Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-12-20

| others in the escort to turn him out
of the channel seemed only to increase
| his determination to have bout with
that thing coming down upon him.
Before the men on the raft under
| stood the situation the raft had made
more than half the distance between
the bridge and the ford. AS soon as
the nature of this unusual obstruc-
ton in the channel became apparent
to them they were one and all panic
stricken. and every one of them, pilot
and all, leaped from the raft and
struck out for the New York side:
| 1.-The deserted raft rushed helpless
| " on. Old Tip never moved out OF
his tracks. His fury was a sight to
see.
| THE raft was made of hemlock logs
land was at least 100 feet long and 40
wide The water was swift and so
deep where Tip stood that 1t reach
ed above his belly. Every one ex-
pected of course to see the elephant,
big as he was, carried away and done
for by the ponderous raft, the wreck
ing Of $4,000 elephant by $500 worth
Of hemlock logs.
| But when the shock came the raft
trembled and it's speed was greatly di-
minished. If old Tip could have had
secure footing in the stones there
is no telling what he wouldn't have
done to that raft then and there, but
the stones on the river bottom were
slippery, and the elephant moved
down, not as If he had to, but as If
he were merely seeking more stable
footing.
"He got a foothold now and then,
and every time he did so lessened the
speed of the raft until its momentum
|
end of the raft began to swing with
the current. This soon turned the
hind end around so that 1t became
| the front end, and 1t ran away from
Tip diagonally across the river to-
ward the New York shore.
Thrown thus out of the rafting
channel, 1t ran a hundred yards or so,
where it was cast upon reef, and
the logs flew in all directions, making
| the raft a wreck. At sight or that
Old Tip gave a roar that deaf man
might have heard a mile away. when
his keeper and the others resumed
their places about him he was still
|trumpeting blasts Of victory and SEEM
ed to be perfectly satisfied.
HE had spent his fury on the raft
and felt better He turned obediently
at his keepers order and resumed
his march to Pennsylvania as If moth
ling had occurred that morning to dis
turb his temper in the least
HE had barely landed on the bank
on that side, though, when another
raft came in sight, just below the
bridge The men on the raft had
seen what had happened to the one
that preceded them and were pulling
on their oars for dear life to land on
the New York shore.
when the elephant went out OF the
river so meekly, though they thought
there was no cause for them to be
alarmed. and they rested on their
oars, content to pass on. That was
when Old Tip had caught sight OF
the raft.
''Instantly his fury rose. He broke
away and made for the river, his big
trunk raised, and trumpeting loudly.
The men on the raft didn't wait for
further proceedings, but jumped IN
the river and lost no time In getting
to the New York side, leaving their
raft to it's fate.
"The raft went dashing by, far out
in the river, and Old Tip stopped
gazed at 1t as 1t fed, and apparently
concluding that it was too big cow
ard for him to waste time on he gave
few blasts at It, walked leisureiy
I'D the bank and proceeded with the
procession down the Milford road, as
calm as a May morning.
cit wasn't long after that Old TIP
attacked and nearly killed his third
keeper. Then, at Centreville. Ind,
I think, they put the big elephant 10
death. His skeleton was given to the
CITY of Richmond, Ind, and / sup
pose it is there yet.-New YORK sun