The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1907-05-15
NO. SO
oO6en fhe Trumpet
founded.

ga river, near Nagpoor, In lndlas ana ID
this month of August the scene was az
busy a one as could be conceived. The
approaches were being filed In by Q
thousand natives; the ironwork was
being pushed along by 500 more direct
ed by English engineers and foremen;
200 men were unloading the cars Of
the working trains; 800 elephants. each
In charge of 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:
81 have to tell you that my beast
Banga has had to be punished often To-
day. he is homesick and out Of tenn
per. have talked kindly 70 him. I
have coaxed and reasoned. hut Il han
done no good. He stlll defes me. 1
am afraid that il 1 do not let him rese
he will make great trouble"
"But there is no time for rest" re-
piled the overseer. who was q native
himself. "rhe work must ba driven;
the bridge must be finished. Tomor-.
row your beast may no longer be
homeslck. 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
ised him n whole months rest when
the bridge should be finished, but Bau-
ga made a rumbling In his throat ana
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 viii
win over our beasts. Hear him growl
In his throat! The great sahib should
be told that there is danger"
Word was sent to the engineer In
charge of the works. He was an Eng
lishman who had lived long in 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 well known face
that now and then an elephant got
homesIck and became dangerous II not
laid of for 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 besEcused.
Banga rumbled In his throat ana
switched his tail about and just BE-
fore the whistles blew for the resump-
ton OF work he raised his trunk ana
made q whistling noise through It.
Every other elephant on the works
caught the sound and repeated the Gig.
pal back.
Ell Ra0ns danger whispered the
mahoNts 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
was there, and not an elephant refused
to obey orders. Even Banga worked
better than during the morning. The
mahouts and their bosses had had Q
vigilant eye on the tolllng beasts, but
us time passed their fears were quieted.
"Thief and robber, dost thou not
see that Banga is at workT demanded
foreman of mahout.
-Four elephants twined their trunks
around an iron girder and lifted "a
from the ground. They held It gus-
pended for moment, and then Banga
let go, raised his trunk and blew q
trumpet blast. But few men there had
ever heard the like before. They Wer0
men who had hunted the great beast
in his wild state and had heard the
sound from q wounded and enraged el-
ephant. In thirty seconds a scene oe
industry was turned into hell Three
hundred elephants were trumpeting at
once. Nearly 1000 men were running
and shouting. Locomotives and en-
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 a second he made a corpse Of the
overseer who had called him thief.
Then up and down the long dirt filed
| approaches the 300 behemoths rayed.
They struck men down az fast as they
could reach them. Some they hurled
into the air and others into the nearby
treetops. They upset the locomotives
and dump carts OF the dirt trains and
rolled them down the embankmentS.
They picked up beams and planks ana
gIrders and kegs Of bolts and rivetS
and sent them after.
Ten minutes cleared the long west
ern approach. Then a hundred OF the
beasts, moving as Il under orders,
pressed forward to the big pier. They
tore down the structures occupied by
the engineers. They tore down the
storehoIse and sent fits contents into
the muddy river. They tore out braces
and ripped out girders until the al
most completed span went down under
their attacks. Then they turned upon
the camps-upon the stationary en-
gines, the portable sawmilIs, the shan-
ties, the storehouses-upon everything
that could be destroyed, and half
an hour before sundown every beast
was in the forest and his bondage
broken.
Fifty men killed and injured, great
camp destroyed, great work dam
aged to the amount Of 100000. great
work delayed five monthS-that was
the price paid because the great sahib
over all would not pay attention TO the
rumblings in the throat Of Banga, the
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