KEEPER KILLED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 January 1939, Page 6

KEEPER KILLED

ANGRY ELEPHANT’S ATTACK. At an inquest on a man who was trampled to death by a circus elephant at Crowland, near Peterborough, England, it was stated that just before the accident he had slapped the beast’s trunk. The dead man was James Aslett, aged 56, assistant .elephant keeper, and a verdict of death by misadventure was returned. The elephant that killed him was one of a pair used in the film "Elephant Boy.” John Swallow, owner of the elephants, said that Aslet had been employed as an assistant for two weeks. The elephants were .40 years old and were used to strangers and children. On the ill-fated day he saw his employees picking up the man from outside the elephant tent. He was conscious, and Mi' Swallow understood him to say that he had been lying on his bed when an elephant freed itself by pulling out a stake. The man died before a doctor arrived. Medical evidence showed that Aslett’s ribs were crushed. Robert Davidson, elephant attendant, said that he had never had any trouble with the animals.

A witness, Mrs Mary James Bone, said she took her grandson, aged three, to see the elephants. Aslett was sitting on some hay in a corner of the tent in front of the animals. He asked one of them to give him his trunk, which he took and shook.

The elephant would not fake its trunk away and Aslett slapped it. The animal then “went for him,” making an angry, growling noise. Mrs Bone said that she called for help, and some circus employees came along and dragged the man clear. Swallow was recalled, and said that an elephant’s trunk was a tender spot and to slap it might be asking for trouble.