Mt. Pleasant Pyramid | 1944-06-23 | Page 4 | Elephants Mature at 20; can do 20 M.P.H. on Run

Elephants Mature at 20; Can Do 20 M.P.H. on Run People of Burma say an elephant ele-phant is old when he is born, with his wrinkled skin and wobbling movements. The life span of the elephant is 75 years. Maturity is reached at 20 years or less, and the animal begins to show signs of age at 40. The trunk of the elephant is a tube of muscles divided by a middle partition, and bearing at the end projections that may be used similarly to fingers and thumbs. Elephants make love by wrapping their trunks around each other, suggestive of th eman-ner eman-ner in which human beings hold hands. While the elephant can neither run, trot, gallop, nor jump, his shuffling gait can be stepped up to 20 miles an hour.