The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-10-06
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKEN. Director.
washington, D. O.
a PRIVATE zoo.

Unique among geological collections is
that known as Longfellow gardens
near Ninnehaha Falls. just outside of
Minneapolis.
Most geological gardens in all parts
of the world are government instita-
lions, provided oStensibly for the edu-
cation of the popuIace, and kept by
persons who hold their places by
political preferment. This zoo is the
work of a private Individual who has
collected wild animals from all parts
of the world because he loves animals,
starting with little capital What is
more, he seems to have made some Of
the animals realize and even return
his love. Creatures as diverse as seals
and pelicans, tigers and bears, respond
to the sound of his voice and show
pleasure in the touch of his hand.
Zoos in general are places where
animals look supremely happy and
often unhealthy to boot There is a
considerable tendency of late to make
fun of them and cFiticise them as sur
vivals of a more barbarous age. The
custom of keeping wild animals in
captivity certainly goes back to bar
barous lines. 1t was the successful
warrior and monarch of the more
primitive nations who first caused
| lions, tigers, elephants and all sorts
of other strange and ferocious beasts
to be brought together for his amuse-
Z
animals were made to fight with each
other and with men.
The Modern Zoo.
Nowadays the zoo is generally about
what it was then, but it's ostensibIe
purpose has been changed to suit the
times. 1t is now justified as an educa-
tional undertaking for the benefit of
| the children. This educational purpose
has been a good deal laughed at One
satirist asks what education there IS
for the average child in watching the
amours of a hippopotamus or in OBJ
serving the technique employed by a
ehimpanzee to rid himself of fIeas
The habits of animals are the things
best worth studying, and their habits
are hopelessly cramped and distorted
| in cages.
A modern anthropo1ogist contends
| that, in spite of the educational pre-
tense, the motive back of the zoo to-
day is the same one that impelled the
| barbarie conqueror to cause strange
| creatures to be brought from all parts
| of the world-the desire to assert
| power over creatures of a lower order.
It flatters the vanity of the average cit
| lzen to look thru the bars at some
| fierce creature from far-away Africa
and reflect that he is part of a gov
eminent which is powerful enough to
| catch and confine this animal for his
pleasure. Condescendingly he offers
| it a peanut.
If there is any justification for con-
filming wild animals, it is genuine in
| terest in them and affection for them,
and the best proof of such affection is
the health and happiness of the ami
mall Both the justification and the
proof are found in Mr.. Jones's little
zoo. He has, for example, eight lions,
and they are the latest, slickest look
| ing lions in the world. At least, it is
| hard to imagine any fatter or slicker.
Two of these lions were bred and
raised by Mr.. Jones and have never
/ Mr.. Jones employs a professional
| trainer to put the lions thru their
! tricks, but upon special occasions he
| himself enters the cage with them.
] Unlike any other trained al 'mal mas
| ter, you can see he carries no weapon,
not even a whip, and yet his lions go
| thru their PAGES with perfect docility.
On one occasion one of the lions
/ uttered a few snarls, but Mr.. Jones
| explained that he had recently been
| deprived of his mate for a time and
was therefore in a bad humor. One
| Of the tricks performed consisted in
making all of the lions stand on a row
| of high stools, each one little higher
than the one behind it. Mr.. Jones
climbed to the highest stool and sat
| down on the lions back.
Can a Lion Be Tanned?
Animal trainers will tell you that a
lion is never really tanned, that I 9TH
| ing but fear keeps him in subsection,
and that sooner or later every lion re-
! bells against his trainer and is kept in
| control only by physical violence. Mr..
Jones, who has been going into the
| lions den as unarmed as was Daniel,
for 20 years, seerns to be living
demonstration that some lions are
really tame.
In his work about the zoo Mr.. Jones
wears a swallow tail coat and high
silk hat. 1t has been suggested by
some that the lion are completely
Ioverawed by his dignity.
A more remarkable proof OF Mr..
1 Jones's influence over animals is the
way they respond to his voice. He
/ utters strange call and seals scram-
! Bile out of the water at his feet, and
/ great pelicans come Tapping down to
| him. He does not feed them ANYTHING
| either. They seemingly come merely
| to acknowledge his greeting and they
4 appear to take real pleasure in his
presence. An ourang-outang leaps
into his arms like happy child when
he calls to it. and he pats a tiger on
the head as you would a house cat.
Mr.. Jones is great admirer OF
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and
has named his zoo Longfellow Gar
dens in memory of the poet. TheiI
proximity to Minnehaha Falls makes
the name especially appropriate. A
statue of LengfelIow in heroic size
ornaments the Gardens, and was I'M
yelled with appropriate cerem onies
The house in which Mr.. Jones lives is
a replica of the Longfellow house, and
contains a collection eff things owned
and used by Longfellow.
| All in all, this is a most unusual zoo
for it is no mere meaningless collec-
ton of animals. but the expression OF
a human personality.
/ George Matthew Adams