The San Francisco call., 1906-09-23

~ = L must meet the trained animal
OF show when he is not on
dress parade IN order to become
truly acquainted with him. In
the ring there is q great deal concern
ing him about which he is reticent
although IL would seem that he lives
constantly in the public eye. There he
makes a great display of his inteIli-
gence concerning feats for which ma
Iure, obviously. aid not intend him, but
he leaves his audience totally in igno-
rance OF his faIlings and gives no light
whatever on the things Of his soul
Having a natural curiosity regard
ing these things. 1 set cut a few morn
ings since TO call on the trick ele-
plants and seals Of one Of the biggest
shows on earth ] omitted sending my
card 10 the monkey headquarters be-
cause monkeys seem TO me to have been
constructed pre-eminently with the in
tention that every day and all day long
they should engage in the pcrpetratiof
Of tricks Of every conceivable sort; and
so upon that occasion they failed to
claim my special interest and attention
AS il happened, l had timed my visit
most propitiously The street parade
was just over and. in the best Of spirits
the animals and their trainers were re-
turning 10 camp. Group by group and
with the ordcsilness OF an army. in it's
brilliantly painted vans. the enormous
double menz gerie." the "costliest. most
complete geological collection offered
for public inspection in the entire
world. the biggest zoo on earth in
Guiding the rarest. the most colossal.
the most diminutive the most savage
and ferocious" mote the distinction)
animals on the face of the earth--in
fact the most gigantic zoo under the
sun" etc was being brought into its
.den,'' and !. with my utmost endeavor
TO show due appreciation Of all that
pagcantry. was there TO greet il.
SO far as ], in my dense ignorance
OF the several languages spolKen. could
discover from the somewhat confused
discourse Of that asscmbIage. each
member OF IL was declaring with more
or less vehcmence that the colossal
canvas domed geological garden" was
by all odds more desirable stamping
ground than the public highway from
which he had just returned
TIC vans were DIbuEtAl aBpt tVA&lfabEi3
70 their proper positions by the horses
that had drawn them through the
parade: the horses were then led away
10 their own tent. the rest Of the work
being left in the gentle hands OF
John L"
John l." as a Worker.
John L. is a middle-a ged elephant
or some IS or so years. As l watched
him st work I wondered how the show
could possibly get along without him.
hut William Patterson. trainer of the
herd. told ne that he had six elephants
that could be used r0r such purposes
who had proved themselves almost IL
not quite az capable as the huge crea-
ture l was watching. which. he said
was able TO do as much by pushing as
ten strong horses could by pulling
Evidently this was Johns day to at
tend to the housework. He was setting
the vans straight all around the tent
Almost all OF them had to be moved
forward or back foot or two and per-
haps sideways a little This is not
mans work. for in the construction Of
those vans there is more weight OF iron
than can be easily COPIED with by a
man. and there is the additiouai weight
Of several hundred pounds Of wild ami