Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1908-06-05

This Is the story of a new elephant
act Chang was the elephant
lank. big-boned. huge-eared. good
natured African, who had been
caught in trap-hole. when a calf.
on the slopes Of Kilimanjaro. He did
not appear in the ring, but he did ap-
pear in the parade and in the news
papers. For every "big show with
any self-respect possesses an elephant
which is positively "the largest eie-
phant on EARTH And with the
Jungling Brothers Show that ele-
phant was Chang.
"Ballyhoos Jaekson--a "ballyhoo
man" is one who has once acted as a
@lecturer" for the side-show-was
Chang's keeper, walked beside him in
the procession, saw that he ate and
drank all that was good for him, and
slept with him in "the monster, spe-
cially constructed private car" at
night.
In the case Of most big elephants
this would have been a good deal of a
bore, for in the main they are likely
to be stupid. But Chang was not
stupid. He had two nightly up
swelling. gray-black bulges on the
top Of his Uranium. like the gun-tur-
rets Of a battleship in their war
paint. He had the vacant space for
education; he had an elephants nat
ural desire for it, and Ballyhoo be-
gan to give it to him.
But he did not teach him any of
those foolish fancy trick which take
the public eye. Other largest ele-
plants on earth might be taught to
push baby carriages and carry doll
parasols. Ballyhoo aimed to give
Chang a chance to show that he pos
sessha, the kind of brain one actually
thinks with. So he taught him how
TO yne up the four-ton pole wagons,
and tote ring banks. and load "Oid
Hundred which is the wagon that
carries the qnarter-poles, and the
heaviest of them all.
But the thing to which Ballyhoo
really pointed with pride was this:
He had taught Chang how to warm
and ventilate that monster, specially
constructed private car" At least.
Chang had come to comprehend that
when the air began to feel raw and
chilly, he had only to stun the fan
light with some old s9eking piled in
the corner. And When 1t grew un-
comfortably hot, he had only to take
the sacking out again. The sight of
Chang doing that tickled Ballyhoo
nightly. This was in the Eastern
States, where it was never very hot
or cold that summer, anyway. But
when there was change of tempera-
turc, Ballyhoo called on everybody to
come and see.
II Chang was sloy IN noticing the
change himself. Ballyhoo would re-
mark, "Ah. Chang. old pardner, don't
you think it's gettin a bit sneezy in
here?" Whereupon Chang would
start for the sacking at once.
And for the rest of that day Bally-
hoo would go round shaking hands
with people he was not acquainted
with. did you see that? Did you?
Tchck! And it's just the result of
teachin' an elephant somethin' that
it's worth his while to know
Only there is this to remember.
When you have taught an elephant
anything, he is never going to forget
It. Indeed, the elephant that ever
forgot anything would be a curiosity
among all his tribe. II, moreover.
you have once appealed to his sense Of
pure reason, you need never try to go
back on it. If, again. what he has
learned is something in the way of
useful information. he is going to put
In hours Of spare time rejecting upon
the advantages of that useful in
formation. He is going to act accord
ingly for all time to come. Nor need
you ever expect him to do the con
trary.
The summer after that, the Jung
ling Brothers Show was billed to
close its season in Seattle. 1t spent
two months in swinging back and
forth across the plains. Il loitered
for another month below the foot
hills. And then one night It began.
in a long two days Jump. to climb
the Divide.
About 3 o'clock the next morning.
from his shake-down in the corner,
Ballyhoo heard Chang moving rest
lessly about. Opening an eye. he saw
that he had begun to stuff that sack
ing into the fanlight. And that
pleased Ballyhoo even more than it
had done in the beginning.
For, "Shiyering shakes he
thought, we've only started IN the
climb And this is sure going to be
the coldest thing in refrigerator-cars
before we're rolling down again, II
comes just the way l told them all.
II hadn't showed Chang, I'd have to
be rustlin' out and shuttin that fan
light myself"
That was Ballyhoo's idea of 1t.
And he hauled up his old checker
board quilt and his two big gray
army blankets, snuggled his feet into
them, and went to sleep. telling him
self that while Chang might not much
take to the Rocky Mountain tempera-
ture, a little of it would very likely
do him good.
That was Balyhoo's idea Of it, But
as it grew colder and colder. and
colder, Chang's thoughts ran some
thing this way: We'll, l don't know
that l understand this. It's the same
old car, all right" and he stood for
a while on the other forefoot. aIt's
the same old fanlight and the same
old saking. But"--and he tried TO
get his trunk over his left ear
seems to me I've only made it cold
er! Seems as if this climate But
say, maybe l didn't put that sacking
right"
And sure enough. he had left It so