The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-08-05
IOckHAN EXPLAINS
HlWM ] 1|RAINsHs
Pc cIr ss
BANDlT ELEPHANTS
He Says DisposlHonef Animals
Is of Prime Importance and
for That Reason He Selects
Female Elephants.

mo HAeu IuIe1dn De 4did eDssH to 1SS
adopted in the trainig of elephants,
said Sam Lockhart yesterday at the
carnival grounds, when asked to tell
something of the methods he adopted
to Develop such a degree Of Intelligence
in his pets as he has done.
Il have been training elephants now
for nearly thirty years." he continued,
land the only guide that I have in my
work is the disposition of the partic-
ular animal I am at work On. Some
elephants take much more kindly to
their schooling than others and, of
course, with them the work is just so
much easier.
81 always ainm to get the animals
when they are about two years old,
and for the next year and a half they
do little else than learn the language.
This is the most essential point, OBJ
viously, so that they may understand
what they are told TO 90. 1t requires
a deal of patience and lots of time, but,
as with human being, the animal
learns more, "a pff1ly after he has picked
up the rudimeras,1
81 first saw Hlae possibilities in eie-
plants when GNas in British Burmah.
While going up, the river from Mol
main [ saw the elephants working in
the timber yards and working SO I'M
derstandingly that conceived the idea
that with patience they could be
taught to do many more things than
they, up to that time, had been taught
to do.
'Tn the yards were two little baby
elephants and purchased them.
consider that's. these two elephants
turned out to be the equal of any ele-
plants that eyer performed in public.
They were the celebrated Jock and
Jenny, and they performed all over
Europe and America.
Tom Enjoys Riding Tricycle..
After the. elephant has gotten to I'M
derstand what 1 say to him I begin on
tricks that will not be any strain on
him, such as those that Tom Tom does
now. Riding the tricycle., of, course, is
a difficult trick, but it is not hard on
the elephant, in fact Tommy enjoys it.
Of %Getting ss'the animal to mount a tub
IS one Of the first steps, and this he is
taught by iexanple, as is the case in all
tricks where this is possible.
| Some, of the most difhcilt tricks do
not appeal to the public as such. It
took me nearly nine months to teach
Wilhelmina to rub her feet on the resin
board before she got on the roller, and
vet the trick looks simple enough
| n Probably the trick that shows the
most intelligence and nemorizing on
the part of the animal is that per
termed by Trilby when she takes the
OF ci1 Of "a
stage and, without guidance, carries
it over 1to the music stand at the far
side of the stage, places 1t in position
and opens the book.
Teaching them their tricks seems to
follow naturally as they gain in inteili-
gence, and I believe that their abilities
are only limited by the patience and
skill of their trainer.
"Of course, the disposition of the
animal is of primary Importance, and
it is for that reason that female eie-
plants are usually selected for show
animals, as they are much better tenn
pered than the males.
1.-The animals I have with me are all
very good natured. and 1 have never
had any troubles with any of them
They never Hghf among themselves
although Haddieathere is very greedy
Eats Her Companions Burns.
while we were performing at the
| Palace theatero in London we were
feeding them a let Of Bath buns every
day. One day the attendant left the
basket containing the allowance for al
four of them in such position thai
Haddie could reach it by straining her
India rubber joints. She didn't lose
any time about it. either, and ate up
all the ninety-Six- buns.
| While we were in Amsterdam no.
tieed that the fodder was disappearing
very rapidly apd, spoke to the attend
ant about it. aeatold me that he just
fed the elephants according to orders
and came To the conclusion that some
one was getting away with 1T and Sc,
him to watch. The next day he told
me that the. elephants got loose and
stole the hay themselves and said if
| did not believe it I could watch and see
them myself.
Accordingly my wife and I, the next
day, paid our usual visit to the stable
and then went out and watched
| through hole in the door.
First Wilhelmnfa reached over to
| Haddie and appeared to tell her that
the coast was clear Haddie then
reached out the foot that was chained
and Wilhelmina worked at it until she
got the chain off. Haddie then went
into the stall where the hay was kept
| and, by the aid of her trunk and hei
feet, rolled and dragged a bale OF hay
up to the other elephants. When she
had got it all the bales were divided
and each shared alike.
Zone thing an elephant cannot be
taught to do is.s to jump. Outside OF
that, however, and talking and flying
I don't think that there Is much thai
| well directed energy and patience
| could not teach them"