OCR Text |
Show ELEPHANT TRAGEDY. Big Mammal Makes .Short Work of nil Tormentors. ' Last Sunday afternoon, while a concert con-cert was being held at the Crystal Palace, Pal-ace, an elephant belonging to a circu? which had been performing there broke from its fastenings and killed its keeDer. It then brushed through . various partitions of wood and glass, and appeared in the main building, where a great mimber.of persons were ' listening to the music: It-did not attempt at-tempt to hurt any of the crowd.thougn I It broke pff with its trunk the uplifted irm of a statue, probably under tht idea that this represented a man about .- ta strike. .' After some time it allowed itself to be secured by another elephant. ele-phant. It was then decided to kill the animal, and after a dose of poison hat: failed, a London gunmaker was sent for as executioner, and shot the animal dead. On the following "Wednesday an inquest was held on the body of the man. The evidence in favor of th elephant could not have been mor dearly put. ' Mr- Sanger, its owner admitted that the animal had once before be-fore killed a former keeper; and ht gave the facts which led to the deati1 of J:he second. ,The first man had been . . discharged by Mr. Sanger fifteeD months previously for gross brutalitj to. the animals. Jte came back and .' asked to be employed agajn. This-was granted,: and he-was taken on, not. a? a keeper, but as a laborer. -The Vety first time he went Into the stable the elephant,, though it was quite, dark at. .' the time, instantly recognized the mac voice, and at once crushed him to death against the stall. The creature had acted 6'nly-ln a panic of horror at the reappearance of a tormentor was se well established at the previous in-' in-' quest that it was retained in the menagerie. men-agerie. It was, exceptionally docile, and was taken through towns and Villages Vil-lages all over. England. .Why, .then, did he kill the second keeper? Because Be-cause this man, after his Sunday din-' din-' ner, declared that he would '.'pay out" the elephant for striking him. with his trunk. He actually took a lace, one of those taken from the Arabs In the Soudan. (Those who have seen the trophies taken from the Mahdi's followers fol-lowers will realize what a horrible weapon it was.) . Followed by another keeper, also armed with a lance, he proceeded to "prod" i. e.; pierce the chained elephant savagely.. And his death was the elephant's revenge. |