apes That Pick Nuts Under the Direc-
 ton of Human Foremen.

Perhaps the most interesting crea- lures in Peru are the apes, :" said Dwight Darlington in the office of Philip Hitchcock of the Wabash rail- way yesterday. MT. Darlington has an extensive plantation in eastern Peru, He is travelling for pleasure across the continent.
 For centuries past these remarkable animals have been performing work which is usually supposed to require human intelligence" continued he.
 "Naturalists accredit the horse, dog and elephant with possessing more intellect than all other dumb animals, but be- lieve the Peruvian apes surpass all brutes. Tn the huge nut forests of my adopted country the apes are of ines timable value. With amazing celerity they pick the rich nuts from the dark
 trees, saving much time and expense.
 Men cannot do the work in thrice the
 time required by the nimble-flngered apes.
 My plantation near the Ucayali river
 contains 700 acres. of which an even
 hundred is in nut trees. I have forty
 apes to do the picking for me Two na-
 tive foremen have charge of the hairy
 bodied nut gatherers. l have a huge
 comfortable cage for the apes, large
 enough to accommodate 100 of them.
 Into this they march every night Each
 morning early. when the paroquets and
 scarlet finches begin to scream, the foremen open the doors of the cage and
 out troop the apes, chattering merrily.
 They are permitted to eat and drink for ten minutes and then led off to the grove selected for the day. Four apes are sent up each tree and every quar- tette has big basket at the bottom.
 While the foremen sing and play up- on their mouth organs, strblllne about from tree to tree, and nothing progress, the apes pluck the nuts with great ra- pidity. After several hours the donkey wagons appear with more baskets and remove those already loaded with nuts to the big bins in the storehouse There is then a brief cessation of work
 Sometimes I so out with my violin and play bit. Our apes in Peru are exceptionally fond of music. as I sup pose all apes are. On my approach they chatter eagerly and group themselves around me. I play tunes of all Kinds, but never fail to close with something lively and spirited l clap my hands, point to the trees and depart on my mule. The apes take the hint and the empty baskets. seek the unpicked trees and begin picking with renewed vigor.
 We always treat them kindly. Pun ishment for mischievous conduct Is sa- were, but rarely necessary. Sometimes the wild apes attack the plantatio in bands and do much harm. The dogs give warning day or night and we shoot the intruders mercilessly, After they have been repulsed and some killed we take our apes to the spot in solemn pro cesSion. We show them the dead and bloody bodies of their friends Then we lock them up for day or moro.
 The lesson produces an indelible lm- pression upon them. They learned long ago that all animals must be sub servient to man. They evince rage at the sight of wild monkey They are most valuable servants and enable the planters to make handsome incomes, which would be impossible with solely human labor, Prom the Denver Post