The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1905-12-09
HsN E.AS ELEPHANTS.
Circus Employees Call Them the
Nest TreacherouS Of All Animals.


Nest Treacheroas of All Animals.
Perhaps the most dalgt rous, con
stan'lE dangerous, business in In,
would is the one into which | hav,
been tos&ed-tne businea; OF elephant
| man, with 4 circus" said a mcnagerit
! cmploye.
| There IS a constant demand fol
Dull men bat few Will accept ths
| position, and most of lis fell into the
| business by accident. and. showing
talent or reckless disregard for con
sequences, made success in hand
ing the animals. and have since been
c!assed as bull men, and offered
that job and no other
Despite the pcrils, the constant
Watchiulness. the haIf-cunscious rca-
hz2llon that death is near probably
not an elephant man in the world to
day would leave his calling 1t has a
fascination Of a strange kind, and
the keeper becomes attached TO the
great brates that tremble at his word
one instant, and the next may turn
upon him and trample him.
Good elephant men command good
pay.
Most of them live in state OF con.
Stant WatchfulneSs, realizing the
treacherous nature of the brutcs and
those who do not realize this sooner
or later are trampled Or hurled to
death
The elephant is the most treacher-
Gus, moody, changeable animal in
menagcrie. They are twice as dan
serous as tigers, lions or bears. The
men who handle the big cats in their
cages are forced to watch closely
and carefully while they are in the
cages with them, but that lasts only
short time.
We bull men live with our gigan-
tic pets, sleep near them, ride them,
order them around, enter with them
into closed cars for long rides. We
are not afraid of them. Before many
years we became fatalists. We ex-
pect them to kill us some day, but
hope it may not be soon, just as the
ordinary citizen expects death some
day
Trainers testify that the elephant
brain works nearer like that of a
human being than the brain of any
other animal. The moods and tenn
pers OF the big brutes change sud
denly. The weather, hard nights
ride on the cars, a bruised foot may
turn the best naturcd elephant into
a peevish brute, ready to strike and
murder in an instant. But these |
moods pass quickly. The great dan
ger is when an elephant is just turn
ng into rogue. Every elephant /
turns rogue sooner or later, and they .
never recover. They may be tracta-
Die for time after queting down.
out the attack will return and then
probably a keeper will be killed. The
emale elephants turn rogueS earlier
md are more violent than the males,
md the females are more DANGEROUS
n ordinary times.
Elephants form great attachments
or certain men and bitter hatrcds
or others, hatred that means mur-
Ter when the opportunity arrives.
Sut the love Of an elephant for its
,eeper will not deter it from killing
i'm when the outbreak comes.
There was one notorious elephant
'hO Travelled with score Of circuses
ndeh different names, and was final
Y executed, who loved one man. a
riend of mine. as never maiden loved
i'm. She would do anything for him.
le drank. She cared for him and
rove away every one who tried to
ONE near when he was drunk and
sleep under her feet. He was dis
harged from several circuses, and
ach time took the elephant. No
ne else being able to handle her, the
wners of the shows understood that
, dischare him was to lose the beast,
nd tacitly she became his property.
ut she in one rampage trampled
i'm until he is cripple for life, and
le killed one of the rescuers, de-
ndinG tiercely the man she had
'ushed.
Good elephant men, ones who can
tain the animals, command big sal .
les. One whom | know receives
80 week, but the ordinary bull :
an recruited from among the can
Is hands or laborers who have no
ar, receive small salaries and ac- ,
pt the positions because the work is
sier, being willing to risk their
res to escape hard work. These
en-, of course, are under competent
ainers. .'-Clevelacd Plain Dealer.