Evening star., 1924-03-30

IN about two hours we had him in a
covered STALL Two long. heavy
stakes were driven into the ground
His head was forced between them
and they were then drawn together
at the top in the shape of an inverted
" They held him firmly behind the
earss He did not have the strength
or the will, apparentIy-to offer much
resistance to this treatment
A pole was run length wise beloH
his belly and supported on uprirhts
Across this two bars were set up, ore
behind his fore legs and the other In
front of his hind legs. For the first
time in his long life he was helpless
He could lift his feet and move them
backward and forward bit; he cousa
/ do what he liked with his trunk: but
that was all 1t was impossible for
him to lie down, to go forward or
back
When everything had been made
secure, his worst hours were over.
Drinking water was poured into a
trough in front of him. He thrust his
trunk into it and drank fifty gallons
without stopping. Then he began
4 X
ing with pleasurei This was the be-
ginning of the quick adjustment he
made. Fresh banana plants, green
bark and branches of coconut trees
were thrown down before him. He
| had the feast of his life.
His body was covered with wounds.
These did not seem to bother him
| much. In the hours when he had
been left alone, tied to trees, he had
thrown earth into the wounds he had
then, and, thus protected from flies.
| they had already begun to heal
gave orders that his torn hide was
to be treated with permanganate Of
| potash. ] began to feel respect for
the old fellow, and admiration, TOO.
Like most of his kind, he had given
| in to pain, but not so quickly as the
average elephant.
While ! was in the midst of hard
| days work, a messenger arrived with
! a letter from Mr.. John Anderson, who
was in Singapore at the time, asking
me to supervise a shipment of animals
| to be sent by the King of Siam as a
! gift to the King of Spain. The COM
| mission was important. l knew the
lhsadmap was capable of taking charge
Of the catch. So 1 ordered him to
keep the men on the job of feeding,
| watering and looking after the ele-,
! plants well, and instructed him per-
sonally to take special care of the,
small elephants.
He touched his brow and said SOL,
emnly, Sir, they shall be like only.
sons
When at length / arrived at the
kuala in Trengganu, went straight
| 20 the sultan. He was full of con-
gratulations. He wanted the whole
story. I gave it to him from begin
ming to end
More" he said. Tell me more"
remarked that there was. little
time, since I had work to do for the
Raja Negri Siam.
| He was impressed with this, but
! would not let me go until I had re-
| peated my description of the big bull.
| L gave my estimate of his age as
| between forty-five and fifty. One OF
| his tusks measured almost four feet
and the other four feet two inches.
He stood nine feet eight and three
quarters inches high and weighed
all of three tons.
|. made the prediction that he would
become very tame. This pleased the
sultan greatly, and, moreover, it
proved to be true. 1 saw the old bull
many times before 1 returned to
America He had gentle disposition
and was content with his altered con-
dition. He became a state elephant.
The sultan called him "Chantek
Kuat," which, translated. means
beautiful and strong" I trust he
has many years before him in which
to shed glory on the state of
Trengganu.
Copyright, 1924)