Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-26

leave the old man to comb the wet out of
his hair and get over his bad temper by
himself close to the ratings
The polars have been enjoying the Win
ter, and take a plunge now and then into
the icy water of their tank just to show
that they are Indifferent to changes of ell
mate. The Alaska bear, who lives next to
them. has been denied the luxury of bath
for some time, and when the water was
first turned into his tank some days ago
lie went into it headfirst and stuck his
muzzle under the spout and wallowed in
the wetness He is a sulky, evilminded
beggar, is the Alaskan bear, and takes
more watching from the keepers than even
the big grizzly up in the small cage.
Elephants Are Expensive.
Dunk" is distinctly lonely and he will
be glad when the crowds come. Mean and
''ornery'' as was "Golddust," for so many
years Dunk's mate, the big elephant was
sorry when his cantankerous partner died,
and the only bright spot in his life since
then when the authorities had the fe-
male Jennie to keep him company for
few months. She did not have an ounce OF
meanneSS in her disposition, but She was
one of the most miscellaneous animals that
has ever been quartered in the park. She
was shackled by the leg at first with
clever arrangement that fastened with
small thumb screw. But 1t was not long
before she found out what the thumb
screw for and put In her spare mo-
ments unscrewing it. Then she walked out
for a stroll around the park. When she
was recaptured she was as much pleased
with her exploit as though 1t had been
part of a regularly arranged play, in which
she had taken the star role. They put
paddock on her ankle after that and she did
not like the arrangement because she had
no key to it. So she deliberately picked
out a lot of straws and stuffed them into
the keyhole. The next time she was to be
unlocked the paddock was choked full and
ok rnit n hlI IN ont he al "a "a
leg before she could be turned loose.
The Zoo would like very much to get an
other elephant, but they are expensive
brutes to buy, and there has been no one
around lately with an elephant that he
wanted to give away. The Zoo has been
very fortunate in the cats that have been
given to it. The latest addition to the col
lection. Emperor Menelik's lion, is little
more than a half-grown cub, but promises
to make a fine big cat. He is one of the
quickest and brightest of the animals that
has come into the big house for some time.
The animals are always fed at 1870, and
when the feeding starts the three cages
full of big cats at the north end of the
building shifted down one cage to the
south, and so separated while they are hav-
ing their meal. MIR. Menelik'' knows the
i: % he goes to the door leading into the
next cage, and sitting on his hind legs beats
vigorous tattoo on the door and keeps 1t
up till the keeper comes around to move
him He Is just as regular in this per-
Torrance the clock itself, and it would
be interesting to know how he tells the
time, whether by the clock which he can
see from his cage or by his appetite which
he carries just under his watch pocket.
Cleanest of All Zoos.
There is one thing to be said of the Wash
| ington Zoo and that is that it is one of
the cleanest and best kept in the world.
There is not a Zoo in Europe that has
I cir cit uybi
the park beautiful nor half the care and
| attention that is given in Washington to
making the animals comfortable and keep
| ing everything sweet and clean. Chief
| Keeper Blackburn uses enough disinfectants
| where they are needed to keep all the ami
NAL houses sweet, but he has given up the
| allopathic disinfectant habit that makes
| so many smell like a charity hospital
| He laughed when talking over his expert
| ence in this line with Star reporter. 1T
| used to be- said he, that l had the floors
| sprfnkled and washed down with disin-
| fectants three times day. The result
| was that there was no smell of animals.
but there an odor in the air that was
4 not pleasant to most people, and which peo-
| pie more or less naturally thought came
| not pleased when day after day / heard
people snifr and say. Whew. isn't this an
awful smell, wonder to me they don't try
| to keep the place cleani' That was when
\
| disnfectants that had cost good money. 1
| let up on the disinNtants after that and
| relied mostly on soap and water and the
| smell of the bakery"
Corn Bread Baked Wholesale.
| 1t is a fact that there is more of the
| smell of a bakery than an animal house
| about the big carnivora domicile The
| general public. of course. does not know
| that down in the basement of the big house
there is regular animal restaurant. Here