Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-11-25
ELEPHANTS HAD REASON.
Had Been Taught Not to Work on the
Sabbath.

do animals reason?" has been a
question always actively discussed in
the scientific world. General Benjamin
LIE Fevre, many years ago a promi-
nent member of congress from Ohio,
answers this in the affirmative, and
cities in support an incident that came
under his notice during one of his
globe trotting" experiences in distant
Burmah last year. Not only can they
reason, he AYERS, but they can count.
I'm the city of Rangoon," he said,
zone Of the great industries Is the ship
ping of teakwood logs, which come
down from the interior in numberless
thousands. These logs are large and
long, and can only be handled by the
herds of elephants trained for that
purpose. One of these great brutes
will pick up huge log, balance 1t del
icately with it's trunk between its
tusks, bear it away to a pile whittier
its keeper has directed and there place
il in position, pulling it to and fro with
its trunk or pushing it with it's head
until it is as delicately set in its prop
er place as though placed there by
skilled carpenter.
"These herds of trained elephants,
are, for the most part, owned by ma
tive Burmese, who hire them out to the
lumber merchants much as a livery
man hires his teams in America. sew
eral years ago, however, a large Eng
lish lumber firm in Rangoon, hnoing
it's native elephant owners unreliable
animals, brought a young herd and had
them skilfuly trained in the work OF
log piling. Now, the native Burmese
has no day of rest, like the Christian,
the Jew or the Turk, but works every
day, resting whenever the lazy moods
of the tropics seized him. His ele-
phants, therefore, are accustomed to
work every day Of the year If the mas
ter sees fit. At the business place Oh
this English firm, however, the Euro
pean rule prevailed and every SUNDAY
was day Of rest to man and peast.
Now it happened that one Saturday
afternoon the river, on whose banks the
great lumber yard of the firm was sit
uated, began to rise rapidly. Early
Sunday morning news from the upper
country told of still greater floods on
their way down, and it became lmper-
atiye to remove from the banks great
quantity of valuable logs that would
otherwise be swept out to sea by the
rising waters. At break of day the
manager not only ordered out his own
herd, but sent throughout the district
to hire every available elephant from
the native owners. AS the burnese
drivers came with their troops hurry
ing by the corrals Of the Engllsh-
reared animals the drivers of the
latter ordered them out into the Gus
tomary marching line for their days
work.
But not an elephant moved. This
was Sunday, and work on Sunday
| Never Tho drivers coaXed and caJoled
them with all the arts Of their calling.
The 'hathis' stood fast, blinking their
little eyes and watching with indiffer-
ence their brothers of Burmese train
ing file past to the teak yards.
The drivers borrowed some old vet
Grams in the service from the Burmese
herds, and scattering them in the midst
of their own, sought to lead them out
by this ancient method.
But not an elephant moved. Work
on the Sabbath they would not. The
| drivers now frantic with their fallure,
sought to gain by force what they
could not effect by persuasion, ana
mounting their beasts, dug their goads
preconcerted signal, the elephants
swung up their trunks, seized the dri-
vers about their waists and set them
gently but firmly upon the ground, as
| though to say: There now, you mustn't
do that; we will work faithfully al the
| week, but we will not work on Sun-
| day.
AT length the head driver, in des-
peration, seized the ear of the lead ele-
phant with his ANGUS, crooked steer
| implement used only to subdue frac-
tious elephants, and gave 1t a vicious
twist. The beast promptly picked him
up in his trunk, flung him against the
sides of the corral twenty feet away
and resumed the swaying motion that
marks the elephant well satisfied with
himself. but the head driver did not get
out of the hospital for two months.
After hours vainly spent in trying TO
compel their herd to break the Sab
bath, which they had taught them TO
keep, the English manager acknowl-
edged himself defeated"
Several months after, says General
lie Fevre, he returned to Rangoon and
inquired about the Sabbath keeping
elephants.
1T was no mere idle whim on the
part of those beasts" the manager in
| formed him. Twice since that re-
markable Sunday morning mutiny
which YOU observed have tested them
seeking to drive them out to work on
the Sabbath, but never a h0ot mas
budged. Once again l got the Bur
mese to trot their herds by to see II
that wound persuade them to follow
but it was a failure. There is not the
slightest doubt that not only do they
keen accurate account of the return of
the day of rest, but each one keeps 1t
separately on his own account, Tor
there has never been the slightest
wavering on the part of a single one.
Clearly their training taught them that
they were entitled to every seventh
dav as their own and, with a rudimen-
tary sense of ethics, they know their
rights. and, knowing, dare maintain.
philadelphia Ledger.