Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Roseburg news-review. (Roseburg, Or.) 1920-1948 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 1936)
Mad Elephant Faces Guns Efforts To Save Beast Who Turned 'Killer, Futile iiy Peter Wolff A BULL elephant ran amuck trampling and goring his keeper who for an instant had turned his .hack; then the setiuel. three police inspectors outside the w elephant paddock, aiming care ' 'jlly at n small spot between the eys and ft.nping ears sending three steel -jnckete'd bullets plow ing into the mad brain. That was the unusual story un rolled by circum.-tances recently at v San Francisco's Flcishhacker Zoo, where Witlly, six swaying tons of irritated elephant had committed the unforgivable crime of killing a man. Wally's keeper, Edward Brown, is dead mutilated almost beyond recognition by the huge feet and single sharp tusk of his charge. Wally is dead, paying with his lii'e for a moment of irresponsible mEOness. Expert elephant men and citizens who wanted to save Wally's life protested and suc ceeded in postponing the execu tion a day; but further effort proved futile. The death, sentence had been passed, v It all happened under conditions which might have been avoided. Wally's keeper made the fatal mistake of turning his back on tho angry bull elephant. At the time, Wally himself was far from normal, suffering from the peri odical madness which overtakes all elephants at regular intervals a physical condition known as "must," indicated clearly by the action of a small circular spot on the forehead. SINCE the time when animal men knew anything certain about elephants, they have ecog- " nized the fact that an animal is not responsible for abnormal actions while "in must." Wally had come, three months previously, from the Al G.JJarnes circus, accompanied by special in- . structions; the keepers were never to turn their back upon the animal. The morning of the tragedy, Wally had been splashing in the concrete pool with a cow elephant, enjiying himself. Brown decided to remove him from the cow elephants, and apparently pro ceeded to do so alone. Again, this was a mistake, since trainers rec ommend there be always one man at the animal's backanothcr in front. . Tho first the zoo attendants knew of an accident, was when keeper Brown began to swear. They heard nothing more, except Wally's trumpeting. Rushing to the scene, they found the keeper crushed to death, and the elephant uncontrollable. Wally's execution was almost a holiday for over 100 spectators cameramen, officials, and curiosity seekers. Attendance became a mark of distinction, similar to the throngs who witnessed the be heading of France's aristocrats during the days of the Terror. The day had been set, and the hour 1:45 p. m. Everything was arranged for speedy action. Pic tures of Wally had been taken, swaying at his chains, seeming to expect what was coming. Three police marksmen stood ready with high power elephant rifles to pour steel-nosed bullets through the 14-inch skull and two-inch hide. ATAXICAB roared to a stop on the edge of the gathering crowd, and a young attorney leaped out. It was the representa tive of several indignant or sen timental citizens (depending upon your feeling for executions), wav ing a reprieve issued by Judge Frrnk Peasy. Edmund Heller, director of the 7.00. accepted the papers, and dis missed the crowd. Wally's death had been postponed, perhaps spared. The attorney's plea alleged several reasons why Wally should not die. He was a valuable "movie elephant worth thousands of dot lars, too Valuable to be destroyed." Too, the "people of San Francisco believed that the elephant was not morally or legally responsible for the accident," and, in any case, the animal had received "cruel and inhuman treatment," However true or. untrue these allegations might be, there was proof of only two things: Edward Brown had been killed, and there lore Wally must pay. Edmund Heller agreed that the keeper had unfortunately turned his back upon the elephant. Keep er Bjork said the same thing. Fred Chat-ten, chief elephant keeper at the zoo, and an experi enced animal man, related at the inquest that the circus had warned zoo attendants to watch Wally carefully, to keep in front of him and face him. All of these men agreed there was only one thing A Chinese ivory fan of the eighteenth century. It bears a French motto. to do, which was to execute Wally. He was, they said, certain to be dangerous to attendants and vis itors after the killing. Elephants didn't forget, and looked for an opportunity to do the same thing again. SEVERAL other animal hunt ers and big game trainers did not concur, notably Frank Buck. He was quoted in New York as saying that Wally's death "was a useless waste of life. He would soon have become normal again." For several days newspapers carried headlines about Wally and his predicament, long reports on the progress of new reprieves. But no further reprieve was obtained. Twenty-four hours elapsed, it was again early afternoon, the sun warming Wally's dusty back as he strained uselessly at the chains fastened to the concrete paddock posts. Newspaper cameramen stood about, snapping "action pictures" and waiting for the three police marksmen to aim and fire, for the huge body to topple over and end the suspense. Wally, they thought, knew what it was all about. He strained at his chains, but couldn't move them. He swayed back and forth, restlessly. His little-inflamed eyes blinked into the camera and at the curious crowd. Then, slowly, he sank on his front knees, slightly bowing his great head much as French victims of the guillotine did when they lost their heads be fore the gaping mobs of Paris streets. The bull elephant was ready. Three shots crashed out. Three tiny dots appeared near his ear, forming a triangle about the size of a half dollar. Wally slipped from his knees, rolled on hfs side and was still. Twelve minutes later the was pronounced dend, and shortly thereafter the thick hide was stripped from his body. PORTIONS of his anatomy were presented to various scientists at universities and hospitals for research purposes. Alive, Wally was valued at $5,000." His body, however, is worth little, except for scientific research. The hide will require two years to cure, and may be ex hibited at the lf3f exposition. The one ivory tusk he had lost the other in a train accident was presented to the police depart ment commemorating the marks manship of the three inspectors. The lore of elephants goes hack before history was recorded. Cave dwellers of early Europe left traces of ivory carvings, relics of great mammoth tusks probably gained at the cost of several hu man lives. Ivory and elephants are men tioned in ancient Chinese manu scripts of the tenth century, and Buddhist legends relate that one of the trnnformatinns of Guatama Buddha took the form of an ele- Wally and his executioners. With eyes blazing, the mad elephant faced the firing squad. He went down before three bullets fired A at close range. phant. Elephants are. briefly men tioned in both the Koran and the Bible. In the Homeric age the Illiad speaks of reins and harness made of ivory: . . "As when tome Carian or Maeon ' - Ian maid ' With crimson dye, the- ivory stains,-1 .' designed To ' be: the checl-piece of a werrior's .steed " , f The Greek sage, Aristotle, tells of hunting the elephant, and ob tained his information from Alex ander the Great, who used, the great beasts in war. PERHAPS the most beautiful doors in the world were those of the Christian church of Santa Sophia, Constantinople virtually is fflBhm Bdit In- lips ! J fT p IsN 0 yf MiQf CIGARETTES, like lovely ladies and tall tulips, are most alluring, when they're freshest. And, when those cigarettes are Dtitiblc ftlrllmc Old Golds, made from the pick of prize crop tobaccos, neither time, nor money, nor effort is spared in guarding their priceless freshness. ' That's why every pack of Old Golds is wrapped in double Cellophane. TWO and made from the 1 VXaZ. ,V Vlt, paneled in ivory carvings which ' were ordered by the emporor , Justinian. Even in modern times elephants were considered the gift of kings and rulers, highly valued by the owners. One such gift was made by the East India Company to the Sultan of Sulu who until his re cent death was the only royal ruler under the American flag a group of much prized Singhalee ' elephants,! magnificent animals apparently unappreciated by the ; aging Sultan. He tired of them ' and turned them loose at : Cape Unsang, Borneo. Their descend ants are today the wild elephants : inhabiting the jungles of that island continent. . i Several states contain the re- For Killing Keeper (Photo reproduced from "Ivory and the Elephant," by George Frederick Kunt) -, The ivory of elephants' tusks has been used in ornaments since the beginning of recorded time. Here is a beautiful ivory figure made thousands of years ago. mains of the mastodon and mam moth, skeletons preserved in the mud underlying the ice sheet ; which covered swamps and rivers, and slowly receded. But the first elephant to trod American - soil since prehistoric times was brought over by Hackaliah Bailey. jackets of Cellophane. Moisture-proof. The highest tpialily. It is this ingenious double wrapping that locks out dampness, dust, and dry ness . . . that seals in dmihlc-mvUmv flavor, smoothness, fragrance . . . that gives you, in every Old Gold, the deep enjoyment of fine tobaccos, really fresh. P. S. That "Double-Money-Back" Offer still holds good. It's open for 30 days from today. pmeTr rizf. N Its name was "Bet," and the cir- ' cus man landed it at Ossing, New York. The journey inland had to be made at night, in order not to frighten the horses along the way. It was .exhibited at Somers, and later proved a main attraction in the pioneer circus organized by Outer ocho1 of Cellophane opens from rtie bottom jSv. lnof ocktt f (h- sv. . CtlUphant eptni Crop Tobaccos Bailey. "Bet" was valued at only $1,000. Later, Bailey built tha Hotel Elephant in the animal's memory, and erected a tremend ous wooden image of his pet. The Chicago Exposition of 1893 displayed what la said to be the largest ivory carving ever execut eda figure of Buddha by the Japanese artist Ichlkawa Komei, THE most delicate workmanship is shown by the Chinese in ex quisite ivory fans, which accord ing to tradition were invented about 700 A. D. One of these fans, Inscribed in French, was carved by an unknown artist in the 12th centuryj the inscription reads, "If you love what I love, you will love yourself!" Some unique excellent carvings have been made by Chinese and Siberian native artists from the tusks of mammoths, notably sev eral depicting camols, reindeer, and a remarkable ivory model of a Chinese woman. This model has the typically small feet of Orien tal women; the statuette is caned from a single piece of ivory, and age has imparted to it a beautiful yellow tone. Legend says that wo men of the better class used these tiny figures to explain to their doctors the location of their ill ' ness. A doctor in China some H00 years ago was not permitted to actually see a lady of the higher class; instead, she would put her hand through a curtain to allow him to. feel her pulse,- and then lay her finger on the section al the ivory model affected. ACS UVC.I
