Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-02

| him glad me with MS tender caress.n
1 ever since / heeard this yere circus show
was a-comin'.t Las Vegas. that 1 ham
| been able t sleep none fr thinkin' about IT.
| This yere elephant'll do. All you got [ DO
| FIR your end is Z make left oblique OF IL
an lead him T. tn little corral back o Nit
| Parker's gin mill I'm a-takin you all INTO
| my employ e do that an { look after IN
| comfort o. this we're elephant o mine whi.s
| he sojourns with me. Turn him Z tn LETT,
| ombrey.'
The elephant keeper hadn't been prowl-
| ing around the southwest with circus OUT
| fits for a lot Of years without hndihg our
| that It's always wise 10 be agreeable when
/ you're stuck up proper. He turned the oIe
| elephant out Of the road and led him over
| the sand. and then. when he got into inc
| outskirts of Las Vegas. through The aiey
| upon which the rear OF which Milt Parkers
| saloon abutted. There was a barn IN the
| back yard OF Milt's place. where he kept
| his team of mules and his riding cayuse'
| The yard wasn't much in the way OF space
| but IL was fenced in, and any KIND OF a cor,
| raj big enough to hold an elephant was all
| that Quirt required.
| All Took a Look at the Beast.
1.-The elephant was led into the yard by
| the keeper and the back gate closed ouif'
| went through the back door TO the saloon
! and brought Milt Parker out to look the
| elephant over. All OF the fellows hanging
| around Milt's place too, came out TO size
up CURTIS pickup. Quirt explained to ths
gang how he'd been swung by the ocke.-
wagon man with the stack or Mexican
money. . ,
(which I'm kind O. glad 1t happened
that away added Quirt, seein tnat IL
an side podner my little friend yonder. VINO
packs his own trunk along with him. ana
then Quirt suddenly jumped back your tset,
Just in time to duck the swing that ths
elephant, suddenly becoming VICIOUS, naoe
at him with his trunk.
1.-The elephant began to snort ana trum-
pet, and the keeper went over the renee
like cat dodgirg an airgun.
TO us as he fell over on the outside or the
fence. There amt nothin' to II now with
that son-of-a-gun but rafsin roarin haaes
for an hour or So and then the keeper DIS
appeared in the darkness, licketty-spnt.
I'VE fell over each other to get inside the
backdoor OF Milt Parkers saloon. and we
only got In about an eighth OF a second pc
fore the elephant followed after U.S. he
had to raise the back of the shack about
four feet on his shoulders In order to get
through the door, but that elephant was
a-plenty used TO raising things. and he
didn't appear to mind II a little bit. We all
went out the front door and pulled 1t to.
We figured that in the state OF mind that
he appeared to be right then that elephant
needed ali the room he could get
Il hate to mention the number OF different
kind of noises that came out or Milf Par
ker's place during the next twenty min
utes or so. They were too scandalous even
to talk ABOUT. L KNOW tFat SotlIt Sutep IleIi
seven miles over the trail heard the ele-
plants trumpetings and figured them TO be
the earthquake come along again, ana
they'd maybe lie on their knees vet a-pray-
| ng-being greaSer sheep men-if somebody
hadn't blown by where they were coupe
| of days later and told EN- that it was only
| an elephant that had got sort o grouchy all
| of a sudden.
Owner of Elephant Appeared.
'.Mut Parker looked kind o. blue when
| he heard the shocking breaking OF glasses
and bar gear and the pulling down of
counters and fixtures and things that the
| elephant was enjoying inside hts place OF
business. But Mit was a powerful strong
| friend of CURTIS and he never uttered "A
| word of complaint about Quirt having
| fetched the pachyderm to his place. The
| elephant was still pulling pieces out or tho
| ceing-and us standing outside, ready 10
| streak for Ii in case he should butt through
| the window-when the owner of the show
| and four five of his understrappers came
! prancing up. The keeper had reported TO
| them how the elephant had been levied on
| by Quirt. The owner of the show was so
cooric under the collar that he was bust
ing blood vessels In one-two-three order. but
| Qulrt received him calmly and explained
| with becoming gravity why he had felt II
| incumbent upon him tic obtain security for
| the amount out of which he had been CHS
| eled by the ticket-wagon man.
! well, here's your internal dollar.
| growlcd the owner Of the show, tossing
| silver bone at Quirt. Quirt didn't reach
out to catch 1t, but suffered II to remain
on the ground where ii fell.
I'm sure afraid, podner,' said Quirt to
the owner of the circus, that you're in n
| heap deeper now than any dollar. This
we're wild beast has been dom things inside
my friend Mills place durin tn last twenty
| minnits that amt t be mentioned in p'lite
| company. Your dealin's is now with Milt.
| Milt knows what his damages is. I don't
myself uOhOw how Mflf'a niaCa ia
| agoin t be fixed up decent agon fr any
| thin less'n seven or eight hundred dollars
| I sure don't
THE circus owner stormed and threat
ened.
Talk t. Milt.' said Quirt to him. AS
| far as I'm concerned. I couldn't think O.
| turnn' loose no elephant that I've taken
| such a shine to onless my friend Milt got
| compensated-and fust-f'r tn damages
he's done sustained. Couldn't think OF 1t.
| nohow.'
The circus owner said that he'd fetch all
of the law of New Mexico down there right
| away and get that elephant. But there
| wasn't much law In Las Vegas at that
| time. the justice Of the peace being out OF
| town and the night marshal being with our
crowd and declaring that he'd never had
any instructions about rampageous ele-
| plants when he put on his marshals badge.
Then the circus owner said that he'd fetch
| the whole circus outfit out to Mit's place
and get the elephant which sort O. got the
| boys excited. They all said that II there
| was anything that they liked better to eat
| than circus men II was more of EN-.
Handed Over $500 for Damages.
| THE circus owner. who had only recently
| got out of a bad Hey, rube!' scrape over
| the line in Chihuahua, took gup at this
| and backed down. His circus train had been
| due to leave Las Vegas an hour before. in
order to make the next show town. The
elephant. with all of his viciousness. was
the most valuable one of the herd, on ac-
count of his size. The owner OF the circus
peeled Milt said that he wasn't any hog
| and that he thought $500 would about suf-
| fee for all repairs of the damages wrought
| by the elephant. The circus man dug for
| the $500. which Quirt and the rest OF the
crowd pronounced a fair cut, and then a
| soothing female elephant of the circus herd
| was brought around to Mills back yard
| and the big elephant in the saloon lifted
| up the back of the shack on his shoulders
again and Joined her there. and content
eddy permitted the head keeper to run the
goad through the slit in his ear and lead
him to the train.
1T cost Milt Parker all OF $40 to make
necessary repairs and to renew his stock
of glassware in the saloon. and he cut the