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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1955-05-19, Page 2Some Tales of Jumbo Famous Elephant Of all the famous animals the London Zoo has housed in its eentury and a quarter of exist- ence, none—despite the great fame of Brumes the polar bear —ever captured the imagina- tion of the entire country as did Jumbo. The elephant went to Regent's Park ninety years ago, a scruffy little baby, and his de- parture for America, eighteen years later, was accompanied by nation-wide lamentations. Jumbo was captured when rather less than a year old on the banks of the River Settite in Abyssinia in 1861. His captors sold him to the Paris Zoo. After staying in Paris for three years, Jumbo was exchanged for a rhinoceros; Paris got the rhinoc- eros, and the London Zoo got jumbo. Jumbo arrived at Regent's Park in June, 1865, and was handed to a keeper named Mat- thew Scott. The youngster stood only four feet high and was in a filthy condition. His feet had been neglected and had become malformed, His temper was terr- ible; he destroyed the doors of his house and drove his tusks through the iron plates. Scott took hold of Jumbo by one ear, and Superintendent Bartlett took the other, and they thrashed him soundly. Later Jumbo was taken into the gardens and meekly took children for rides on his back at 2d. a time; but once back in his house. his behaviour continued to be bad. Nevertheless, he be- came a great money-maker for the Zoo. At first keeper Scott was allowed to retain all those twopences, but there came a time when the Zoo authorities decided otherwise. From then then onwards Jumbo made £ 800 a year for the Zoo. Jumbo's tusks, broken when he thrust them through the iron plates, began to grow again, but they emerged through the skin near his eyes. It was decided to operate. But as the operation be- gan, Jumbo gave a scream of fright and tried to kill his keep- er, who just managed to escape. For the second attempt at an operation, all precautions were taken against Jumbo's possible behaviour, but this time he was as good as gold, just as if he understood that he would be re- lieved from pain. But once back in his house, he continued to raise Cain. Jumbo was quite a problem to the Zoo. It was decided to find a mate for him. The Zoo bought Alice, a tiny female elephant, for £500 from an East ' End dealer. Superintendent Bartlett and Alice walked all the way to Regent's Park and then sat down together to supper. Jumbo at first showed no sign of being influenced by female society; indeed, his behaviour got worse. But the people who flocked to the Zoo to see him knew nothing of what went on behind the scenes; when he ap- peared in public he was as docile as could be. The Zoo put up with him far sixteen years, then the Superin- tendent petitioned the Zoo Council to be allowed to pur- chase a powerful rifle toshoot him. But at that critical moment came a letter from New York, from Mr. Phineas Barnum, proprietor of "The Greatest Show on Earth," offering £2,000 for Jumbo. This was accepted and his life was saved. As soon as the news spread that Jumbo had been sold to Barnum,:ritain went wild with excitement. Nobody outside Zoo eircles knew that Jumbo was scheduled to be shot. Thousands of letters reached the Zoo from both children and parents. Music -hall singers sang ballads about Jumbo. One typical verse went as follows: "Jumbo said to Alice, 'I love you.' Alice said to Jumbo, 'I don't believe you do; T. V. Top Is Guestproof and Family -Resistant By EDNA MiLES Ever have hot .coffee spilled on the top of your TV set? Or have you tried to wipe off rings made by the glasses that care- less guests put down on the handiest spot? Of course you have. Prob- ably the results were none too good and you bemoaned the damage to your set, then tried to cover the marks with a vase car a lamp. Good news for the home- maker lies in announcement of a new laminate being used in some table -model TV sets. The new material combines the pro- tection of plastic with the rigid- ity of metal. It comes in a var- iety of colors to fit in with any living -room decor. One set, for instance, comes in pretty shades of coffee, sand, cordovan or gray. And beneath the color, the surface is functional. It's guaranteed tot to chip, crack, peel, stain or scratch. It will stand up to heavy abuse from guests or children and keep its good looks meantime. Guestproof laminated top on this TV set is impervious to spilled liquid. Won't start or scratch, chip, crack or peel. Actually, you may use the1 you like. Handprints, spots and top of sets having this laminat- stains all wipe free with a ed material as a serving pot if 1 damp cloth. If you only loved me, as you say you do You'd never go with Barnum's Show And leave me in the Zoo.' " Another song was entitled: "Why Part With Jumbo?" Then there was the "Jumbo March" for the piano which all the little girls and boys who loved Jumbo learned to play. There were letters to the newspapers, 4111 of indignation; there were protest meetings. But the Zoo stuck to the bargain: £2,000 for Jumbo as he stood; Barnum to pay all transport ex- penses and to arrange the transport. There arrived from America "Elephant Bill" Newman, said to be an expert in handling elephants, and a Mr. Davis, Barnum's personal representa- tive. Little did they know what was in store for them. Jumbo, now eleven feet tall, walked placidly enough into a travelling cage mounted on a low trolley. He was chained by his forefeet, but he struggled hard and pounded the sides of the box. He' weighed six tons. Heavy drayhorses were harnes- sed to the trolley, which moved off and at once sunk to its axles. It took four hours to get clear of the gates of Regent's Park. Night fell and huge crowds collected. It took five mare hours to cover 100 yards, again and again the trolley sank down to its axles. The crowd took up a chant: "The Yankees will never have Jumbo." It took all' night to get to the docks; there was a procession of hansom cabs and pedestri- ans. At seven a.m. Jumbo had breakfast, plus a copious drink of beer given him by a weeping woman who had followed him from the Zoo. After the beer, Jumbo was given some whisky. It later • transpired that the Americans who had come to fetch him were so "het up° that Barnum offer- ed another £1,000 if the Zoo would take the responsibility of getting Jumbo to New York. The Zoo refused. Jumbo was first put on a barge and then hoisted by a hydraulic crane on to the As- syrian Monarch, where a huge amount of stores for his journey had already been placed. The ship, with Jumbo aboard, sailed on March 27th, 1882. So great was public interest in Britain that daily bulletins were put into waterproof bags and dropped overboard in the hope that news of Jumbo would. DRUMSTICKS GALORE -- Folded up underneath like retractable landing gear are the two extra legs which this chicken ,was blessed—or cursed. The creature was on exhibit at the Biological Institute of the University of Istanbul, Turkey. reach Britain. During the whole voyage cartoons and sarcastic verses appeared in British pub- lications. Jumbo arrived in New York,; on April 9th. There was £450 customs duty to pay on him. The elephant received a tumul- tuous reception and was placed on show at Madison Square Gardens in New York. For three years Jumbo toured the United States with Barnum's Circus; meanwhile the children of Britain continued to mourn for him. In the late summer of 1885 the Show was in Canada, September 15th of that year the Circus. was tented at St. Thomas, Ont., where Jumbo suddenly took a violent dislike to an on- coming train. He charged the locomotive full tilt, and was killed outright. Jumbo was skinned and stuf- fed, and put on show standing next to his skeleton. Some years later this somewhat gruesome exhibit was brought to London. On the death of Jumbo, Bar- num bought his mate Alice and had her fetched to America, where she was exhibited as "Jumbo's Wife," but she surviv- ed her mate by only two years. PRINCESS MARGARET AT DEDICATION -•- Princess Margaret (left) appears before a group of Girl Guides os she arrives for the dedication of the Anglican Church of Sts. Philip and James in London. Her death was even more tragic than Jumbo's; November 20th, 1887, Bar- num's Circus and Alice were at Bridgeport, Connecticut. A ter- rible circus fire swept through the menagerie and killed all the animals, including Alice. Star -Gazers See Red Observations which astron- omers in many parts of the world are planning to make through more power telescopes may solve in 1955 the centuries- old question: Are there men on Mars? One astronomer has said that if we could meet a creature from Mars we would probably find him "too uncanny and too clever for us." He might, also be millions of years ahead of us in evolution. Scientists are still divided on the question of whether Mar- tians exist on the red planet so many millions of miles away. Some say the only life is a strange kind of bright vegeta- tion which makes Mars look red. But the Astronomer -Royal, Sir Harold Spencer Jones, believes it is desert that gives the planet c its ruddy colour. He has pointed out that other parts of the sur- face are greenish in colour. It is believed that the rarefied atmosphere of Mars is rather like that which. exists 100,000 feet above the earth's surface. Warm-blooded creatures, be- cause of the lack of oxygen, could not therefore exist on Mars, says one world-famous as- tronomer. But he does not rule out: the possibility of some kind of life flourishing there. What form might it take? That is what the astronomers hope to find out. It was the Italian astronomer Schiaparelii who, he 1877, start- ed the notion that there might be living, thinking Martians. He found that the dark patches on Mars which earlier 'observers had called "oceans" 'were connected by narrow streaks, sometimes many hun- dreds ofmiles long. He called these streaks channels or canals. ' What astronomers now want to find out is whether these channels were constructed by Martians to carry water from the melting polar caps for pur- pose ,of irrigation. Or are they' just surface features of Mars? If the question of who lives on Mars is not satisfactorily an- swered this year it may be on September ilth, 1956, when Mars will be comparatively close to the earth —• only 35,- 500,000 miles away. Modern Etiquette By Roberta iLee Q. What should a person do when he has completed intro- ducing two persons? A. He should try immediately to draw the two acquaintances into conversation. Q. Is it always necessary that a Chaperon be a married woman? A. No, any woman of mature years may serve in this capacity. Q. While confined in a hospital, many, of my friends brought me gifts. I have thanked most of these persons either personally or over the phone. Is it neces- sary for me to write them each a "thank you" note? A. Only to those you have not thanked personally. Q. When cheese is served with apple pie, should it be eaten with the fork or the lingers? A. Usually it's more convenient to eat it with the fork. But it's not improper to pick it up with the fingers if you choose. TABLE WALKS Here's the recipe for a really outstanding dessert — orange chiffon pie, no less, made with lemon pastry for extra goodness. But perhaps I'd better start Off with the pastry recipe. You'll find it so wonderful with many different sorts of filling. LEMON PASTRY 1/ lemon 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 cup all-purpose flour s/,s teaspoon salt 1/ cup shortening 4 tablespoons water Start oven at 450" F. Grate the lemon rind; squeeze the juice. Sift the flour; measure. Sift again with salt. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add in water and lemon juice, a tablespoon at a time, mixing with a fork until all dry ingredients are moisten- ed, Form into a ball. Chill for one hour. Roll out on lightly floured board to 12" circle. Fit into 9" pie plate. Trim to 1" edge. Fold under edge and flute. Prick closely with fork on sides and bottom. Bake 12 minutes or until golden brown. * H W ORANGE CHIFFON PIE 1/2 recipe lemon pastry rind of 1 orange 1 envelope unilavored gelatin • cup orange juice 2 tablespoons leucon juice 4 eggs i/i teaspoon salt • cup sugar Make up lemon pastry (see be- low). Grate the rind of orange. Sprinkle gelatin over % cup orange juice to soften. Separate yolks and whites of eggs. Mix orange juice, salt, and % cup sugar in top of double boiler. Place over boiling water and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens slightly and coats a metal spoon. Add gelatin and stir until completely dissolv- ed. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice and orange • rind. Chill until mixture has consist- ency of unbeaten egg whites. Beat the egg whites until -'stiff enough to.. hold sharp peaks. Gradually beat in remaining 4 tablespoons oi' sugar, beating well after each addition. Gently, but thoroughly mix the thicken- ed gelatin mixture into whites. Pour into baked pastry shell and chill until firm. R * 14 GINGER -APRICOT ROLL 8/ cup all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder • teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ginger s/ cup sugar 3 eggs 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/ cup apricot jam Start oven at 375° F. Grease and line with wax' paper a 10" x 15" x 1" baking pan. Sift flour; measure. Sift again with baking powder, salt, ginger, Separate yolks and whites of eggs. Beat egg whites until stiff enough to hold sharp peaks. Gradually beat in ae cup sugar, continuing to beat until stiff. Beat egg yolks until light and as thick as whipped cream. • Gradually beat in remaining i/a cup sugar. Gent- ly but thoroughly mix egg yolks .into egg whites. Divide flour • mixture into three parts. Sift one-third of flour over eggs and mix in lightly and thoroughly. Repeat for remaining two-thirds of flour. Spoon batter into pre- pared pan, . spreading mixture into the corners of pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Loosen edges with knife and turn out onto clean dish towel sprinkled with confectioners' sugar. Peel off waxed paper and trim edges of roll. Starting at one end of roll, roll up and let stand until. cool, Beat cream stiff. Unroll the cake and spread with apricot jam and whipped cream. Roll up again, Chill for 1 hour. Makes 8-10 generous servings. * e BLACK AND WHITE BROWNIES % cup all-purpose flour 2 eggs ¶squares unsweetened chocolate A cup nuts 1/2 cup butter or margarine 1 cup sugar i/ teaspoon salt lb teaspoon vanilla Start oven at 350°F. Grease 8" x 8" x 2" pan. Sift flour; measure. Beat eggs until light and as thick as whipped cream. Melt choco- late over hot water; cool. Chop nuts fine. Work butter until light. Gradually add sugar, con- tinuing to cream until fluffy. Stir in eggs. Add flour and salt and beat until smooth. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Divide batter in half. Add the cooled chocolate to one half. Pour light and dark patter into pan in alternate spoonfuls. When all batter is added, swirl through with a spatula. Bake 25 minutes. Re-, move from pan and cool. Makes 16 squares, .. * BRAZILIAN FROZEN CREAM i/ cup water 2 squares unsweetened chocolate 11/4 cups milk 1 tablespoon instant coffee s/ cup sugar 2 tablespoons flour 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 cup heavy cream 1 tablespoon vanilla Add water to chocolate and heat until chocolate is melted. Heat milk until a film forme across the top. Add coffee and chocolate mixture, stirring until well -mixed, Mix sugar, flour and salt together. Stir in milk mixture and cook, stirring con- stantly until mixture thickens, Cool and add vanilla. Pour into a refrigerator tray and chill un- til firm. Beat cream until stiff, Remove mixture .from refriger- ator. Beat until mushy and smooth. Gently mix chilled mix- ture into whipped cream. Return to freezer. tray. Chill until firm.. Makes 11/2 pints. Two persons who have chosen each other out of all the species, with the design to. be each other's mutual comfortand en- tertainment, . have, in that action, bound themselves to be good- humored, affable, discreet, for- giving, patient, and joyful, with respect to each other's frailties and perfections, to the end of their lives. —Joseph Addison. MERRY MENAGERIE TRAINING anLx. kVu SCHOOL "Well, well! Looks like Tiger just flunked out!" 4Wh re's the Runny? erne That's all that's needed to make this gadget a free -wheeling dog track. Dewey Blanton peers from his auto as he supervises exercise of his six racing greyhounds, loathed to this race track - like bumper device, Spring connections on the leashes absorle shock, keep the dogs in check while they run. Device gives them a workout and a chance to fulfill a tmiversal doggy desire,— the esiresthe impulse to run after moving objects.