Nassau County leader. [volume] (Fernandina, Fla.) 1925-19??, 1910-08-18
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There are nearly dozen hrms
keSSI In New York city that carry on
an immense business in the trans
pOrtation of animals fresh from
the Jungle And this number of course. does not
ifclude such immense foreign animal firms the
Hagenbacks 1t Is a paying business. as indeed
are all businesses where the demand exceeds the
supply The demand for wild beasts Is far greater
than the supply, and as a consequence prices are
good, and the dealers men Of wealth. The extent
of this demand may be appreciated when one con-
siders that most of the great cities in the United
States have geological parks or menageries, and
that the animals are constantly being purchased
by them. Then there private collectors and
circuses and the like, that are ever ready to pay
the highest prices for desirable animals. The ami
NAL dealer who could secure and bring to this
country three or four gorillas would make a small
fortune But no dealer has ever succeeded in do
ing this. The gorillas die in a few weeks in cap
tivity; they could not stand an ocean trip for a
day.
A rusty old German liner lumbers nosily into
Quarantine and then lies motonless on the tide
An officer, with broad red. bewhiskered face.
stands at the head Of the companion ladder. and
he smiles peculiar smile. husky screaming
ululation rises from below. The animals are get
ting hungry" he explains; you know we have
several hundred of them on the tween decks
probably the most competent animal man in the
world Is at our side. He is not trainer. or even
q tanner; he is more. He is sort Of animal cook.
and his special business is the personal manage
ment of wild animal tours He receives them
lions, tigers leopards. elephants everything else
at Hamburg where they have been brought
fresh from their native wilds and not only super
intends their shipment aboard vessel bound 1of
New York. but he sails with them to make sure
that they arrive safely and in good health ana
be sure that If the tiger gets of on his diet ana
needs a nice fresh live rabbit to tone up his sys-
TEN, this man will be aware Of the fact almost
before the tiger is-and, ergo, nice big jumping
bunny is sacrificed in accordance with the pre-
cepts Of wild beast materia medica. Then. TOO.
one can never tell just when the big boa is 60
ing to rouse from his last gorge; when ne does
he wants a tOothsome young goat. and ne wants
it quick. 1t is part Of the animal mans duties
to anticipate the boas appetite with all possible
expedition
He Is a quiet unassuming man. with stoop
shoulders and bushy whiskers, and he LEADS tne
way to the tween decks without word. Per-
haps the uninitiated may believe that tour
through the animal section of freight-carryine
vessel is an unmpressive experience Well. let
them try it and see! This can be said at the out
set-it is somewhat different from menagerie-
1t means something to come into close proximity
to a hundred and odd wild animals that nave oeen
ruthlessly snatched from their lairs in Africa or
Asia, or elsewhere and clapped into little barred
boxes not as large as dry goods cases; slammed
in and out Of dark holes in the vessels OF several
seas on the way to Hamburg; then finally placed
In the stygian tween decks of a German hooker.
The swinging cross seas of the North Atlantic
have not improved their tempers, their nerv-
GUS systems and the visitor at Quarantine Is
quickly impressed with that fact The bowls and
wines and the barks cease abruptly as the stran
gers enter For they bring the smell of land and
the great beasts sniff inquirngly and hungrily
too.
The cages lined both sides of the gloomy space
with a little passageway between the boxes. Per
haps this passageway was three feet wide. not
more The cages were piled two and sometimes
three deep In the bottom cage, for instance
would be a tiger: In the next above smaller AMI
NAL say, a leopard or lynx. and ABOVE mat
parrot or a bunch of neerkats Tnink OF II!
three-foot passageway. with ferocious animals
stretching along for 100 feet on all sldes. Iaii
about nightmares The reporters nalr stiueneS
out like so many pieces Of wlre' ana ne "isne'
most ferventlv that he had not come. 1t was more
agreeable, he felt. to see these animals N me
nagerie where the cages are ample and the bar
an inch thick.
Better keen in the middle Of the aisle" say
one of the animal men: these fellows sometime
reach out for YOU"
Words such as these. Of course. hardly tende'
to reassure.
1t really was too dark to see much On
caught a view of the cages stretching away II
gloomy perspective until lost IN the Darkness