The Lamar register. [volume] (Lamar, Colo.) 1889-1952, 1910-08-17
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81

| pOrfatiOn or animals fresh from
the Jungle. And this number. of course. does not
Include such immense foreign animal firms as the
Hagenbacks. 1t is 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 consequence prices are
good. and the dealers men OF wealth. The extent
OF this demand may be appreciated when one con-
slders that most of the great cities in the United
States have geological parks or menageries. and
that the animals 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 four goras would make small
Fortune. But no dealer has ever succeeded in do
Ing this The gorillas die in few weeks In cap
kivity, they could not stand an ocean trip for a
day.
| A rusty old German liner lumbers noisily into
Quarantine. and then lies motiopless on the tide
IAN officer, with broad, red. bewhiskered face.
Stands at the head OF the companion ladder, and
nc smiles peculiar smile. as husky screaming
Mutation rises from below. The animals get,
ting hungry" he explains: you know we have
several hundred OF them the tween decks.
Want to them? All right" In another minute
probably the most competent animal man in the
world rs at side. He Is not trainer. or even
tanner: he Is more. He Is u sort of animal cook.
and his special business is the personal manage
ment OF Wild animal tours. He receives them
lions tigers. ieopards. elephants. everything else
at Hamburg, where :hey have been brought
fresh frorr their native wfids and not only super
intends their shipment aboard a vessel bound for
New York but he sails with them to make sure
that they arrive safely and In good health. And
be sure that II the tiger gets OF on his diet and
needs a nice fresh live rabbit to tone up his sys-
TEN. this will be aware of the fact almost
before the tiger is-and ergo. a nice big jumping
bunny Is sacrificed in accordance with the pre-
cepts OF wild beast materia medica. Then too
one never tell Just when the big boa Is 60
1ng to rouse from his last gorge: when he does
he wants a toothsome young goat. and he wants
II quick. 1t is part Of the animal mans duties
anticipate the boa's appetite with all possible
expedition.
! He is a quiet. unassuming man, with stoop
shoulders and bushy whiskers. and he leads the
way the tween decks without a word. Per-
haps the uninit,ated may believe that tour
through the animal section OF freightcarrying
vessel is an unimpressive experience. Well. let
them try II and see. This can be said at the out
eet-it is somewhat different from menagerie.
IL means something to come into close proximity
TO a hundred and odd wild animals that have been
ruthiessly snatched from their lairs in Africa or
ASIA or elsewhere, and clapped into little barred
boxes. not large dry goods cases; SKINNED
IN and out of dark holes in the vessels of several
seas on the way to Hamburg: then finally placed
in the styglan tween decks OF 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
whines and the barks cease abruptly as the stran-
gers enter For they bring the smell of land and
the great beasts snin inquirinsly. and hungrily
too.
The cages lined both sides OF the gloomy space
with 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 tiger; In the next above a smaller ami
NAL say leopard lynx. and above that 6
parrot. a bunch OF neerkats Think of 1t!
three-foot passageway with ferocious animals
stretching along for 100 feet on all sides Tall
about nightmares, The reporters hair stiffenet
out like many pieces of wire. and he wishet
most fervently that he had not come. 1t was more
agreeable he felt, to these animals in a me
nagerie where the cages ample and the bars
inch thick.
! ~~"Better keep in the middle OF the AISLE. says
one OF the animal men; these fellows sometime
reach out for you.
! Words such these. of course. hardly tended
TO reassure.
| It really too dark to much On'
caught view of the cages stretching away ii
gloomy perspective until lost in the darkness. o