Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 February 1893 — Elephant and Locomotive. [ARTICLE]

Elephant and Locomotive.

The remark of George Stephenson that the result of a collision between a cow and an engine would be “so much the worse for the coo” is historical. That even a greater animal than a “coo” wilP fail to score a touch-down against a locomotive, except under favorable conditions, is amply shown in a report from Siam. It seems that a full-grown elephant broke a fencing of the railway near the Oktwin Station, and then coolly walked down the line between the rails. The mail train from Mandalay shortly afterward put in an appearance, and, frightened by the noise and the sparks from the stack, the elephant turned and charged the unknown antagonist. The traiu kept on the track, but tho rash attacker was nowhere. It was swept away with such force that the carcass was hurled down an embankment with the skull crushed in. An elephant oi large size will weigh about three or four tons, and if this particular one had attained any speed in the charge which proved so disastrous to its valiant career, the collision must have been a most serious one. An elephant with a thin skull can hardly expect to be victorious in a conflict of this kind; nevertheless, the escape of the traiu without injury is very fortunate.—[Hong Kong Gazette.

The population of London now exceeds that of New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Chicago combined, and these four arc the only American citie? having one million or in or- inhabitants