CIRCUS ANIMALS AT WAR

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2245, 5 October 1889, Page 3

CIRCUS ANIMALS AT WAR

" I have seen a great deal of the word, and have braved m*nya *tonn at tot , &ac never felt the le*st tremor," aaii an old sailor to a reporter, il be* I »m wllllog to oonfesa I waa frightened on one occasion, and braver men ttaa I tr.mbl'd m theit boots. It was about G'-en yean, a K o and I was a sailor m one of the tt vraero which were employe^ to tran«rcrt J.-»br Robinson's G e»t World's Exposition. As we neared a little port on tho Oh o rlvei near West Virglnlc, I wa» on .he upper deck, when, looking below, I saw tbe sailors and keepers of tho animals running bel'er-ekelter, and heard an nuuiuai commotion. I quiokly lurried below, aud found men, women and children running wildly to and fro, frantically shouting ti the other steamn:s, while at the state time there arose a eeries of shriek*, soreeohss, yells and bowls, as If the Inmates of pandemonium were let loosp. 11 The people who had onileoUd ou show to see the fleet a« it approached wero unable to m&ke out the strange behaviour of those on board tbe cteamer, but, surmising that everything waa not right among the animals n the menagerie, they rety quiokly oonoluded that the open levee wss no place for tham should any of the furious monaten make their way to the Und, and quickly dlipereed m great consternation. Jaat about this »lme signals of distress were hoisted, Whloh were quiokly responded to by two steamers A short dlatanoe away. They both rAn^eJ alongside of our steamsr, when they wero informed that tn awful battle waa reglng between the huge donble-horn rhinoceros and the monster war elephant, Old Emperor. As soon as the ladies and children oould be transferred to the new ■Uamers, the entire crew a of all the steamers were ordered below t- endeavour to separate the oombatants. 11 As the portion of the main deok ju« l off tbt betters was reaohed, a horribly sickening sight met their view. Wounded bleadlopi and horribly laoerated men wtre lying whore they had been itrlokea down by the terrible brute, ds»d : wounded and dying horses and ponies strewed the deok In every direction ; cages deitroyed and literally smashed Into fragments were flca-tered among the dead and wounded and dying, and the terrible dlo, shrieks, grunta, and groans plainly told that the bait'e was fiercoly raging. It seemed as if every cage on the boat would bo totally destroyed and all efforts to separate the savaga den tens of the forest provsd unavailing. At this juuoture a loud crash wss heard, acd the two cages oentalning the monstrous Hoot and the Labrador seals were driven over board. Mr Robinson seemad to be very eooi and oolleeted for a man who wss witnessing the destruction of his property at wholesale rate, incurring the loss of thousands of dollars at every new oDB.t When he saw the sea lions and seals dashed overboard, however, be deolded that patlenoe was no longer a vlrine, and ordered the oombatants to be fired upon. A heavy volley was discharged, whloh had no better effect on tb« monsters, now thoroughly aroused, than to make them fight all the more furiously. Tbe situa tion was getting every moment more dangerous for all on board, and the pro* prlsiors had almost despaired of evor separating them when It occurred to someane on board to open the stetm pipes and deioge them with steam, 11 Ths engineer was instruotsd to turn on the steam, and as it auddanly esoaped from the boilers with a tarrlfio roar, the elephant was heard to give a shrill trumpeting soreeob, such as (hey always utter m crying for mercy when conquered In their native wllda. Whether tho animal bad received Its death-blow from tbe rhlnooeres or waa frightened Into submission by the sleam oould not be ascertained until it oleared away, whloh i; did m a few moments, diioloilog to the astonished f;tie of theshowman a curious and gratlfyng s'gbt . There lay tbe huge e'ephant on the deok cowering and trembling, ottering moans of pain and fright, while a little beyond was tbe rblnocerous snugly emoonoed m his o»ge, quaking and shivering with fear, where he bad retreated the Instant the steam was opened on him, Tbe attendants sprang quiokly forward, and dosed and bolted the door of his cage, thus seeurlog themselves from further molestation from him. The horses, ponies, and smaller animals th*t had been killed m tbe battle were cast overboard, the dock was washed, and quiet once more restored, after one of the hardest battles witnessed between anlmala on the water. 1 '