Los Angeles herald., 1910-09-14
APE CRIES FIRE
At MATCH BLAZE
Scientist Brings Home Chimpan-
zee That Is Said to Be
Able to Talk

NEW YORK, Sept 13.-After living
seven years in a bamboo hut in the
heart of the African jungle, with only
two negro servants and wild chimpan
zees and gorillas for companions, Prof.
Richard l.. Garner famous American
anthropologist, reached New York yes
terday aboard the French line steam
ship La Touraine, with SUSIE" the Z
months-od ape who is said to talk and
understand the English language
For twenty years Prof. Garner has
made a study of the animals that Dar-
win declared were our ancestors, and
in 1903 he sailed on his fourth trip to
Cape Lopez, Western Africa, his pur-
pose being, he said, to watch and learn
the habits of the chimpanzee in it's
wild state and to observe it's capabili-
ties without suggestion or training,
and, most important Of all, to discover
if the ape is able to distinguish diff
ferent colors and forms.
He has returned with voluminous
data and thrilling tales Of adventures
and escapes. 'Susie" spent most OF
the voyage in cage in the butch
ers room, but part of the time she
was on deck entertaining the pas
sengers. She has a little chair that
she carries about, and when told to
come here" or laugh" she obeys
with soldiery alacrity.
pint to a quart of milk a day, ten
Jumps of sugar and either coffee, beer
or wine to drink. When a match is
lighted she cries out in a squeaky lit
tie voice, "Feu," the French word for
fire.
IT left Philadelphia September %,
1903, for the French Congo" said Prof.
Garner, "and when reached Cape Lo-
PEI L started for Lake Ferman Vaz,
about 100 miles inland, with q negro
cook, a negro boy, two Winchester
rifles and my old steel wire cage that
I had made in 1892 and that 1 used on.
my three former expeditions.
"The country around Fernan Vaz
is terrible. Sometimes we had to
make long circuits because the
swamps and jungles were impossible,
and it was while canoeing in the
Bay of Mandji that we capsized and
1 lost my cage. When 1 reached the
lake 1 selected the most isolated
spot 1 could find, as far away from
the native villages as possible, and
in a part where I was told CHM
panzees and gorillas abounded.
IT built small house of bamboo, and
there I lived for almost seven years,
subsisting on native foods, fish, manloc
of cassava-a kind of root that is very
nutritious-and bananas, and also on
fruit that planted, partly for my own
use and partly to induce the chimpan-
zees and gorillas to steal SO that, un-
seen, 1 could watch their habits.
During my four expeditions have
had a total OF % chimpanzees and nine
gorillas in my house. They were all
young ones, which I bought from ma
tives to experiment with let them
have their freedom, but they always
came back at night to sleep. The goril-
las were not so tractable and occasion
ally 1 had to conf1ne and guard them.
In my opinion the chimpanzee is the
| highest type of the lower animals and
| has the most brain power"
Prof. Garner declares that from his
studies of the chimpanzee he is con-
vinced that it has a bad memory and
does not cherish a grievance for very
| long, and that it has not the resent
ment of the human being. Neither has
! the native of Congo, he added, the re-
sentiment of the white man. You can
fog the native one day., he said, and
he will be sullen the next, and the
third day he will be over it.
Prof. Garner also brought with him
eight complete skeletons of chimpan-
gees and gorfllas and thirty skulls for
examination by American anthropolo-
gists.
"Susie" Is to make her debut at the
pennsylvania university first, and she
will then make a tour OF collee 2.