Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 February 1920 — HOW TO CATCH ELEPHANTS [ARTICLE]

HOW TO CATCH ELEPHANTS

Some Suggestions Made by African Paper Would Seem to Border Slightly on the Ridiculoue. Half the inventors In England seem to have set to work on the problem of capturing or destroying the Addo Bush elephants. One man wants to drive them on to lighters moored In the Sunday river, and another suggests hunting them in whippet tanks, which, of course, will go through jungle like a hot knife through a pat of butter. We don’t think much of these ideas, howwver. They do not appeal to us as being sufficiently simple and practical. But as mere destructive criticism is never satisfying, we put forward the following schemes, which could be carried out easily: First Erect searchlights round the Bush and concentrate them upon the elephan ts at Da filled ky-th* glare the brutes will dash head first into the trunks of the trees and stun themselves. Their feet can then be tied together, and they can be dragged away by donkeys or oxen to cages and subsequently sold to circus proprietors or zoological gardens. Second. Let a big airship (the R-34 would dol move to and fro over the Bush, dragging it thoroughly with grappling hooks. The elephant fished up could be carriedsyvithout a moment’s pause north of the Zambesi and gently lowered to the ground, so that they could make their way into the wilds of Central Africa.

Third. Allow several subnjarines to sink to the bottom of the Sunday river. A gang of natives blowing trumpets and beating tin trays would then drive the elephants into the water. As they were swimming across, the submarines would come to the surface underneath them, lifting them out of the water. The submarines would steam away to any destination fixed upon, carrying the elephants on their decks. Fourth, Scatter several-tons of extra strong flypaper throughout tha Bush. This will adhere to the trunks and feet of the elephants and the mors they attempt to get rid of it the more it will collect until in the end they are suffocated. —Johannesburg (Transvaal) Sunday Times.