Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-11-09
ANIMALS IN PANIC
AS TERRIFIC GALE
TOSSES SHIP ABOUT
Crew of West Point, With
Menagerie Aboard, Forced
to Administer to Jungle In
habitants.

Signs or relief rivalinE the hiss OF
steam escaping from the safety valve
emanated from the British steamship
West Point as she made her way TO her
dock at Callowhill street today.
The siEhs came from numerous ami
mails whose haunts are in the wllds Of
Africa and Asia and from the officers
and crew Of the vessel happy to again
be near land
The voyage had been troublesome
one for the latter Not only had they
been compelled to navigate in terrific
! gales, but they had to minister to the
wants Of the seasick, mystlfed and
| wicked. wild animals Gagged tween decks.
Captain Walker, of the West Point, says
! he knows now what old Noah had TO
contend with when he steercd his Ark.
/ Only the skilful seaman believes the
/ animals Of Noah's ship had better train
| ing and knew better how to act than the
/ pesky creatures who were brought here
today from London.
HAD MENAGERIB ABOARD.
/ There were two elephants, eight lions.
| ten bears, eight wolves 80 monkeys two
deer, one llama, three zebras, one calf
and one wild mule, one leopard,
] one kangaroo, two hyenas, two iackals,
| one coyote, one dingo.
All were in excellent health, as their
| growls, howls, shreks. gatherings. snarls
! and brayings ptoved-all except the un-
/ fortunate wild mule who nearly became
meal for a lioness. and one of the bears.
who nursed sore head gained in skir-
mish with the keepers.
The mule, fat, white, sleek animal,
was bound together by bandages when
the ship came into port. In midocean the
hungry lioness escaped from her cage and
roamed in search Of prey. Before the
crew could bind and gag her, she had
nf NtFil1 mn n TI1n n
from the surprised mule. The bears
headache was caused by shovel welded
by one OF the keepers. When the bears
cabin needed repairs, carpenters at
tempted to put in new boards while the
passenger wasn't looking. But he was
awakened by the hammering and poked
his big head through the opening the
carpenters had made. They fled in dis
may and bruin had a clear road to the
deck until one of the keepers seized a
shovel and smacked the bear on the
head pinched his nose and caused him
to pull himself back into his cabin,
growing feroclously. He was seasicll for
the remainder of the trip.
The animals are bound for Prospect
Park. Brooklyn, to be Gagged in the zoo.
They were purchased by the citizens
Of Brooklyn through public subscrip-
tion. Once they were part of the
Bostock animal show, Blood relations
of theirs who had travelled with the
show, but who had been well trained
were sold to various circuses. An hour
after the vessel docked they were on
board freight cars bound for their des-
tination.
The floating menagerie" steamed from
London on October %. No fears were felt
for the safety of the vessel as far as the
war was concerned none Of the bel
ligerent powers had declared such a ship
ment contraband.
in the early days Of the trip. but the sea
was smooth and the animals tranquil.
Several British warships approached, but
the roars OF the lions and the raucous
cries OF the other animals waited to them
on the breeze either frightened the naval
officers or convinced them the master and
his crew were having enough trouble, so
the vessel was not instructed to "heave
to" and the solid shot did not go crash
ing over the bow. She proceeded unmo-
Tested.
ANIMALS BECOME sEAsICK.
When the West Point was steaming
marked on the chart as the lane to be
followed by transatlantic liners a storm
appeared and the troubles of the crew
began. First came the long, gentle swell,
| which caused the steamship to rise and
! dip in devious undulations. The animals
did not appreciate this rocked in the
cradle of the deep" movement. They be-
! came restive and soon let their keepers
know that the rolling OF the boat was
Objectionable
The keepers busied themselves in quiet
ing the fears of their charges, and had
almost succeeded when the storm broke.
Then there was pandemonium. The storm
ragged both within and without. The ele-
plants threw their trunks into the air
, and beloved. It spared the necessity of
using the fog horn, They pulled and
tugEed violently at the chains that held
them. It soon became question as TO
! whether they would hold.
The lions charged up and down their
, cages and tried in every way possible 70
prove they were not the kings OF beasts.
The cages threatened TO overturn and the
lions TO break loose II was a trying Anne
/ for the crew. The other animals did their
D best TO outdO the elephants and the
lions.
For nearly three days these conditions
existed and the crew. accustomed to slesr
] while hurricanes ragged, feared to go t0
a their hunks with such bedlam bowling
: on hoard.
. The delay caused by the storm mad,
/ the food supply run short and Il wa
r | necessary 20 kill one OF the bears TO sup
ply meals for the other animals. Thil
I was not sufficient. so an urgent call foi
: ! grub was issued by wireless of tn,
o Delaware CapsB. tug with the earcase.
( OF two horses on board met the vessel OF
: her way up the river and appeassd thu
starving carniyon.
: But there was a tragedy, unforeseen
{ on board. One poor, lone mOngoose. who
: had behaved with the utmost compOsuTi
and deoency, despite the storms. wal
tried, found guilty. condemned and put e
: death, when he had every reason to be
: lieve his new home was to be a para
disc.
The mongoose Is destructive animal
which preys on poultry, domestic ami
mails aud harmless mammals rules thl
Bureau Of Animal Industry and Is az
undesirable citizen. Under this ruling
therefore. the poor little mongoose wa
tossed into the hre under the boilers ant
destroyed BY Government officials.