The Ely miner., 1932-04-01

ANTHONY and published by Simon and Schuster.
But there was space in that book TO tell of the
time Frank Buck found himself sliding into d
pit with man-eatng tiger which he and his
helpers were trying to get out Of the pit into a
cage; of the time one of his leopards escaped
aboard ship and how he went into cabin
where the leopard was at bay and roped him;
and Of the time when a king cobra escaped
from its cage and cornered him in hut in his
compound at Singapore.
Those are only three Of the times when
Frank Buck stared death straight in the eyes.
There were many Others Perhaps the strang-
est of all of them the time tapir, ordi-
narily the meekest of all animals, tried TO crush
him to death with its six hundred pounds OF
weight and all but succeeded. Then there was
the time when an orang-utan, the giant Jungle
man of Malaga, Just ready TO draw him
into death embrace with his powerful arms
and then tear him TO pieces with his teeth.
There was Just one chance TO escape alive and
Frank Buck took it. He's not a professional
boxer but when the orang came at him with
outspread arms, Buck simply walked in and
gave the jungle-man uppercut on the point
of the jaw that was as effective K. as was
ever demonstrated in the prize ring.
YES I have had more than my share OF
thrills" Frank Buck will tell you. But I am
frank to say that these close calls do not rep
resent love of looking death in the eye. I am
not that kind of adventurer. l take no unnec-
essary risks. When man operates on as big
a scale as I do he doesn't have TO look for
trouble. No matter how careful one is, some
thing is bound to go wrong when live animals
and reptiles are handled wholesale. It is then
that experience counts"
And he might add that experience counts in
other times than when something goes wrong
and an adventurer such as he is looks death in
the eye A big game hunter has to think Of
saving only one lfe-hs own. But man who
collects wild animals as Frank Buck does, has
to think of saving his own life and the animals
too. For the biggest king cobra, a giant orang-
utan, Indian rhinoceros. or a man-eating
Tiger is utterly valueless to a zoo or a circus
II il is dead.
Experience counts. too, in keeping the animal
alive after it has been captured II may seem
strange to call Frank Buck dietitian But
that's exactly what he is and he is an expert
in matters Of diet to the most fnicky epicures
in the world. He can't guess how to accustom
a wild animal TO the change from the food
which IL eats in its wild state to .civilized
fare" He has 10 know The capture of some
wild animal may represent a great outlay
of money and time. plus the ever-present ee-
ment Of danger to the collector. But H. after
the beast IS captured its captor doesn't know
how TO keep it healthy both physically and
mentally. the whole investment Of time and
money and the potential value Of the animal
when ii is delivered to the zoo or circus may
be an entire loss. Therefore il would seem that
the element of risk in wild animal collecting IS
such as would give conservative business man
heart failure
Typical of some of the dietetic problems
which Frank Buck has had to solve the
case Of Baby Boo. the two-foot-ten-inch elephant
which he brought back one of his trips. So
far as is known there has never been written
any book on -The Care and Feeding Of Infant
Elephants" So when Frank Buck bought one
from party Of Batiks in Surnatra and It was
delivered 10 him in half-starved. weak and
wobbling condition there were no precedents
for him 10 20 by in determining what 10 do TO
keep from having a dead baby elephant on his
hands. Here is what happend. as he tells it:
NV problem had Just begun. I had TO get
some food into that elephants belly-and with
out much loss of time. I sent Ali (his native