Evening star., 1924-05-11

should topple over against It. hls
| front feet are bobbled. A block and
tackle. attached to straps, Is put on
his hind feet. His head Is forced
down and his hind legs and body are
lifted from the ground.
This ia heavy work; for his weight
is terrific. Each day he is lifted
higher and higher. When he has
gained sufficient confidence the hob
bles arc taken Off.
Then there comes a moment when,
feeling his legs being hoisted he de-
cides to put them up himself. The
trainer knows now that the battle
Is moro than half won. The elephant
has got the idea. He Is petted and
given his favorite delicscies. He is
greatly pleased with himself. From
this point the trick is easily per-
fected.
Teaching an elephant to sit down is
even simpler. 1t can be accomplished
in about three weeks. He Is backed
up to a wall before which a seat has
been placed 1t must be a. frYn as
rock; for an elephant, having
learned by experience that he is no
featherw eight, is terrified by q
wobbiy base. When his hind legs
touch the seat he Is prodded and
forced back until he sits down on It.
THE action is always accompanied.
l. of course, with some definite
word of command. Have q seati''
1t is apt to be in this case. He soon
prefers to ''have q seat before he
is prodded. Then comes the dainty
bit he loves. With one elephant
knew. having q seat meant q small
chocolate drop this daily allowance
of food weighed half a tonD
Tho trick hate to see an elephant
trained to perform Is that OF lying
down. 1t looks easy, but the teach
ing of it is cruel. The animal Is
prodded in the side with the hook.
It's sharp spike sticks into him--al-
ways Ia the same spot~-until he lies
down to protect the wound. 1t
strikes me as q brutal way to get an
idea over to a kindly beast
The most terrific minute have ever
lived through in my life was given
me by . well-meaning elephant II
was in Adelaide, Australia, In 1854.
1 was then with Flyers circus. ]
was young-and hard. had TO be.
One day Mr.. Fitzgerald, tho man
ager. put this question to me:
Charlie, are you game enough to let
an elephant walk over your
Il am If I can have a sharp nail in
my hand"
Have a keg O. nails IL you want
to-" he answered.
L got my nail and ground it to
a needle point.
The fellow who had the elephant
was a Portuguese, Joe Bumanie. He
was more fool than trainer. His ami
NAL was q small female; Mag, her
name was. She was the brains of
the pair. The idea was for me to
lie down in the middle Of the ring
and for Mag to spread her legs and
walk over me lengthwjse. We put
her through the act again and again
with q straw dummy. She picked up
her feet and never grazed the thing
for an elephant hates to step on any
thing soft.
At last I told Joe I would try It
He had bought q bottle of whisky so
he could celebrate after the show. but
he got excited and. without my
knowledge, took q large swig before
hand. When was nat on my back
on the sawdust, saw Joe coming in
with Mag. He was walking in ztg-
zags and he had her all On the bias.
"Straighten her out" I called from
the side Of my mouth, loud enough
for the audience to hear, but Joe was
too happy to hear anything. He got
her over me; then he decided to pull
her straight.
The elephant did the best she could
but was was in quite the wrong po-
sition. When she got past my feet
I saw that her right fore foot was
coming down on my head. thought
it was certainly my finish.
had my nail, though, and I gave
the foot jab. Mag lifted 1t then,
so that the worst It did was to take
a slice OF my forehead. hardly felt
the pain, but 1 was sick for a minute
from head to foot.
The audience knew nothing about
it-zupposed they were only seeing
q fine stunt.
WHEN the show was over said
w something to Joe Rumanie with
my fsts. They carried him 70 the
hospital, and that was my last ap-
pearance as o performer in that act
The only exception I personally
have ever known to the almost in
variable rule that elephants do not
breed in captivity was Columbia
Columbia was a female elephant born
in the Cooper and Bailey show. Such
a thing had never happened in Amer
lea before. Barnum and Bailey were
competitors then. Barnum sent Q
telegram to Bailey, offering him $780,
600 for the baby. Bailey had huge
poster made, with the telegram copied
on 1t and underneath, in letters two
feet high, these words: "See What
Baruum Thinks Of Our Baby Ele-
phant"
o~Sr~r. haH urosAntAd his rival