Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 128, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1911 — MONKEY WITH MEDAL [ARTICLE]

MONKEY WITH MEDAL

MAtCOT OF H. M. S. VIGILANT It DECORATED FOR SERVICE. % ■* ■•"'-I' •wjKgSSI i ... ■ Jenny, a Simian From the Andaman Islands, Went Through Abyssinian Campaign and Liked the Roar,Of Battle. Nearly every warship has had a pet aboard at one time or another, bah very few of these animals have ever attained the distinction accorded to Jenny, the mascot of H. M. S. Vigilant, who served through the Abyssinian campaign and was discharged with a service medal, suitably inscribed with her name and rating, suspended by a sliver chain about her hairy neck. Jenny was found In the Andaman islands, where no monkeys were supposed to exist, and she belonged to a new species. Her body was covered with long, light gray hair, much finer and Bllkler than the hair of the average simian; her head was unusually, broad between the ears, her eyes larger than others of her kind and’ her hands more like those of a human being. ' Jenny was about a year old when captured, and at first was very wild, but from Constant petting she quickly grew tame and took to life on the ocean wave like a duck to water. Every man aboard the ship, from Captain Brown down to the cook, took turns at educating Jenny, and as she was amazingly Intelligent IV never needed more than two or threq lessons to teach her what she must or must not do. She was permitted the run of the vessel, and never betrayed the trust reposed In her by an act of wanton mischief. Jenny showed a marked fondness for something to nurse and pet, and adopted a half-grown chicken as her baby, rocking it in her arms for hours at a time, much to the chicken’s disgust. When it died —probably from too much affection —Jenny moped and was Inconsolable. One of the sailors made a rag doll for her, but finding it was not alive she promptly threw it overboard. She had her own hammook slung with the men and turned in when they' did. She never was able to learn to lash her hammock, though she made many attempts to do so. She always was in her particular place at the mess tabls, ate with a fork and spoon, drank from a cup, and learned to like tea with milk and sugar. Her favorite dish was corn meal and molasses. She also relished a glass of grog and enjoyed a pipe, which she filled and lighted without assistance. Jenny showed no fear of firearms and kept her station on deck whan the batteries wars roaring. When the Vigilant reached England after a four years’ cruise and her crew was mustered out, Jenny was presented to the London zoo.