The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-06-03
BROWN -BLACKMARE
AN EQUINE WONDER
Animal Trained by a Woman
TO Do 162 Tricks
SHE LIKES BEEFSTEAK
3
Tells the Time and Flags Without
Any Sign or Signal From Her
owner-Eats With
Family.
SHE LIKES BEEFSTEAK


Family. :
From theANew York World.
ransy ssAa. brown-b1ac1 mare. 10 hands
a144 is wears old and has been pro-
noamced bytDan Costello, Thea Oldest ami
mai trainer an the world-he IDS vergang
ON 4rinety-to, be the most intelligent
ouadraIped he lhas khandled in an expert
ence of seventy-five years. Tapsy LEADS
two nves-pubho ,and private. For the
people who pay toksee ner she PERFORMS
1s2 tricks. With her own mistress ana
master she is one OF the family, and her
intelligence as Displayed w1thin the house
hold has nothing to do with her profess
aional appearances. SOY that whatever she
does at home is not counted as trick
but simply what a spodled child might 90
in ex1lbsrance of spirits. The dispatch
nrom Oklahoma was noHuneSpeoted. Con-
4sna,ed absence from aAsr owner causes
the mare to droop andl to become fret
FIJI The most effectivel tonic TO restore
her as one stroke of THE palm Of her
owner. Mrs. Oatman etaEts for Oklahoma
tomorrow.
Fancy a horse eating Abeefsteak and
griddle Cakes and peelingt the T1nd from
an orange stripping the skin from a ba-
mana and eating squash .pie! All these
things the mare does andhmore, but not
for nav. as she does in tine circus ring,
directed by Mile. Lula, which is the pro-
fessional name of Mrs. Oatman, who
Yesterday told for the first time of
Tapsy's home life.
at wouldn't be worth while going
over what the mare does in public said
Mrs. Oatman. "She has been exhibited
In every city I'm the United States. There
Ia nothing any other horse can do which
she cannot do. and there is no new trick
which she cannot learn; but ! suppose
what Tapsy does at home would be re-
ra1ded as incredible If proof were not so
readily obtained.
1T talk to her just as ] would to
child. There is nosdoubt that she under
stands language.
Eats Wlth.the Family.
This is displayed, when we bring her
10 the table. When we are on the road
she always eats with us, putting her
head over my shoulder and taking the
food from the table. She never touches
ANYTHING, however. until she first gives
notice by stroking my ear with her
upper lip.
IT talk to her, as 1 said, just as
would to a child. 'Tapsy, the cakes are
not done. or 'Tapsy wait until the boy
comes with the oranges, or 'Tapsy,
don't touch the bread until l get the
coffee poured out She knows the diff
ference between oranges and cake and
bread by word, not by infection or
gesture Whenever l tell her to wait she
walks off and mounts the see-saw used
in public exhibitions. and teeters ur and
down until / call her. Now, | never
saw the most intelligent trained dog go
voluntarily to the apparatus used In
his work and amuse himself as Tapsy
does Perhaps l would make myself
clearer If l compared her actions with
that of a well-grown, obedient child
directed to play with its toys while
dinner is being made ready. Tapsy teet-
ers up and down until | say Come
8 'oThen she walks up behind my chair,
puts her head over my shoulder and
looks at each person at the table She
never touches anything until she has
made a pretense of nibbling the lobe of
my ear and when | say all right. Tap
sy.' she reaches down and eats from
the plate which has been put in place
for her. Griddle cakes with molasses
appeal strongly to Tapsy. She eats the
cakes and then licks the molasses from
the plate, something l never heard OF
any horse doing. But further than
that Tapsy will eat beefsteak, as can
be attested by dozens of persons who
have seen the mare take a piece OF
meat from the table and eat it, After
she has had her dinner she wipes her
lips on my hair using it as a napkin Il
Learned Tricks Herself.
Now, all this, 1t must be remembered
Is no part of TapsY's training. She never
has been taught to do any of these things
No attempt has been made to instruct
her when she is TO stay away from the
table or when she is to come. She obeys
Just as a human being would obey, be-
cause she understands the words | know
that to be a fact because If there are
two or three doors In a building | can
direct her to go out of amy one of them
and she never makes a mistake,
'rapsy can tell the time by looking
at a watch or a clock without any sign
or signal from me She indicates the hour
by striking with her right foerfoot. snow
her a watch without hands on it and
she will remain motionless. or else try
10 kick the person attempting TO foo
her Let the flags of twenty nations be
strung on a line and Tapsy VIII selec
any flag you direct her to pick That Is
part of her training, Dut II proves Deyon'
question that she reasons. She Will make
a selection as readily for stranger as
she will for me. No signal Of any sor'
ts made.
.1n her own equine way, Tapsy is 9
practical joker, and one of her Jokes she
plays in public, frequently to my annoy
ance. but which the spectators believe tt
be part of the performance One OF tht
regular tricks is for me to tie a hand
kerchief around one hindleg and one fore
leg of the mare. She unties the knots
with her teeth Tapsy's joke is played
only at long intervals, and when l am
least expecting 1t. When / stoop over
TO tie the handkerchief above the fet-
lock on the foreleg. she will seize me
by the waist-belt. lift me clear off the
ground and deposit me carefully about
four feet away. OF course, everybody
thinks this belongs to the trick, but posi-
lively III does not.
..The mare never has been taught tc
= do 1t. and I don't like ner TO do II. Sh'
knows 1t is wrong. because after lifting
: me she throws her head up high, so
cannot slap her face-another proof that
she reasons from cause to effect OF thai
there is not the slightest doubt l have
read of the remarkable powers of Hans
the educated German horse, in perform
ing difficult feats I'm mathematics, anc
have no reason to doubt their truth
Tapsy has not been instructed beyond
addition subtraction and short division
but in these she is perfect. She could
work in the higher mathematics If were
able to teach her.