The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-24
Elephant Wants to Embrace
Him But He Evades
Caress
CHILDREN VISIT
HER BY THOUSANDS
Miss Fancy's Antics in Wading Pool
Attract Big Crowd-Children Are
Much Amused-Elephant To
Be Oiled Today

ISTQdy IL was IAS LII Sb hiAtS
! the commissioner had paid visit to her
ladyship and the first time he had
seen her. She appeared to be delighted to
know him and he expressed pleasure at
meeting her.
Mr. Weatherly said she was a "big
one and thought she was the posses
| sor of all the beauty lines that an ele-
phant should have He remarked her
extreme docility and her affectionate
disposition. 1t seems that Miss Fancy
wanted to hold the genial commission
| er close to her ample bosom but he
was ayerse to such outward displays Of
| love and stepped beyond the reach of
| her all-encircling trunk. He held a
| confab with Curly and was informed
that Miss Fancy" had demolished the
bed of her keeper, not to mention the
stove being pushed over by her dur
ing one of her periodical attacks of
good nature. At times the elephant
seems to fairly overflow with exubeT-
ance and something must be done to
relieve her. She becomes mischievous
| and while In a playful mood muses.
things considerably.
| Mr.. Weatherly said that he would
have room built for Curly on the
side of the elephant5s domicile, with a
door connecting the two. She is too
playful at times and what she be-
lieves to be great fun is hardly ap-
preciated by Curly"
Remains One Hour
| Mr.. Weatherly stayed at Miss
! Fancy's" home about an hour and she
re1 f. Id, l.,
He was extended a cordial invitation
| to call again in the very near future
and said that he would do so.
| Soon after the commissioner had
taken his departure the kiddies began
| to arrive in large numbers. 1t was es-
| timated, and very conservatively, too,
| that there were 10000 people at the
zoo during the afternoon. There were
| little ones galore, everywhere and any,
where. There were little girls, little
boys, with larger girls and boys who
| came ostensibly to bring the children.
| The crowd about "Miss Fancy" was
standing six deep and hundreds were
on the outskirts hoping for a glimpse
| of her.
| Along about $3.50 Curly asked Miss
Fancy" il she was ready for her bath.
| She answered in the affirmative, and he
| led her down to the wading pool at the
east end of the park She was followed
| by practically everw child in the park,
| and the grown-ups among those trailing
after her were far from being small in
numbers The crowd filled all the avail
able space around the pond and began to
climb up the mountain, seeking advantag
eous points from which they might see
Miss Fancy" In the pool. She did not
seem at all embarrassed that such a
large throng was present, and went into
the water with the utmost composure
10 in he uNot for einparlxy at
first and then as she felt out its depth
became more confident and rolled over,
turned flipfiops and seemed to enjoy it as
much as a small boy in the ''ole sWimmin
hole" The kiddies seemed to enjoy it
every whit as much as she, and shrieked
with laughter at her many pranks
Two little fellows were crying be-
cause they were not large enough to
push the crowd aside that they might
get close enough to the elephant to
feed her some peanuts which they had
bought especially for their pet. They
were finally hoisted to the shoulders
of some good Samaritans and consoled
themselves with watching the top of
Miss Fancys" back and eating the
peanuts which they had brought for
her.
The crowd was so enormous that
hardly more than 1000 of the kiddies
present got to see Miss Fancy" The
fathers and mothers became so tired
waiting for an opening to get their
children close enough to view her that
they finally persuaded the little ones
to go up to the bears den. Teddy"
proved entertaining for while. but
always the little ones would be heard
| asking, "Where is Miss Fancy%' They
know her name and are not to be put
off with an evasive answer. They
knew that she must be the storm CEN
ter of the crowd at the little green house
on the hill and they wanted to, be of the
crowd and not with" it.
Anxious to See Her
| 1t was hard for the parents to make
their little ones understand that the
people in front of them had the right
of way and that they. would have to
wait before seeing their pet. One lit
1 tie boy, who knew what his rights
were, said: But it's our elephant, amt
| it, mamma?"
| Mamma did not know.
But" he persisted, "the Age-Her-
aid said 1T was our elephant; didn't
| 1t, mamma?'
! Mamma said that The Age-Herald
| had said So
"Then," came the plaintive voice of
the child, "why can't I see her?'
Hs mother explained that the ele-
phant was the property of all the chill
dren in Birmingham and that he could
| not be rude enough to try and claim
lit all for his very own. She told him
that these other little boys and girls
| had secured places before he had ar
rived and that they must wait until
| they had finished with their fun before
| beginning theirs.
| The little fellow grew thoughtful and
said nothing else for a few minutes.
Suddenly he looked up with bright
smile and said: Mamma. let's go up
and see Teddy" They went.
| Scattered all over the mountain all
through the park and even up Ave-
nue. E. which leads down to the ZOO,
| were the crowds, which had gone out
| to pay homage to Miss Fancy" This
crowd was composed for the most
was a happy. laughing, good natured
bunch of kiddies Most of the little
| ones who could not get a glimpse of
the elephant took 1t philosophically
and wandered about, great many of
them going down to the swings and
remaining at that haven of childish de-
light
Miss Fancy the Favorite
Louie" the monkey, proved a great
drawing card, as did also the birds, the
coons, the squirrels, the wildcats AMI
the water fowls. The children liked
most of all, however. Miss Fancy
Next to her came the monkey and the
children had great fun throwing pea
nuts in the cage for Louie" This
monkey Is jolly good fellow when he
| is not angry but sometimes he gets
I"sore" about something and proceeds
to chew up all the sticks he can lay
his paws on. He climbs up to the high