Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-04-12

Of a fair sized elephant Is 800 pounds,
so the animal is equal to eight ponies,
small mules or asses; five stout pack
mules or bullocks, and to three and
one-half camels. With this load the
elephant will keep up with an ordi-
nary army or baggage train. He Is In
valuable in a roadless country and the
jungle, and when the cattle OF Q bag
gage train or the horses Of a battery
are stalled In a bog or struggling help
lessly at steep place, he Is almost
special Providence. Then his trunk
and tusks at once become a lever,
screwjack, doghooks and a crane. With
his aid the confusion Of overturned
carts and gun carriages soon assumes
It's right position. BY main force ne
lifts them over and sets them down
right side up. His head, protected with
a pad, is a ram Of immense force.
Elephants cannot jump; they cannot
even cross a trench seven feet wide, al
though the step Of large one Is six
and one half feet long. Full grown ele-
plants are credited with being, as
swimmers, equal to, If not better than,
any other land animal. A government
herd Of 79, several years ago, was OBJ
liged to swim at one point six hours
without touching bottom; after a rest
on sand bank the animals COM
pleted the swim in three hours more.
When wild and accompanied by their
young they either carry these across
on their backs or support them In front
by their trunks.
There Is q widespread misconception
regarding the height Of elephants.
Most persons would declare that they
had seen them more than 10 feet high;
that, in fact, this was the average
height. 1t is believed that no elephant
can be found in India which measures
more than 10 feet In extreme height.
The African elephant is perhaps one
foot higher. Jumbo, an African ele-
phant, was IL feet high. II asked to
guess how many times the circumfer-
ence of the elephants foot should be
multiplied to obtain his height, some
persons undoubtedly would say ten
times. If this were correct there would
he found elephants nearly so feet high,
as the diameter Of the foot of large
elephant is 1S inches. Usually the
elephants altitude may be determined
by multiplying the circumference OF
his foot by two. Some Of the stories
Of tall elephants undoubtedly have
come from one of the Indian methods
Of measurement. Sanderson says that
elephants are often measured by
throwing a tape over the shoulders,
or even back, the ends being brought
to the ground on each side and half the
length taken as the elephants height.
This accounts for the IL or 12-foot
elephants. Even the same elephant
varies with its condition when meas
ured in this way. An eight-foot beast.
in fair condition, gives height OF 8
feet 9 inches by this method"
The restless swaying motion Of the
elephant is wellknown. 1t Is almost
continuous. A story is told Of the ef-
feet Of the swaying OF shipload OF
40 upon a vessel lying off shore tT In
dian waters. The elephants had been
got aboard with considerable difficulty.
After all had been conducted to their
places in the hold ahe vessel put down
the stream and anchored. In the course
of fewyhours, the officers Of the ship
observed that the vessel was rolling
from side to side in a rhythmfcaf way
The roll became longer and longer and
there was fear that the vessel would
turn turtle. Investigation showed that
the elephants had found that soul-sat-
isfying motion could be secured by
swaying In concert, and were enjoying
themselves to the full. The mahouts
were ordered below to make them
break STEP"
Unfortunately for the elephant, the
mahouts have no consciences, and steal
from his rations without hesitation.
1t is a poor mahout who cannot sup
port three generations of his family on
the allowance for his charge. "The
worst ailment the elephant has to
face" says the elder Kipling, "is semi
starvation, the lot of most elephants In
captivity"
It Is generally believed in India that
elephants die, but, like the burial
place Of Moses, no one knows where
their carcasses lie. The bodies Of the
dead are never found and there Is no
reasonable explanation for this fact.
The Singhalese have a superstition
that on feeling the approach Of dis
solution they repair to a solitary val
ley and there execute their last shuttle.
There may be truth in this legend, as
Major Powell Cotton, Of the British
army, found an elephant graveyard In