Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-27
Or. Mann Settles Question in
Prompt Cable From Dark
Part of Africa.
Seasickness and Other Perils
of Travel Face Pet-Can-
not Navigate a Tunnel:

It's boy.
This is the message DIR. William
Mann, head of the Smithsonian hrys-
Ter expedition. flashed back from OAR
es-Salaam this morning in reply to a
cablegram from the children of Wash
ington. who wanted to know whether
their giraffe was a boy or q girl.
The message from Africa was even
briefer than that. 1t came days be-
fore it was expected, and the speed
with which DIR. Mann received the ca
blegram from Washington and return.
ed a reply indicates that he must be
pretty nearly ready to start Wash
ington's first giraffe on the first leg of
its long Journey to its new home.
The cablegram was not filed in
Washington until yesterday afternoon,
and it did not begin its own undersea
voyage to Africa until some time dur
ing the night.
Reply Arrives Early.
But exactly at COS o'clock this
morning, while all of the little spon.
sors for the new giraffe were stiL
under the influence of the sandman
this reply was received here:
Oar es- Salaam, August q, 1926.
Star. Washington. d. c.
Boy
Mann"
So now, put on those thinking caps
and get busy finding a nice name for
your new pet. Remember. you are
not to send them to the giraffe at The
Star until he tells you to. But, in the
meantime. you are to watch carefully
for messages from the giraffe and you
are to ask your parents to read to you
everything they can find about gi-
RATES..
We don't know just when the big
fellow will arrive, or even when he
will start, but it looks as though it
won't be very long. Head Keeper
Blackburn. at the Zoo, and the scien-
fists at the Smithsonian Institution
look for him to reach Washington
some time in October. He has a long,
dangerous journey ahead, however,
and you should be very grateful If he
makes 1t successfully,
May Be I'm Dod0ma.
1t is quite probable that your
giraffe has gotten no further than
Dodoma. DIR. Mann's big camp in the
wild Tanganyika territory of Africa,
by this time. The real trouble begins
right there. Remember, although
quite a young man. this chap is any
where from IL feet to II feet tall.
Imagine it. He could stand on the
ground and look into a second-story
bedroom window-and he might have
to stoop to do it!
AT Dodoma DR.. Mann will person
ally super;ntend the construction of
a special crate, in which the giraffe
will remain throughout the remainder
of the journey. This crate was de-
signed by Head Keeper Blackburn of
the Zoo. who is recognized as an out
standing expert in such matters i'll
this country. Before DR.. Mann start
ed Mr.. Blackburn made him a com
plete, small model of the crate, so that
the prospective giraffe would be as
sured the utmost in travelling com
fort.
Such a crate, with the giraffe in it,
will have to be placed on fiat car at
Dodoma and shipped to Dar-es- Salaanl,
the nearest port. OF course, the crate
will have TO stand upright, and it will
reach high in the air. Fortunately.
however, there are no tunnels, so the
attendants don't expect to be both
cred with anything but the job of
keeping the unbalanced crate safely
on the car.
May Charter Ship.
Once at Dar-es- Salaam, DIR. Mann S
troubles only multiply. Few ships
And it necessary to call at that out
of-the-way port on the African east
coast. But if DIR. Mann can get one
and charter 1t to bring his entire
menagerie direct to baltimore, his
chances of keeping our giraffe and
other pets healthy until they reach
their new home will be increased a
hundredfold.
1t is quite probable that the reason
DIR. Mann got his message from the
children so soon was that he had hur-
,ied ahead to Dar-es~ Salaam In the
hope of chartering some chance vessel
in the port If he can't do that, he
will have to bring his animals hack
all the way through London and then
across the Atlantic. Great dangers
lie in the route Of such a long journey,
experts say.
! In the first place. giraffes are con
firmed landsmen. They hate the
water and get violently seasick. No
wonder DIR. Mann wants to avoid as
little travel by water as possible,
don't you think? Should the voyage
through London be necessary 1t is not
improbable that the giraffe may have
to be left there until Spring, to avoid
the dangers Oh Iticctiii6 "lhliS
storm on the Atlantic.
Big Ship Needed.
Another trouble arises over finding
a suitable place for the giraffe on the
ship. None Of the decks. except the
hurricane deck, are high enough to
accommodate a giraffe and 1t would
be- murder to put it on the outside
deck. The next thing, therefore, is
to find a ship big enough to put the
crate in one of the matches. which
usually extend the entire depth of the
ship.
Once on board ship. giraffes become
seasick almost Immediately and be-