The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-10-29


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 Then Basil had to go through the performance, and she, too, begged Evan to ls. her of, but finally did what she was bidden like lamb. Each elephant at once searched his clothes for sugar when he let her get up.
 Basil" said Mir. HeaIey, 'fs one of the biggest elephants in America now. She is little more than nine feet high. land Babe is almost as big, but thirty years younger. Basil and Evan have been friends almost since Evan was born. He was born in Willis avenue. New York, and when he was only a few months old we came to Clan Island and ever since then Evan and the elephants have played together. When we first came here Basil learned to wheel Evan around in the baby carriage and 1t soon got so that we could turn her loose with the little one and feel that he was safer in the protection of his great nurse than he would have been under the care of lany human attendant.
 we used to say that Evan had the Ivery biggest nurse girl in the world. She was as gentle and careful with him as she could be. She never let go the handle of the carriage, and she would push 1t up and down all day long if we let her. The baby was so accustomed to it that he soon began to play with her trunk, and she. in turn, didn't like anything so much as to be allowed to reach into the carriage and fondle him and let him pull her trunk
 "As soon as he could crawl he went into the elephant house by preference. And now, no matter what time of the day he goes there, the elephants are ready to play with him. If he doesn't appear at his usual time they make great fuss and wont keep quiet until he arrives"
 While the trainer was speaking the big brutes were jostling each other to lreach Evan and tap him with their trunks. He stood between their legs. leaning against them and the elephants never moved limb without looking and feeling to make sure that they would not step on him. .... It wasn't possible to see bit of him when he got we'll behind one of the huge legs, but he. was master of the eI- ephants for all that-Kipling' Toomaii in real life. a~s ,.
 MT. Healey brought out grindstone and Evan stood befort the elephants and commanded Basin to take hold. Again Basil groaned with unwilligness. Evidently her idea of play was not to do tricks. But Master Evan permitted no malingering.
 Take hold, Basil. right away" he said, and Basil, with one last plaintive groan and an extraordinarily nournful expression, reached over and began to turn the handle.
 "Take hold like tfis.'' He stopped ,ir,- der the trunk, pulled it to the grind stone and pressed the end of it firmly against the handIe.4
 Now, turn it,'' he said, and Basil sadly turned 1t, without taking an eye from the lad. ,. ..5 :sE. -s-... t~ ..
 Now, Babe,''; hea ordered, and Babe unwillingly did the same. But Basil had not obtained his usual reward, and she trumpeted and thrashed her mighty feet around. making noise that scared the strangers into jumping. Close be- side Evan the huge feet went up and down, but Evan never turned. He fin- ished with Babe and not until then did he give the indignant Basil her piece of sugar. rs. Y $z4 @as ,s :' s2
 The grindstone," said Mir. Healey,"is being used now by Evan to teach the elephants to turn barrel organ. It would be a little too expensive to begin with the real thing. They've smashed this arrangement several times. They don't like to learn any too well, but they always come around to 1t. Evan doesn't let them of from a single les- son, and, no matter how much they may object, they always do it in the end.' :* 3;>.. ..s~
 He has taught them to lie down and play dead to throw up their trunks ant trumpet the royal salllte." inst as Toonaii did. and to pick out the Amer ican flag and wave it. Their musical education has been finished so far that they are really ready to play the real thing.
 Evan walks around Glen Island every day with the big elephants following him placidly and watching his every motion. He takes them out to pasture and to water and drives them home again as other boys of his age and size would drive goats. In the four and one-half years that he has spent on Glen Island he has not missed visiting his two playmates a single day except when he was i'll, and then the two ele- phants nearly became il, too.
 He Is allowed to go wherever he pleases on the island, with no one to watch him. He wanders in and out of the menagerie all day long, but his father says that he knows too much to get within reach of the cat animals and the bears, although he is in and out of the tiger, lion and panther houses all day long and his way lies right along side of the cages that contain the griz- zly, cinnamon and polar bears. He has never been hurt by an animal.
 He gets his love for animals legiti- mately, for his father has made many trips to Asia and Africa to get wild an- imals for American shows, besides hav- ing been a collector of snakes and big reptiles in Cuba and South America. He has been an unusually successful animal trainer almost all his life, and Evan has made up his mind that he will become one, too.-Washingto Evening star.