Democratic Sentinel, Volume 21, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 August 1897 — Elephant's Shower Bath. [ARTICLE]

Elephant's Shower Bath.

The elephant, in a wild state, is a nocturnal animal rarely, if ever, stirring in the daylight from his haunts in the shady forest, and, when domesticated and compelled to work or travel In the day time, his enormous size and dark color cause bJm to be a great sufferer from heat. To relieve himself the animal has contracted the habit of withdrawing from his stomach a quantity of water by means of his trunk, which he then squirts over his back and sides in order, by its evaporation, to cool his skin. As this process Is repeated on an average of once in’every five minutes, and as the elephant’s aim is not good, his efforts to keep cool cause considerable inconvenience to his rldera, who are frequently sprinkled by the water, though the fluid is quite clear and has no offensive odor. The habit is acquired in domestication, for it is not known to be practiced by elephants in the wild state, and is altogether one of the most singular In natural history.—St. Louis Globe-Demo-crat.

The total production of American coal in 1895 was 171,804,702 long tons, an Increase of 19,350,000 long tons over the product of 1894. The only country exceeding this output is Great Britain, which is credited with a production of 188,277,525 tons in 1894. Of this quantity, however, 33,073,698 tons were exported, while the American product was almost wholly consumed within the United States, the exports being more than counterbalanced by our imports of foreign coal.