The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-27
STRANGE ANIMALS.

One of the late discoveries in the Congo country Is the okapi which the New York Mail describes as "a short necked giraffe with yellow cheeks, red forehead and ears Gears fringed with black): a sepla neck and wine-red body; hindquarters snowy white; tail chestnut: hind and fore legs snowy white or pale cream color. the whole touched here and there with orange and boldly marked with purple black horizontal stripes and blotches. and you have this reputed geological wonder. He seems to be a sort of walking col or-pot, CT a beast which has run the gauntlet of a row of artists, each one of whom has made jab at him with paint brush loaded with his most brilliant color"
 This seems to be sort of Dolly Var den among animals, and we need not be surprised if some contemplating cir GUS manager has one on exhibition be- fore long. He may not get genuine specimen. but that win not set hin, back much. for he can take some other animal and transform him into 'the only real and genuine Okapi now in captivity" Such things have been done before and if Yankee skill and ingen- uity can't produce an okapi it has cer- tainly lost much of It's cunning.
 But the hunt for the curious and unusual is not to end here, for there are indications that the sea-serpent is to be dragged out into the light of day and thus cease to be regarded as a myth. From time immemorial thls creature has been the subject of jokes and fa- bles without number or limit, but 1t has never been seriously regarded. In spite of the many apparently circum- stanttai accounts given by seal going men. there has always been doubt as to the actual existence of the creature. The New York Post thus speaks of the matter:
 In the first place, biologist who compared the sailors yarns published in all languages for four hundred years, found such a striking agreement on certain points, like the shape of the head and the method of swimming, that he could draw an accurate composite picture of the beast as a basis for nls description. The Hypothetical Mego- phias may be roughly described as a our-fiippered, bottle-shaped creature, smooth-skinned, but with a sort of mane CT crest down the long neck. and com pact head rather like seals. It range of size appears to correspond roughly to that of the whales. Very soon after these conclusions were pub- lished, the most circumstantial sea- serpent stories yet heard began to come -I-a rEL .% Avalanche, commanded by Lieutenant Lagresille. in July. 1897. sighted two strange creatures in the Bay of Fai- tsi-long Their size he estimated at sixty meters long by two or three in diameter. When he fired at them at a range of 500 meters they dove and did not come into sight again. On Febru ary 15, 1898. the same vessel sighted enother pair of similar creatures, and made chase for an hour and a half. giv- ing up, as the gallant lieutenant put 1t, beeause the sea-serpent had great CT endurance than the Avalanche" Less than a month later, when the Avalanche had on board some officers of the Bay ard the interesting swimming creatures were sighted a third time and pursued up to a closer range than on any of the previous occasions. While it might he objected that group of naval offi- cers engaged in entertaining their brethren from another ship do not make ideal scientific observers. 1t Is recorded that obsSrVerS on a. tnlfd VeS- sel, the Decidee, sighted tue timorous monsters in the same waters no longer ago than the spring of 1904.
 In this connection 1t Is interesting to note that Dr. Henry Blanchard urges tf.at the government of Cochin, China. organize an expedition for the express purpose of seeking out and finding the creature. if 1t really exists. Many ac- counts of its appearance in Chinese waters have led Dr. Blanchard to be- lieve that it is posslblesby a systematic search to set at rest all doubts on the question. so far as possible. If the expedition should succeed In capturing an animal or reptile agreeing with the accounts 1t would settle the matter of course. The failure to find one would not be conclusive that they do not exist, it Is true. but the possibil- ity of discovering 1t is well worth the trouble and expensA. If there are real sea-serpents the world wants to know 1t beyond possibility of doubt.
 FOR A BIG CITY BEAUTIFUL.