The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-05-22

next taught to reproduce this att1tud1. only with the position of his body com IpleteIy reversed. He Is taught to etond on his head and hold his hind legs nigh in the air above him When an eIeDhant naz progressed thus far In his education alcn@ ne Is usually graduated from the individual instruction and permitted to join the re4H lar elephant classes.
 The parallel between the r,ass of the ese. pnane school, or rather college as t mi4n< nv nv % called, and the familiar school r.s,,.liw now becomes the more striking. 1n< sas-. nary instruction in tricks. of course r,ex very elementary when compared forr.s sne many complicated tricks per m Ise ,..L TOT instance. by the '-Greatest show t-ss,. vi .n. few years since these simple sr,chs alone delighted circus audiences the ss..l.y over. but the advance in the higher sesucation s of elephants has been so rapid ir, rscent years that the public has grown inpatient of them.
 Some Adparced 7ramanq.
 To-day. as every one knows. an entire nero or elephants go through the most ,spinpucated drills together in perfect uxu9 liAe go many well drilled soldiers They 1afe taugnt to rise on their hind legs ana s.Anu u al attention or swing around tn9 I ~ ttff8 SaEd on his 0tUu t<E1s Wte<t *--" loreieet on the back of the next Tn line. pr they must mount on great barrels and group Themselves picturesqueiy ana ss backs.
 l The feature of Barnum & Bailey's ele- phant performance this year marks great advance, however. even on these ac- complishments. A dozen large elephanu go through a complete war drill, firing can | rAraff r. lterward cover him with the country's nas and carry him away, while other elephants DICK up his sword and helmet and paraa< slowly out of sight of the audience.
 The dean of the elephant college. os lrather university, at Bridgeport, M
 Bates. Is naturally very proud of ms oia graduates. In recalling the other day fht tschool days Of his pupils he told severas lexperienoes. the truth of which he ser1< lously vouches for. Like many experiences Iof the school room, some of these stories are at his own expense. The eiephanfx loften have had the best of the encounterA las bright, mfschievous school boys or eIe- lphants will the world over.
 T long since discovered" said he. '.thai lit was extremely dangerous to show tha slightest favoritism to any one elephant p1 the class. It is natural to favor some par lticularly apt pupil, but the elephants ars lvery sensitive, quick to take offence and lextremely jealous. went one day Into the class room-the training ring. that is-- with bag full of oranges had brought as reward. I bought a dozen. Ihers were just twelve elephants in the class. but the dealer had given me thirteen oranges for good measure. did not know this, and, starting at the end of the Iline, gave out the oranges, one at a time. The elephants took them grayely. but kept watchfm eye on the bag.
 At the end of the line discovered there was one orange over. The situation waa much more serious than you might i'm agine. If 1 gave any one elephant an extra orange there would be troubls-the Jones which had been sighted would hold a grudge against me for months or years. l We'll. I had an inspiration. stepped back, holding that extra orange in full lview of the class, and then calmly peeled land ate 1t myself before their eyes. Tho day was saved. Every elephant saw tho lJoke-trust them for that--and each nudged his neighbor for fear he might miss the fun.
 Hockey" and Ounce Elephants.
 "EIephants are as mischievous In their way as any school boys. I never had an elephant yet which wouldn't play hockey, {, there Is no other word for it. 1t is, of course, impossible for them to run away and hide, although any elephant win try to escape through the door of the train- ing quarters--the school room, 90 to speak-oftener than any other building of their quarters. You have probably mo- I ticed the little elephant which carries the i flag of truce in our war act this year. He is one of the cleverest pupils I have ever had and yet, on the whole. the laxiest Now, his favorite trick, remember. wsa | to play he was lame and unable to go through his lesson.
 Tt took us some time to realize what he was up to. He knew the hour for reci- tations as well as I did, and for an hour before the time each day he would Ila down in his straw and groan. He fooled us all at first. so that we were a good deal worried about him: The doctor was called | in and he was examined, but nothing seemed to be the matter. This happened several times, until one day noticed that the trouble seemed to come on at the same hour each day, while during the recess, so to speak, when the elephants were let out to exercise, he was as lively as any of them. That settled it. He was punished. and thereafter he came up to time with the rest of them.
 And speaking of the play hour reminds me of the plan have used for years to punish the stupid or unwilling elephants who refuse to go through with their les son. The elephants are let out to play or exercise in fine weather much the same as g class at school. I said punished the stupid elephants, but as a matter of fact there is very little stupidity among these Ielephants. They are lazy or cross or vicious and often refuse to do their work. but they are not stupid. We'll. when an elephant sulks I let 1t pass at the time. but later, when the hour to go out comes along, I have him tied before the open door, where he can see the rest of the herd or class outside. It is practically the ancient dunee method. you see. and it works like a charm. The dunce elephant of one day is seldom the dunce of tho | next"