Arizona republican., 1909-09-15
CEASES TERRIFIED WOMEN
Four Trained Elephants Break From Keepers, De- stroy Fences and Gar dens and Muss Up the South Side Generally

While Mrs. Pedro Trujillo was washing clothes yesterday morning in the back yard of her home on the south side near the Bartlett Heard ranch a huge rror-stricken elephant came numbering madly across the des- ct, trampling down palo verde trees and tearing up yards of fence wher- ! ever they obstructed his path. The furious animal caught sight of Mrs. | Trujillo and dashed at her, scattering the fences as he charged. It was too absurd-an elephant galloping wildly about the Salt river valley. Mrs. Trujillo burst out laughing.
 Then the woman looked again. Far off in the distance, enveloped in min iature sand storms of their own ere ating, she saw other elephants sour rying over the desert. and right there close to her, with red in his eyes and his yellow tusks dripping father, the enormous pachyderm, like an ocean liner bearing down on a skiff. swayed ] toward the woman. Then she be- lieved her eyes, and with a hysterical shriek darted into the house with the elephant after her.
 Not many years ago it was not such an unusual sight to see an occasional | camel wandering placidly across the desert. the last survivors of those i'm ported to Arizona by the United States army; but never. until yesterday, were | elephants, the deniZens of African l jungles, seen dashing across the river bottoms.
 Four trained elephants belonging to Glascock. the snowman, were shipped from Bakersfield to Maricopa. They were designed for the Coliseum. where they are now showing. At Maricopa they were taken from the train and ! two men. riding the largest of the ele- plants, started to drive them to Phoenix. They reached the Gila in safety. the huge animals swimming the stream. Yesterday morning. when they were about six miles south | of Phoenix, the procession came up with a man riding in a buggy. Just | as they were passing the wind blew his hat off. It whirred just in front of the leading elephants face. He trumpeted wildly and stampeded. Tn spite of the frantic efforts of the riders to control them the animals broke away. threw their riders, and then darted to the four corners of the compass wreaking havoc to the fields | they passed through It was the van | guard of this strange caravan that T.,. | of her wits.
 | When the elephant, known on the showbills as Mike" saw the woman escaping into the house he attempted to follow her. He thrust his osseous head through the door. dashed his trunk and trumpeted. Within were Mrs. Trujillo. five children, a baby and her sister-in-law. There was not a man within call. The frightened women rushed out of the front door as the elephant tried to get in the back. Mrs. Trujillo's sister ran out into a field and dropped in a heap | The children screamed. As they ran out of the house they could hear the elephant tearing down the door. Mrs. Trupillo ran to aid her sister
 
 | Fearing that the elephant would come around the house and attack them she dragged her sister back again | They found the elephant madly en- deavoring to tear down the house, but 1 he was not succeeding very well, so they crouched in a corner terror strick- en. Several other smaller elephants came up and amused themselves walking about in the yard and de- vouring the shrubbery. Then one of the keepers came and beat the animal | into submission.
 When Trujillo came home and found his family in consternation and his fences wrecked he came to Phoenix and visited the sheriff's office to see what could be done about it. He was ad- vised to consult a lawyer.