ATTEMPT TO HANG AN ELEPHANT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2713, 30 November 1889, Page 6 (Supplement)

ATTEMPT TO HANG AN ELEPHANT.

Not very long ago si largo crowd of ollioiais and (unions persons assembled at a frequented spot in"Berlin to witness an execution. All the preparations had been mont carefully made, and the aid of uevural hangmen "hiid been called into requisition ; hut tho rope broke, and the intended victim received a temporary respite. Ho is now walking about, sleeping, and living much in tho same stylo us before tho verdict., though apparently his supply of food w stinted. This denouement requires explanation. It may be remembered that " Rostroui," oue" of tho two Indian elephants presented in 15581 by th« Prince of Wales to tho Zoological 'gardens at Berlin, fame few years ago ran his warder through tha body with one of his tusks. The poor keeper died from the offsets of his wound. Sentence of death whs not at tho time passed on the culprit ; it. was deferred, and only quite recently solemnly proclaimed. " llostom " was, however, not condemned to the scaffold for this crime alone : he is said to have learned nothing from the clemency shown to him after tho above-mentioned outrage, and to have displayed ou divers occasions since that time evident symptoms of a wicked and depraved nature. Moreover, his internal appearance, as compared with that of his colleagues in another part of the elephant house, is declared, and with justice, to be anything but attractive, and to havo brought discredit on Mm establishment. Some g'.K-sipn attributed this to want of food—it beiug affirmed that he has had to live on almost starvation rations, besides having hud his feet in irons since the commission of his foul crime. Be that n.s h may, the director of the Zoological Gardens, after long and deliberate consideration, and after having consulted all the experts, resolved that no reason should anv longer be alleged why " llostom " should not. pay the penaky of his crimes with his life. The black cap was hauled down, tho judge methodically placed it on his head, and the thick-skinned monster wa* solemnly deprived from that moment of buns, bread, and ginger beer bottles, or their equivalents in >.hh country, and sentenced to death by strangulation at the early hour of seven o'clock on a given morning. The mode of his death has also been carefully considered. Some proposed that lie should be shot, but this method was considered dangerous, lest the bullet should not take immediate effect, or lest the sportsman's hand should tremble and miss his mark. Others preferred poisoning, and some suggested the electric current. All these propositions were rejected in favour of a process af strangulation by a three-quarter inch steel wire. | Every precaution having been taken, the noose was let fall over the monster's head at what was supposed to bo a favourable moment. This was when he passed out of his half-opened cage it; order to sniff the morning air. No less than ■!-! men were stationed in the vicinity to draw the noose tight. WheUi'or it was that the dumb creature had a presentiment that those wen; his exeimtinnecrs, ruthlessly bent on depriv. ing him of his light and life, or whether it%-.-.3 that t'lici arrangements wore olnmsilv m.iile. the nriin point is certain —namely, that- " Rostom, : ' as soon aa he folt the pressure of the wire, quietly made a slight effort: in the opposite direction, and snapped the substance that wa? to strangle him as if it had been cotton thread. The executioners wi-re discomfited ; the chief officers were duinfoiunlcd; but '•Kostom" took no further notice of them, and continued his promenade around his out-of-door enclosure. The next attempt to settle " Rostom " is postponed till after the director's return in October.