The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-05-25
WILD ANIMAL BUSINESS.
Some Facts About a Romantic and
Interesting Industry.

the risks, said one of the most expert
enced wild animal collectors in the
United States. THE shows and menag-
cries and parks that buy from him
don't nav for an animal until it is de-
hVered. Generally they want it deliV-
cred = the place they have set for It.
sometimes they viii take it at the ship
or at the train, but usually they expect
US to deliver the beast right in their
place.
Consequently the risk is enormous
and we have to charge a price that Will
make W for the danger of loss We
cannot insure our beasts during trans
portation except in rare instances If
they die during voyage or are washed
overheard c. thrown into the sea to
save the ship the loss is ours The
only insurance we can get as q rule Is
insurance as cargo. which we can col
iecJ only IN case the ship itself is. lost
Now we have just had one expert
ence that illustrates my point. We
shipped an immense lot of exception
ally line animals in Calcutta-four baby
elephants, five tigers from Bengal follA
1 leoDards and about two hundred
cranes. some of which were so rare thar
9hey mad not even been Identified BY
lhdlan biologists We also had thirty
nVe serpents. among them pvtbo.,
/ twenty feet long.
Wen. our animal men who accom-
panied the shipment got them through
al right for thirty three .days until we
struck the Newfoundland banks. when
a sleet storm hammered the shin and
for night she labored throi1eb ire
Inendous icy seas that swept her decks
/ continually -
Canvas and straw were ni1ed aro,,,,a
the animals and everything was done
oy our men that was possible Rut
/ Wheh morning came three elephants.
Inree ugers, all the rare cranes, and
every one of the snakes lay dead and
mad to be thrown overheard
rms shows why wild animals cost
50 much And there are many other
risks Last year one of the big Ameri-
can animal dealers heard from a beast
catcher in Rangoon that he had seven
flne full-grown rhinoceri in perfect con
dition.
He sent a cable message at once ac-
ceptfng the animals and then hurriedlv
had timbers cut and shaped to build the
great pens that are necessary to hold
powerful beasts like these on steam
ship.
Well. the expense of these pens and
the freight charges for shipping them
from America more than half way
around the world, made a big item in
themselves. Then there were the ex-
penses of the dealer and the three as
sistants whom he had to take with him.
After their long voyage to Rangoon
they found a difficult trip into the in
terror before them. They had to drag
/ the heavy timbers for the pens with
them, knowing from bitter previous ex-
perience that the Oriental animal
catchers would be provided with moth
ing except bamboo cages-tough and
strong enough so long as they are sta
/ tlOnary, but almost sure to work apart
! when they are moved over bad roads
AT last they reached their objective
point and then, after all their work and
/ expenditure, they found three small,
sickly and poor specimens.
Not one of them was in condition to
mention the long ocean voyage to
America So here We're almost four
months wasted, many thousands of dol
lars lost. and. worst of all, no rhinoce-
ros at the very time when dozen
menageries We're offering big amounts
of money for specimens.
But we have no redress. Wild ami
NAL dealers. in the nature of the case,
have to do business with native hunters,
who are neither amenable to law or re-
sponsible Financially, however honest
their intentions may be.
You can't send the police out to
serve a warrant or papers in a damage
suit on man who lives a couple of
hundred miles away from civilization
in a jungle with tigers and partners
and bea constructors around him for
friends and neighbors. Ig he fails 10
keep his contract with US, we simply
have to grin and bear it.
shipping the beasts is always
hard job. Sailors are afraid of wild
animals and they handle the cargoes
with such unwillingness that they often
drop a cage into the hold and Kill or
iuiure the beast because they are afraid
to get near enough to it to guide or
swing it properly.
Il have often put my arm into a
cage and rubbed a tiger or q lion mere
" in order to show the crew of the
shin that they need not be apprehen-
sive But they generally don't DO any
thing except to grin sheeplSniy ana
say. All right mister You're welcome
to Go them kind of foolish things an
TafE raj or M
1.-The consequence is that when
storm comes and the seas sweep the
vessel and tear few cages from thels
I fasteninss. the wild animal men rarely
get any help from the crew ana may may
a rare and valuable beast has been
LOST merely because everybody was
afraid of it.
cit is a sight to see the trouble and
excitement that attend the shlpmant
of A Giraffe We can't drive the tau.
frightened brute I'D the gangDiank, OF
course The giraffe generally is 50
nervous that it would leap into the sea
so we haul it uD in its crate. with
I its long neck sticking out And every
minute Of the time we watch with feas
lest it should get so excited while 1t $
being swung on board, that 1t VIII
thrash its head against the side of the
ship and either break its neck or frac-
ture its skull
! 1.-THE least excitement drives a giraffe
so frantic that it leans with uncontr9l :
tdDie lear. ne greatest ttctitSCA - 49,
1t viii break its legs They are SO long
and thin and the brute is so ungainls
and awkward when confined in smai
space that the least trip or stumble VIII
bring it crashing down. and then it is
goodbye giraffer
This is largely because a giraffe
needs a good many yards of space for
one step. Therefore. although it is so
graceful and swift when it lopes over
an o3en plain where its long legs can
i spread far out as it runs, it is Door.
shutting. clums- thing when it has -
move n q pen.
"A giraffe catches cold easily. and it IS
/ no fun to dose it when it has to be done
on a rolling staggering ship.
.'The giraffe is bad sailor. too. al
though not so hard as camels that usual
" set like spiteful fretful. Vindictlve
children. They get homeslck and moan