Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-12-20
FAMOUS SHOW ELEPHANTS.
Some of Whom, Like Queen, Had to
Be Killed.

/
NATURALLY brings up recollections OF
elephants that were famous in theil
day. among them Hannibal. Colum.
bus. Virginius. Pizarro, Bolivar dnd
| Jumbo.
by the way. it may surprise people
who remember Jumbo to know tha
he was not the largest elephant evel
in captivity, although that distinction
was claimed for him. He was thu
tallest, being six inches higher thar
Hannibal was in his day, but Hanniba
weighed 1000. pounds more thar
Jumbo-and Jumbo never weighed
IA, 900 pounds as they said he did, mol
within 1000 pounds of it.
Moreover, Hannibal was the mos
perfect specimen of an elephant evei
exhibited Jumbo was long legged
and swaybacked, being an African ele,
phant, and he had only ugly stumps
were his tusks had been. Hannibal
was an Asiatic elephant finely pro-
portioned, and had tusks seven fee
| long, white as snow. and with the ex-
quisite velvety polish Of finished
ivory.
Hannibal was killed by poison
too, but not in the way of execution
for viciousness. He was the kindest
and most docile of beasts and of al
most human intelligence. His death
was accidental. 1t occurred just af-
ter the civil war in the mountains
IN southern Pennsylvania.
He belong to Hyatt Foster. then
- 81 LII ta1 A
| burgh show. That was before the
The show had been at Cumberland
Md and was on it's way to Bedford
Pa 1t was along in May, and the old
elephant browsed on the growth OF
laurel that grew profusely along the
way, and the poisonous acid in the
plant caused his death.
Hannibal was the last of a quar-
tet of elephants that the boys and
| girls of a couple of generations ago
who are alive today will remember
| in connection with the gorgeous gol-
den band chariot Of the Van Amburgh
circus which they hauled in parades
through the streets Of the towns
where the show was to perform
| IHannibals companion elephants were
Columbus. Virginius and Pizarro. They
were the first elephants ever broken
to harness in this country.
Hannibal came to America In
1S4O, according to Hyatt Foster. A
sea captain got possession Of him al
some Asiatic port and brought him to
New York. where speculative
butcher in Washington Market pur-
chased him. The Van Amburgh show
people heard Of him, purchased him
and named him Hannibal. Then the
show produced the famous four-in-
hand, or rather four tandem, ele-
phant team and the gorgeous band
chariot, which for five years was the
feature of the shows outdoor exhibi-
| ton and which was seen in about
every town, village and city from the
Hudson to the Mississippi
"At the opening Of the show season
in 1S47 the show was starting out
Jersey and Pennsylvania. The two
elephants Pizarro and Virginius,
whether from dislike Of a new keeper
or because they had suddenly turned
stubborn. refused to get aboard the
| ferry boat on which they were to
cross the Delaware river.
"All efforts to induce them to go
aboard proved fruitless, 1t was decided
to swim them across. Unfortunately
| to do this 1t was thought necessary
| to chain them together. They en-
tered the water willingly and cheer
fully, and were swimming along all
right when PiZarro became chilled
and struggled a moment and went
down, dragging Virginius with him
Both animals were drowned.
This left Hannibal and Columbus
| alone as the elephant attractions Of
the show, and in the fall Of 1851, the
Van Amburgh show being on it's way
to winter quarters, Columbus broke
through a bridge at North Adams
Mass, and was killed. In the mean
time the show had acquired other
elephants, among them the one that
achieved great fame as Tippoo Sahib
and Queen Anne and Bolivar. Boil
var in after years became the stal
elephant of the Forepaugh show. He
is alive today, the property Of the
Philadelphia zoo.
when old Hannibal died from
| eating poison laurel In the Pennsyl.
vania mountains his owner had his
remains buried on the spot where he
died. and a year or two after Offered
to disinter the skeleton of the famou!
old beast and present it to the mu.
scum in Central Park, New York, II
the city would pay the expense OF
getting the huge frame there and
would set it up in the museum. The
offer was declined.
Hyatt Foster then presented the
skeleton to a medical college in Chi
cago, which mounted 1t and gave q
| free exhibition of it in the college
museum. The museum was destroyed
by the Chicago fire Of 1871, and the
skeleton of the greatest elephant ever
in captivity was destroyed with It.
The skeleton of Pizarro and Vir-
ginius and Columbus are still in ex-
istence, the first two in the museum
of the Philadelphia Academy OF
Science and the last in a Boston mu-
scum.
The first elephant ever put to
death in this country for murder
and that was soon after Somerville
little farming village in Westches-
ter county, became a centre for col
lection Of circus elephants, had killed
| three keepers, and she was shot tC
safeguard other budding elephant
fanciers that were coming rapidly or
there and Whereabouts. The skin was
stuffed and mounted and may still be
seen in the village.
After old Hannibal died TippoC
Sahib became easily the most con-
| SplcuOuS elepndHl OH eSIllDlllOH IL
this country, and he remained such
until it became necessary to put him
to death, for Old Tip, as he was ia
miliarly but not affectionately called
had disposed of two keepers and was
presumably on the watch for an op-
portunity to add another to his score
He never let day pass without do
ing something to keep up his record
as a pachyderm of strong individ-
ualty of character. One incident in
his career showed he had ideas Of his
own.
The Van Amburgh show had ex-
hibited at Port Jervis, y. Y, and was
billed for Milford and other places
down the Delaware in Pennsylvania
To get down there the show had tC
cross the Delaware at Port Jervis
There was a big wooden bridge and
| heavy loaded wagons We're using II
every day. and had been using it thus
for years.
when they got Old Tip to the
New York side of the bridge he gave
one look at the structure, baked and
trumpeted his decision not to risk his
royal bulk on it so emphatically that
they had to give up the idea Of get
ting him over that way, and took him
| CTR tn a rI,ar n