Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-08-15
British Monkeys Outshine All Others
Or Super-Simion Leg Is Being Pulled
BY RICHARD RODGERS

pulling OIle leg WIFI IIllS
straight-faced talk about re-
placing men with monkeys in
farm and factory jobs.
Or perhaps their monkeys are
smarter than ours. The ones
out at the Zoo here are good only
at the trade of monkey.
Last week The Star had q
story from London, quoting :he
eminent Sir George Thomson as
advocating simians for agricul-
tural and assembly line chores.
Sir George, master of Corpus
Christi College at Cambridge
University, has a book due this
fall.
1.-THE monkeys hand is a re-
instrument when con-
sidered in conjunction with it
eye and BRAIN" he wrote.
Among Best Bargains
Think of the electronicS nee
essary to produce a machine
capable of plucking an orange
from a tree without wrecking thu
tree. 1t would take kilowatts o.
power to operate it. The monkey
has a weight of about 40 pounds
and a consumption of a pounC
of nuts a day. It seems one O
the best bargains nature has tt
offer us. We ought to maxi
more use of it and no doubt VI
shall"
Sir George. there is plenty o
doubt. At least with the typ
Of brainpower Gagged in this zoe
Before Sir George aired hi
respect for monkeys, one Doug
las Wightman. a Kent fruit
farmer. told how his pet monkey
could scale a cherry tree anC
pick fruit better than human
workers doing it for pay. Tit
workers union forced the PEI
into retirement, Mr.. Wightmar
said, without cracking a grin.
The Star sent a man to thu
Zoo to determine If DR.. William
M. Mann truly had a genius
behind bars.
Aide Approached
Frank Lowe, one Of DR.
Mann's top aides and one whit
knows tools, was pressed int
service as the teacher. This wal
to forestall comment that Tit
Stars envoy couldn't teach
Minnie anything because HI
didn't know as much as sht
does.
DR.. Mann recalled that year.
ago in Sumatra he saw q monkey
that was trained to Skinny VI
palms and knock down coconut.
to his owner. It was such ar
outstanding accomplishment, thu
zoo director still remembers it
He tried to buy the amazing
creature. The owners wife re.
fused to sell. III I SELL" she said
my husband, he got to 60 t.
work"
BUT that was q rare. rare ex.
ception.
DR.. Mann suggested testing
Minnie. a young chimp and on.
of the brainier Monkey House
tenants. He thought that, once
Minnie was shown how to use 9
hammer, she might ape her in.
structor and even progress Sc
far as to get a nail pounded al
least partially.
Humph!
Minnie underwent four hours
instruction and still didn't know
the claw Of the hammer from
the handle.
AS for fruit-picking, Minnie
and her kind might do it for
their owners for a while, but
when the novelty wore of they
would quit, DR.. Mann said.
Test bud Coins
In the Far East, some banks
use monkeys to test dud coins,
according to British reports.
The animals are trained to bite
coins, so goes the story. Minnie
alas. was too stupid to be trusted
with q piece Of money. Her
examiner did offer her Q pencil,
which she began to eat, and q
piece Of paper, which she
shredded.
It was with the hammer she
was least hep. She nibbled
Nflectively at it. explored its
metal with her nose, waved 1t,
threw 1t, retrieved 1t, dropped
it and finally discarded 1t.
AS a carpenter, Minnie is a
fine chimpanzee.
Wait a minute-maybe Minnie
isn't so dumbe. II she did
demonstrate proficiency with
tools, DR.. Mann might put her
to work. AS things stand now
her job is a snap.
In any event, Sir Georges
thesis Is full of holes. II you get
a monkey smart enough to work
he's smart enough to duck out
Of 1t.