The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-05-30
MOVING THE ALLIoAToRs.
What Happened When Number Two
 Threw Out His Chest.

From the Washington Post
 It is easy enough to move big allfga- tors if you only know how and they eer- tainly do know how down at the Aqua rum; but even with experts on the job mishaps will sometimes befall.
 They had there two alligators about feet long and weighing each about 25O pounds, which 1t was desired to shift from one pool to another. and they went about the work of shifting them in the usual manner which involves some care and labor You can't just pick up an alligator like that and carry him around because if his head were free he might bite off a mans am or with one swing of his untrammeled tail he could break a mans leg; and so when they are going to move an alligator they first tie him up, the common way being to lay a pole or a plank along his back and lash him to that, using a pole long enough so that it will project at each end beyond the gators head and tail to give the men something to lift and carry him by. Tn moving these two a1llgators they used a spruce board about 12 feet long, 20 inches wide and an inch and a quarter thick.
 You\let the water run out Of the pool to strand the gator, and then the first thing you do Is to tie his great jaws to- gether so that he can't bite. In one end of one of the two lines you are going to lash him with you make a slip moose: and then seizing a favorable opportunity you get that moose over the gators nose and work it back to about where you want 1t around his jaws and then you draw it tight and make the loop fast thus securely closing the alligator's mouth.
 Then you lay the plank along on the alligator's back and begin taking turns of the line around over the plank and under the gators body, working farther and farther back with every turn, till you have got to about his midship sec tion, where you have about used up this line and where you make it fast.
 So now you have the forward part of the gator lashed to the plank, with lash ing not tight enough to do him any harm, but still drawn plenty tight enough so that he can't move at that end. Then, with the other line you start on aft, taking repeated turns in the same man ner around the plank and the after part of the gators body and his tail. Using plank instead of @ pole, there is room under the plank, spreading out as it does on each side of it, for a little play of the alligator's tail, but they made the turns here close enough together so that he can't work his tail free.
 With the alligator thus dashed to tie plank the rest is easy They lift him out of the pool and then a couple of men get under the projecting forward end of the plank at the gators head, and Q couple of men get unoer the projecting after end, at the alligators tall and then they Just simply walk away with him and lift him over into the other pool, and there cast off the lashings.
 In this manner they moved the two gators at the Aquarium, the first one without special incident; but in moving the second there was a slight mlshap which really didn't amount to anything, but which was at least interesting.
 They had got this alligator all nicely and snugly lashed and were about to lift him, when the big gator drew in a deep breath and threw out his chest, the cords around him tautening and tautening, and drawing down harder and harder on the edges of the plank on his back as his body expanded, and then the first thing they knew-snapl craeki bangi The plank split from end to end, straight down the middle
 And then they had the flashing to do or to set up all over again, because now the plank, instead of lying flat across the gators back, sloped down like the roof of house, along on either side. closer to the gators body, giving the lashings all a little slack and the gator a little play in them. But they soon got the lashings all snugly tautened up again, and then they got Alligator No over without any further trouble.