Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1908-10-15
ELEPHANTS AT WORK
Hundreds Employed In SawmiIIs-.-May
Give Place to Machinery.

" DUG IhC WI hAhe3 CiVpiuAI III 49,
his glory one must go to Burma, the
centre of the teakwood industry.
Some of the great sawmills Of Maui.
main and Rangoon employ hundreds
Of elephants, some with and Others
without mahout or driver.
The companies own immense tim.
ber concessions. and each year Ger.
tain number of trees are marked for
cutting down. Those so marked are
girdled to prevent the sap rising.
This causes the tree to die.
In three years it Is quite seasoned
and dry. 1t is then cut down, the
branches are Topped off, and one, two
or three elephants are attached to 1t
by chains to haul 1t to the nearest
stream.
The creek in which the elephant
has deposited its log, says the Circle,
may be dry in the timber cutting sea-
son; nevertheless the creature con-
tines to pile up log after log In the
when the monsoon shall break and
wash the accumulation Of logs into
one of the main rivers.
When this Is done men collect at
various points and examine the vari-
Gus owners marks. The logs are
sorted and bound into RATS, and a
family of Burmans forthwith installs
Itself upon each, and builds little
hut of bamboo and leaves in which
to live while the big raft of teak logs
Is coming down the river to Rangoon.
When the RATS arrive opposite the
saw yards herds Of working elephants
are in waiting to heave the logs out
Of the water and take them to differ
ent parts Of the mill. They display
an intelligence almost human; and
when the dinner bell rings at midday
logs are dropped in every direction
and the ground fairly shakes as hun
dreds of tuskers scamper off to dinner
like playful children let out of school.
When the logs have been sawn 9TH
er gangs of elephants move dexter
ously about among the huge circular
saws, avoiding them with extreme
care, clearing away debris, and in a
marvellous manner discriminating
between mere rubbish and the sawn
planks. Then the elephants stack the
latter so carefully that the edges are
not injured.
Most amusing is it to see one OF
these working elephants tackling a
huge squared log and placing it on
the stack. First of all he estimates
Its length and it's weight as it lies on
the ground. Then he digs his tusks
under it at one end, curls his trunk
over and tries to drag one eud of the
log on to his tusks.
Should he find the task beyond him
he Will give queer little trumpet
note, and up comes colleague to
help him at the other end. In a mo.
ment the two elephants have swung
the big log between them, walk in
step to the pile, and then one of them,
apparently by preconcerted agree.
ment. places his end in position on the
stack. while the other rams home the
log.
Every timber yards has its own
particular show elephant, more in.
telligent than the rest, and one be.
longing to Messrs. MacGregor & Co.,
Of Rangun, was in the habit of turn.
Ing on a water tap and helping him.
self to big drink. though he never
could be induced to turn the water
off again. Similar obstinacy and oc.
casionally bad temper is shown, and
the mahouts are very highly paid, for
they live always in the risk that the
huge brutes may turn upon them and
kill them, particularly if the mahout
has at any time shown cruelty or un.
kindness.
A Hindu mahout was employed
with working elephant at Bangkok,
Siam, and frequently used steel
goad, in defiance Of all warnings.
The result was that his elephant made
frequent attempts to kill him, and
finally the man was discharged.
Nearly four years afterward, by
most remarkable coincidence, both
elephant and mahout met again in
Maulmain, Burma, and no sooner was
the big tuskcr out of sight of the saw
mill and we'll into the forest than
he curled his trunk up backward
seized his old prosecutor by the neck,
hurled him to the ground, and in an
instant mighty forefoot had crushed
out his life.
Each working elephant represents
a value of $500, and years of ex.
perience have shown that until quite
recently this was the most profitable
form of'labor that could be employed
In the great forests of Burma and
Siam. Now, however, highly ingeni.
GUS American, German and British
machinery-chietiy portable railroads
and steam hoists-are gradually TAX.
ing the place of the giant workers,
and in another decade the independ.
ent elephant laborer may be entirely
extinct.