Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-04-25
DAILY STORY
WHEN THE TRUMPET SOUNDED

way and railroad bridge over the Gun |
ga river, near Nagpoor, in India, and in |
this month of August the scene was as
busy one as could be conceived. The
approaches were being filled in by a
thousand natives; the ironwork was
being pushed along by 200 more direct
ed by English engineers and foremen;
200 men We're unloading the cars of
the working trains; 300 elephants, each
in charge of n mahout, were carrying
or dragging beams of wood and grid
ers of iron. When the steam whistles
blew for dinner on this particular day,
one of the mahouts approached his boss
and. after respectful salaam, said:
Il have to tell you that my beast
Banga has had to be punished often to-
day. He is homesick and out of tenn
per. l have talked kindly to him, |
have CoaXed and reasoned, but it has
done no good. He still defies me. l
am afraid that if l do not let him rest
he will make great trouble"
But there is no time for rest" re-
piled the overseer, who was native
himself. "The work must be driven;
the bridge must be finished. Tomor-
row your beast may no longer be
homeSick. There can be no rest for him
today
The mahout drove his elephant to the
feeding place and placed food before
him, but the beast would not eat. He
was offered dainties, but he refused
them. The mahout sang to him, prom
Used him a whole months rest when
the bridge should be finished. but Ban
ga made a rumbling in his throat and
would not be placated. His conduct
was noticed by other mahOuts, and
some of them said:
He should not go back to work this
Afternoon. He is dangerous. He will
| win over our beasts. Hear him growl
in h; throat, The great sahib should
| be tod that there is danger"
Word was sent to the engineer In
charge of the works. He was an Eng
lishman who had lived long i'll India
and knew the ways of natives and ele-
plants. Some of the beasts and their
drivers had come 200 miles to work on
the bridge 1t was 4 we'll known fact
that now and then an elephant got
homesick and became dangerous if not
laid off for a day or two. The engineer
had set out to make that banner day,
and when word came from Banga the
reply went back that the beast was not
to be excused.
| Banga rumbled in his throat and
switched his tail about, and just be
fore the whistles blew for the resump-
ton of work he raised his trunk and
made a whistling noise through it,
Every other elephant on the works
caught the sound and repeated the sig
nal back.
ut means danger" whispered the
mahouts to each other, but the great
sahib had spoken, and there was no
holding back.
For two hours after dinner the work
went on at high pressure. Every man
to obey orders. Even Banga worked
better than during the morning. The
mahouts and their bosses had had Il
vigilant eye on the toiling beasts. but
as time passed their fears We're quieted.
Thief and robber, dost thou not
see that Banga is at work. demanded
Il foreman of a mahOut.
Four elephants twined their trunks
around an iron girder and lifted it
from the ground. They held it sus-
pended for moment, and then Banga
let go, raised his trunk and blew Il
trumpet blast. But few men there had
ever heard the like before. They We're
men who had hunted the great beast
in his wild state and had heard the
sound from wounded and enraged ell
ephant. In thirty seconds n scene of
industry was turned into hell. Three
hundred elephants We're trumpeting ut
once. Nearly 1900 men were running
and shouting. Locomotives and ell
gines were blowing whistles of warn.
| ing for just one minute, and then the
: great beasts broke loose, and Banga
, led them all in his fury. With one
/ blow of his trunk he killed his mahOut
! with second he made corpse of the
, overseer who had called him q thief
l. Then up and down the long dirt filled
approaches the 800 behemothS raved
} They struck men down as fast as they
! could reach them. Some they hurled
into the air and others into the nearby
' treetOps. They upset the locomotives
t and dump carts of the dirt trains an(
! rolled them down the embankments
I They picked up beams and planks ant
Orders and kegs of bolts and rivets
! and sent them after.
t Ten minutes cleared the long west
, ern approach. Then hundred of the
beasts, moving as If under orders
, pressed forward to the big pier. They
tore down the structures occupied b!
= the engineers. They tore down thu
storehouSe and sent it's contents int
the muddy river They tore out braces