Rensselaer Standard, Volume 1, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 August 1879 — TRAINING ELEPHANTS. [ARTICLE]

TRAINING ELEPHANTS.

The Methods Used, and the-Curious v f Results Attained. Number of Bephsnts in America— History us Boms Famous Specimens—Strangs Stories at Elephantine “Cussednees” sad Affection. “There are shout fifty elephants in this country at the present time,” said Prof. Geo. Aretingstall, the keeper and trainer of the ten mountains of flesh which form one of the attraction as the Cooper Bailey Show, which opens in this city to-morrow. A Globe-Demo-crat reporter had called on Mr. Arsdngstall last evening at the Laclede Hotel, to have a talk about etepants, their breaking ; in, training, treatment, and ail that sort of things, and for an hour listened with rapt attention to the Prof, as he talked as glibly about these ungainly wonders of nature as a greenbaeker would about flat money. The gentleman thoroughly understood his subject and was willing to talk. Hie reporter knew about as much about elephants as a corn-fed hog does about guitar playing. Although the bearer of scare from a hundred fiercely fought interviews, he was on this occasion content to drop the arts of the profession and become an interesting auditor while Mr. Aretingstall, with the occasional assistance of Mr. Crowley, a newspaper man attached to the show, told what he knew about the beasts.

He said: “As I was saying, there are about fifty elephants in this country. Our show hasten,Forepaugh has nine, Barnum has eight, the Sells Brothers have seven, Cole has a couple, and the remainder are distributed among the zoological gardens and the smaller circuses. The first elephant ever brought to the Uuited States was bv Hick. Bailey, grand-uncle of Mr. Bailey of our show, and that was in 1824. It was called “Betsy”’ and is known In the profession as “Betsy, the First.” It was exhibited for four years through York State and New England. It was a great hovelty. The owner traveled with it at night, and it was always exhibited in a Duilding erected over it. The old-timers tell about the great excitement it created throughout the country. Tne news of its coming would go before, and whole villages would turn out aud spend the night along the roadside in tne hope of seeing the creature, only known to them through pictures and the works of travelers. What they generally beheld was a great shapeless mass, coveted the darkness, carefully by attendants, who kept the curious rustics at a distance. It was not a very big elephant, and came from Upper India. It was anything but amiable, and had a habit or tearing out the side of its house and starting off on “go-as-you-please” excursions. This was a fatal folly of Betsy’s. One night Betsy was out near Albany, New York. She was mad about something, and venting her rage in the exasperating shriek peculiar to an elephant. it got into a plucky farmer’s yard. He saw the monster. He did not know what it was. The only thing that he knew was that he was badly frightened and that he knew how to use a gun. He fired at the creature and the leaden ball pierced her heart. She sank to the earth and died, moaning piteouslv. Her keeper arrived. She was stuffed, and I believe some museum has her now.

The second elephant brought over was also called Betsy. She arrived in 1834 and was exhibited as the mam attraction of a show for three years, when she succumbed to the climate. The third Betsy was brought over In 1835. Then elephants became more frequent, aud the names of Columbus, Hannibal —the most vicious elephant that ever lived, and one whose course through the country, we might say, was marked with blood—Lajia Rookh, the creature owned by Cooper and Dan Rice, which was brought over from Canada, known as the first trick elephant—jt coukl walk a slack-rope about a foot thick, and used to play with children, but afterwards got so wicked that he was shot in Chicago; and then there were Antony and Cleopatra, who were lost in the auicksands of the Delaware river, and a great many more.” “Tell us about Antony and Cleopatra.” “Oh, they were simply chained together and were wading across the river. They had tried the bridge, but it was not safe to their notion, and as is the custom in a casa of that kind, they were wading through the water when they struck the quicksands to rise no more. The Ithdies were of course never recovered.” “Where are most of the elephants from?”

“All those prior to 1850 were from Upper India. The bulls were wild, restless, wicked creatures. Most of those now on exhibition are Ceylonese elephants. They are much more tractable than their brethren of the north. There are a few African elephants, but they are not desirable, as they certainly lack amiability. Prior to 1865 there were few shows that had more than one elephant. The first caravan of four was made when Cooper and Bailey went into the business. One of these was the world-famed Columbus, the largest elephant ever living, in captivity. - It was eleven feet five inches in height. I will tell you something about training elephants. Stewart Craven, who is now living quietly on his cattle ranch iu Texas, was the inventor of a new system of handling elephants, and he actually broke every performing elephant now before the country, with the exception of the seven now with the Sells Brothers’ show, which Is over in Illinois. That ba ch,l trair c 1 myself. Craven broke - in the celebrated Hannibal and Romeo. In 1870 James Kelly, proprietor of the London show, sent Bill Shannon to Ceylon, and Shannon sent him back ten elephants. They were brought to Philadelphia in 1872, and broken by Craven. Five of them were sold, and the other five came into my charge. They were well broke when I got them, but I trained them to their wonderful ring performance. An v elephant is a treacherous, cunning and very intelligent animal. He forms no attachment

for his keeper. He will, however, become deeply attached to a dog or other an imal. There are three dogs with my elephants, and Babe, my best elephant (Chieftain is my largest), has a pet camel called Dick. The camel will stand by her side for hours in contentment, and Babe actually fondles him with her trunk. In handling elephants fear Is the only instinct to cultivate in them. Kindness such as you would extend to a dog or a horse, does them no good. * They are liable at any tlnne to harm you if they are not kept in subjection. They must be punished immediately after the offense, whatever it may be, committed. Chieftain cut up a little rough the other day. I had him overthrown and chained, and then I warmed him with a hoop-pole until I was very tired and

be was very sore. Their skin is very tender, and they feel the punishment. The usual persuader Is a short instrument shaped like a bill hook. This punctures the hide, and is a very valuable article to keep on hand when you are boesing elephants. Gome let us walk oat to the show.” ’’TeariUng an elephant a trick bexaetty like teaching any other animal. It requires only a mastery of the brute. The first thing to do Is to get into the elephants bead what you want done, ana then to escape punishment be does it. Put abeU£!n tne grasp of an elephant’s trunk and teach him that every time he drops it he will be prodded, and he will quit dropping it. Then thereto a way to teach an elephant through his stomach. I worked for months with the animal that mounts the highest pedestal in the pyramid. I put his food up there and he soon learned to go up after it, and then it dawned on nto brain that I wanted him to go up there; that if he did go up he escaped punishment; and now he never thinks of balking, and hardly ever needs punishment.” The couple had just reached the tent and stepped into the dimly-lighted enclosure. The animals were shrieking discordantly. A moment before they had been quiet. The professor’s thoughtless use of “hardly ever” had stirred up the pandemonium. In the center the ton elephants were standing in a row quietly munching bay. The Professor walked «long and spoke to each one by name and was recognized by a shrill whistle or shriek from each.

When he reached “Babe”, he said, “where is Dick?” (the camel lover). Babe gave a strange squeal and turned clear around io the side where the camels were coraled and again made the strange noise. Dick is, however, an unappreciative lover, for he never rose from his bed to answer the fond salute. The reporter lingered around for to see the elephants sink into their beds of straw one at a time and go to sleep. The Professor told about now one of the elephants picked up a colored boy, who was making' up her bed in Kansas City, and tossed him gently into the candy stall when he was trying to give a sick vquiniue pill in Gilmore’s Garde,n in New York, she was angered at the Ein he caused her, ana threw him irty feet against a canvas screen, which fortunately broke the fall; ana related the details of the killing of King Williams at Hathboro, Conn., by Remeo. about three .years ago: tola an elephan Skills a|keeper, it always tramps upon and mangles the body; and, the elephants all being asleep, he concluded to go back to the hotel and do likewise. As he passed out he said to an attendant, “If the wind begins to blow hard, come and wake me.” In explanation he started to the reporter that elephants always got very much excited during a wind storm. One more qnestion the reporter asked, and that is whether it is true that an elephant will not lie down when under a roof. The professor said that It was true of bull elephants, who would stand on their feet all winter being afraid to lie down.