The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1909-01-20
oEIoE


as bicycle rider. There was demand
from Berlin for so gifted a specimen of
| the anthropoid ape and he has now
| been added to the collections in the
geological garden of that city. Perhaps
1t Is not very remarkable that an in
tellieent ape, with innate love for feats
of balancing and gymnastic stunts ON
the branches of trees, should learn to
| ride a bicycle
His trainer reports that his patience
| and time were not overtaxed In teach
Ing him to ride. The ape was a little
slow In grasping the Idea that by work
ing the pedals he could propel the ma
chine, but when light dawned upon him
his education as a wheelman was al
most complete. He is not yet suffic-
iently observant of obstacles in the
road but he is improving.
Just now the German public is most
| interested in the studies that Dr..
Alexander Sokolovski has been MAX
Ing of three anthropoid apes at Stell-
ingen, near Berlin. His scientific spec
ialty is geological psychology and he
has been observing the life of two
orang-outangs, male and female, called
Jacob and Rosa, and an unnamed chin
panZee. He has convinced himself that
these animals have not only instinct
but also elementary reasoning pow
ers.
The three animals are excellent
friends, but there are marked temper
amental differences between the chin
panzee and the orang-outangs The
former Is full of life and Is doing some
thing every waking moment. The lat
ter are more quiet, sit reposefully for
long periods on the floor, and when
they attempt the swinging bar they
are slower and more cautious than the
chimpanzee- who is reckless. He likes
rough and tumble play with Jacob, but
Rosa is his favorite. There seems to
be perfect understanding between
them and she is his dutiful servant in
many of his original performances,
To facilitate DR.. Sokolovski's studies
the keepers gave a good deal of lati-
tude to the three animals. The chin
panzee especially has had his own
way to an unusual extent. He acts
more naturally when he does not
know that he is under human observ-
alton, and for hours every day he has
been apparently by himself though
watched every moment.
Some of the most interesting results
of DR.. Sokolovskis studies grew out Of
the chimpanzees desire to escape con-
finement. He does not like 1t, though
his two friends seem content. They
occupied part of very large wire
cage, more than half of which was
used as the summer sleeping place Of
the giraffes. The board partition div
iding the cage into two compartments
was high, though it did not extend to
the roof. Nobody dreamed that the
chimpanzee could surmount this wall,
but he did, and 1t was of his three sue
cessful attempts to get out of his cage.
In corner of the cage against the
wooden partition was large box In
which the apes slept and so heavy that
they could not move 1t. One day the
chimpanzee jumped up on this box and
seemed to be critically examining the
partition. He jumped into the air
again and again with his arms stretch
ed above his head, but he could not
bring his fingers within three feet OF
the top Of the wall His attention
| suddenly became riveted upon large
tin globe which had been given to the
animals to play with. 1t was made Of
thick plate and was so big and heavy
that 1t was not easy to handle. 1t was
made for rolling along the ground.
Now was the time for Rosa to help,
and she was summoned. Together they
boosted the globe upon the box and
rolled 1t into the corner. Here it
was kept by the faithful and intelli-
gent Rosa while her friend Chamber
ed up over her back to the top of the
| globe. Rosa still kept the globe in
place while the venturesome chimpan-
zee jumped again and again for the top
! of that partition. But he could not
reach 1t by several inches. Then he
had conference with Rosa. Just how
he communicated his idea to her is
not known, but she understood him
somehow or other.
The chimpanzee took her arm and
helped her to Chamber up on the globe.
She stretched herself face downward
on the rounding surface. The Chin
panzee mounted on her body and made
another mighty spring into the air.
1t was great success, for he clutch
ed the top of the partition and drop
ped down among the giraffes on the
other side. He was not bit concern
ed about leaving his friends. but the
unselfish Rosa had helped him to de-
sert without reaping any advantage
herself
The keepers escorted the ape back to
his own compartment and deprived the
three friends Of the globe that had
given them so much amusement They
we're very certain that the chimpanzee
could not surmount the partition again.