The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 28, 1906, Page 11

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL ,7 Masrr DEE 08 ere hang Gueer some B nlike gourd, with T dle. 1t is cov- this I mean g one man's Ir selt er with a ving kept me wait- ters supplies are ner, but the figu ing, as he gives the b with the toe of nderstand How g him 1 the he wa he om ten years bevond and I've a notion € from hts native gles forgotten their fre because he needed he = which Eo we deci the fellow old r dreamed he woul seemed struggl odile 1ying king, T am ittle discretion y be better so lifelike posi- f the muscular tail was as one may definitely—seventy- the is its guess—we t know why it might interest c two had it not . so held to that deter L even suek te the terdeck, ight S “All right, as it used lclight! ay upon Tipe squalls of the Jim stood ther flerent to the might 1 bursting « us 2 the life lines along sad been insatia- s ahead of rders of scaman who a traverse? And thus we swept ¢ the Brazillan coast, quarry and hound, the audience chambers of the starry amphitheater above crowded with sympathetic eyes rded and nd unde ablest rd, the . cast trades dwindled cre long. m_ spun tse!fl over the shy that covered gradually the We were approaching the por- Lawrence. vears had paTt of the equipment of the he ate regularly enough. But ficen months ago he apparently ) comments Mr. five he was Id Chutss eatingcays were over, priced he lasted o t water to keep him real th uothing b sluggish brutes and we not but this was as s ever in svite of his fasting. I ught some ailment might be compell- 1o let food alone, but that was case, for we found all his organs al and healthy. Vait fill 1 turn him over—there! See t a good eolur, and her: on the sides are layers of fat. Doecsn't look lke a of starvation, but it is nothing else. “And this is what was found In the are see one the “This” ts & collection of—what? Two stones of full three inches square four blotks of wood! r. Lawrence dénfes that he had so lit- gone back to nature for the croco- dile’s breakfast food and points to the smoothed and rounded surface of the wood to prove that the pieces had prob- ably found thelr wa down the great creature's throat man ars ago But not even tie stomach of a crocodile 1d make arty impression on the stones, heir edges were as sharp as the day were swallowed, however long ago may have béen. They would have killed almost any other anim: says the superintgndent, »ut they didn’t hurt this one, not at all ases of this kind are not so uncom mon as. vou might think We had a dromedary once that refused to drink. not for a week or two, but for five months. He had grewn old in the service and scemed to be worn out and discouraged s if not caring how von he left this world. . Would' eat right ong. but drink? never. “We commenced putting quantities of on ' ¥ food and rock t in his to see whether we couldn’t create an ial thirst, and just when we had up hope of success he suddenly re- red his drinking and we had fio more with him. Never could tell what e + / aving the room in which the depart- sreat ones lie in such state as is pos- we pass the cage of a black bear, su tre whosc sightless eyes are constantly turn- ing here and there as if trying to plerce {he gray film that has shut out the light. “Gone blind in captivity,” 1s the super-- nt's comment, ““but he is as happy people” are, and is thoroughly Gur bears are & very hardy lot. T can eat and digest anything—like plg: nd we don’t post any warnings tc hildren not to feed them. The quan- >t peanuts this chap disposes of on day is astounding. ‘s another vigorous one.” and we before the elephant, wrinkled and weather-beaten after the manner of her kind (never did I see one, but Jooked as if it might easily be a hundred years old), 1t showing none of the restlessness that s usually thelr protest against the chains that bind had a touch of rheumatism a short doesn’t that scem a queer afflic. an elephant?—and one of the legs was swollen to twice its si Do you know what they did for her? Preci what your physiclan would commend for you If that malady were fasten itsclf upon you. They made t applications, and they were hot, too! that witkin two days the swelling sorcness were completely re- tha the tity a8 busy He She hot peculiar color she seems to be neck and body,” T suggest in the 1 one who has just discovered some tr 't wish 10 boast of,It. M ghs as he 1 pd 7 nny color! You never before saw an elephant that had the slate gtay of its body relieved in just that way with brown, aid you?” I think I mever aid hat's pai 1 am informed. *When he painters were at work in here, one of n ieft a bucket and brush near the the railing and Princess proceeded to intro- duce some new color effects on the walls sf her inclosure as well as on her own The place was a sight and so was but she is getting back to normal as 2int wears off. e of the keepe from the sup- om and in an instant the elephant’s Jooking eves have spied him. She 00¢ drows; mutely begs fcr something to eat, and when a loaf of bread is offered, down it slips- through great throat as easily as if it were the merest crumb. \nd these samec eyes, though sceming so inadequate, scarch out the smallest fake that drops from the loaf, and by the scusitive tip of the trunk each atom is gathered in to add its mite to the strength of this Lulkiest of anfmals, Tigers, pumas, wlid cats, raccoons leoperds, guinea pigs and antelope, kan- garoo Jog are seemingly as well ¢ 18 if their movemenis were iol confined by bars and railings, and well 1 their Keepers could a the leopard, unnatural s of the River Plate, the birthpiuce of the Pamparos, that disarm the finest ships and send them rolling into Montevides for repal We did mw eccape a visitatio] from one of Lhesc monstorasand lay, hode to for twenty-four hours in & ragged sea a1t s cllow spume at us and put us a hundred miles out of our co but clear skies shone on us again ecc long, and a fine, coid northerly wind bowled us down the Patagonian land. Shortly after- ward, too, wc were joincd by a hoary albatross, turning circles on his motion- lees winge, and again | heard the voice of Cap'n Jim, *Diomedia Exulaus,” roll- ) the sonorous syliables as he atehed the mighty wanderer sailing over mastheads Colder and darker the weather gre: j away down in the southward mount- pecullar, dun colored muck that the approach to the Southern nd on that day we had our first snow squall and I was shortened down to the topsails. It was from now on that 1 must keep a keen and watchful look- out for my cnemy, for in the snowy weather she might lie close aboard, in- visbile a quarter of a mile away. Forty- eight hours later we crossed the fiftieth parallel of south latitude and commenced the so-called passage of Cape Horn, which would endure till we had passed the same parallel in the Pacific. Shorter still grew the days now, and at elght bells in the morning it was dark. The cold, too, had increased, and the bitter sleet squalls me soaring up over Terra del Fuego that cut the men's skins like a shower of needles. “Then the. tall, wild coast of the Land of Pire rose Into view. and I heard Captain Graham tell Mr. Thomipson, ‘the predicts Ocean mother, Jestroys her cubs almost as soon come into the world. though her m if they are taken from her would indicate an ameunt of motaer-grief terri- blé to contempists, but this is a failing as the ar not uncommon among her kind, and it must be horne with, But the snakes,” continues my guide, and I shudder just to think of the great slimy. uséless creatures, showing yet a kind of beauty in the markings of their mottled skins, “though they don't seem to yield murh to captivity, do sometimes suffer frcm lack of the variety of food to which they are accustomed. One of our pythens died not long ago of canker sores. There was no way to treat'it, and in a short time the whole alimentary tract was affected. Rabbits are their chief article of diet— yes. these nice, little, white rabbits ‘we saw back there are ceady to be served. But veu need not feel sorry for them they ~den’t know what fear and the pythons %!l them so quickly they suffer nothing. £ Hurrying new to the home of the mon- keys, who antics are an unfailing source of delight to “grown-ups’” as well as chil- dren, we find them bugy with the prol lem of kcep.ng warm. For in spite of the fact that the room is heated td summer temperature the 1ttie creatures seem to feel chill, and those that oceupy the great cage in the center of the floor are cuddied in an unquiet mas.. avhich opens now and again v eject some struggling bit of animation strongly suspected of having bitten its neighbor. How ne they are when meanor occurs! A big African monkey with the airs of a clown never fails to push himsclf into the thick of the fray, som:times catching the offender and pulling him about as if he feit personally responsible for the gen- eral peace. When all is calm he mounts a stupid liitle biack pig—the odd member of this happy family—and makes a gen- eral teur of his *‘beal The inspection is often intertupted by the steed's inclina- tion to lle down and rest—an inclination the rider accepts philosophically, since he knows not how to combat it. this misde- Among the spider monkeys, natives of. the tropics, the suffering in our winters is much keener than among ‘heir Japa- nesz kin, and though they are garbed in bright-colored jackets and - trousers, at once adding to the gayety of their appear- ance and increasing their comfort, they persist fn huddling among themselves as if mourning the climate of another land. Naturally enough, consumption is the greatest enemy -of these little animals. They thrive during our long summer Lut the cold weather deyelops consump- ticn and various pulmonary troubles. Ar- tificial heat and lack of proper ventilation cause the contagion to.sp#ead rapidly and the dzath rate is very high. In a cage by itseif is one of the present suffcreis, a Japanese ape, whose wasted body and drawn expressiom of the eye are signs unmistakable that the ailment for which there is no remedy has marked him for its own. “In a very few days the end will come for him,” is Mr. Lawrence's opinion, and 1 am glad. The small face is so pitifully d 1 could easily belleve it reflects some = of death, though I know that is a wild enough. d now for the highest of the monkey the orang-outang. s on the straw-covered floor, this nimsl with head and face of so nearly human form, and drinks from a graniteware cup his morning portion of malted milk. You have scen a child hold a cup in the selfsame way, the first ‘finger slipped througii the handle, the others pressed a t the cup's.siGe. He is not very between sips the drink is low- unsteadi and as if it were fall outright, while the bright link all sorts of questions at “Surely there are thoughts of some kind Lenind that high forehcad,” 1 suggest, bu Lawrence says: skull is incredibly thick .and the brain space very small, indeed, so you must not expect anything exten- sive in the way of thought. “He is 4% years old. We've had him three years, and as he grows right along 1 think we shall succeed in rals- ing him, though we were unfortunate with the others we had. They miss their native air and suffer from throat lung troubles just as the other and “How did you get him?” know. “Hagenbeck sent over from Asia and Afr a ship load of animals at a time, and as we are advised In advance what they are we can select those we want by the time the vessel reaches New York. All the menageries in the country are kept up in that way, except some of the very largest that have their own hunt- the lookout for noveliles. st animals are very patient when I want to they ; they A0 not make much fuss. sec it 45 pext to impossible to do anything for them with meMcines we ity the ounce of prevention plan of keeping them well, changing thelr food and secing to it that their quarters are e G G S S5 G B RENNY, SE5555 T30 'STORY THE SHIP TOLD | sccond mate, that the glass had “fallen and that he expected a heavy blow from the southward and westward. So I was snugged down to the lower topsails, with the mainsail and crossjack hauled up. and for two days we lay off and on under the mountains which made a lee for us and broke the force of the gale. At length he wind eased up, and at the change of he watch at midnight the “old man" told the mate that at daybreak he would loose the canvas and stdnd out past Cape St. John, at the eastern end of Staten Land, and join battle with Cape Horn. “Won't you: try the Lemaire Straits, sir?” asked Mr. Willlams. “It's a fine handy cut-ff it you can get through.” Now James Stanford always took ad- vantage of Lemaire when the wind blew from the northward of west, so as to give us a reach through, but Captain Grzham cut the mate short. “Well, well, T'll go through if T think best.” Dawn broke the next day with a light breeze from the westward and a cheer- ful look in thé air. Anywhere else in the world the general appearance of the at- mosphere and sky In that daybreak would have promised violent deeds. For the Southern Ocean, though, the aspect was a relief and a distinetly happy one. “Ship, ahoy!” ecried Mr. Thompson. “There’s a four-master over there mak- “Where away?” asked the captain. “There under ‘the land, sir. You T T thoroughly clean. But even then the unexpected sometims happens. “There was the lion we lost last fall. “He had some sort of cczema and sought relief from the pain in the way all cat animals use—by the tongue. We treated him as well as we could, but without effect, .and after he got so he efused to eat the end came quickly. “What do you think the examination showed?” stomach was entirely flled air. There was not the smallest clear of the obstruetion. He rved while food was offered him v duy. The hair was very tightly packed and held exactly the stomach's outline. I have it now in my office. So that was the thing I saw hanging om the ceiling and it wasn’t covered with hair; it was hair! My interest in all that is hete to be seen and heard has made me quite for- get a second appointment, as a glimpse of a clock gives proof, and 1 must hurty across the way, resolved ‘to myself, however, that 1 shall try to come again and on just such another morning. Willlam Leland, master of destinies of the animals in Golden Gate Park, has a scattered task—one that takes him iy from the buffalo herd nzar the north entrance to the elk inclosure down by the cliff—so he is a hard man to overtake, once he has started on hifs round ; 1 do not mind_ the journey, for the walks arc beaten hard, and there is a_ breath of freshness and a breadth of country good to feel, but If you dislike to follow a devious trall,' if you can plan to arrive at a given moment and arrive accordingly, please note thit Mr. Leland is always on Belfry Hilf at 8 and 12 and 1 and 5. He likes nothing better than to talk of his wards and vou will be well repaid for your ex- cursion. “In many Wi ) Mr. Leland tells e, “the bu re the most interesting creatures in the park. When a new one is added to the herd he spends duys runiing round and round the feace try her out for the gray got her number at the scarce s rowled the old man, lev- the binveulars. (“Why, blow -me, n't the Monhegan. There's Stan- by the wheel. So yver did pass Well, strange ford fifty before we did, eh? things be to happen at sea, and. that's no lie.” There, truly enough, was the vile ship standing along near the land un- der a press of sail, and I could justper- ceive the outline of Cap'n’ Jim on the poop, his figure rising far above the helmsman. We were running parallel, but she was to windward of us, though very close to the land. and she was rapfdly drawing away from us. “Loose the fore and mizzen royals, there!"! roaréd Graham. “I'll show him the way round St. John yet. ' But what the flaming pit's he doing? By the skin o' Satan, he's haulin’ up for the Strait o’ Lemaire: Was there ever such a condemned fool in charge of a deep- water ship? Curse yer fool hide, go yer own road to hell. I'm not quite ready to kcep yer company yet.” I knew that my rival had. escaped me for the time, for Captain Stanford knew the straits as he did the Kenmne- bec—Dhetter, 1 expeet—and as he leaned against the chart house and conned the Monhegaf through those rips and ledges, I 1mplored all the deitfes of T NELO N KIS FEIIE : o SO - 17 = . =4 /\_/ = - - . ) ing 10 get out. Convinced there is no We've one calf—five months old Gpening and observing that the others now—that has been raised by hand. seem contented enough, he gives over his traveiing und becomes a quiet, regti- lar member. “After a time, perhaps, he suffers from pleurisy and then he gives us no end of trouble, for he won't eat any food on which he can detect any medi- cine and sometimes he will go for six or seven days without taking a drink if there 1s a peculiar taste to the water. 1t the pleurisy develops into pneu- monia the case is more serious still and usually proves fatal. “This climate !s not too severe for tuem, I think, but the cold, damp winds are different-from what they are accustomed to on their high ana ary plains. Once they get acclimated, though, they are all right. Most ammals are quiet when they are sick, but the buffalo moans and groans and makes an awful fuss while stubbornly resisting everything we try to do for him. “There have been some great battles among our herd, almost alwa: to settle the question of leadership. Every year they go tirough this fighting time and the struggles do not end until the strongest bull has proved himself against all the others. “One of the biggest fights that ever occurred here was on one Sunday morn- ing when three young bulls attacked an old one, for no reason but that he was old. They tossed him about be- tween them as If he were a bale of hay and though he was very soon horned to ¢eath they did not stop till thelr temper was satisfied. ~Sometimes they their young in the corral, just from temper. and they are pretty ugly brutes however they are considcred. the deep for just one more glimpse of her, in open water. As I expected, Captain Graham had no knowledge of the Lemaire passage, and to reach the Southern Oceun out- side he was obliged to run down the whole length of Staten Land—some sixty miles—so that _the Monhegan wouyld have a considerable start of us. But I felt no uncertainty of overhaul- ing her, and I sped along swiftly un- der the dark.mountains with a falr wind, and early in the afternoon the skipper -called out: “Lee braces now, Mr. Willlams, and be smart about It.™ And at 4 o'clock the whole southerly flank of Staten Land lay before us. and we rose and fell on the Great South Drift and watched the grandest surf in the world dissolve upon the, ¥ ‘When we swent' the southern skyline the Monhegan had settled into the ocean’s breast,“and we floated alone upon the Southern Ocean, the vanquisher of scores of lofty ships since Drake and Anson first ‘went down to the Horn, and Cook disclosed the mysteries of the southern land. “Did you see that flash, sir?” asked Mr. ‘Willlams, as he came back on deck that evening to stand the first watch. “Yes, blast the thing,” as another slec- tric glint whitened a cloud peak. “Keep an eye open when lightning shows you The mother died at its birth, but it has grown better and is handsomer than the others ‘that have been raised in the regular way. We really ought to call him Cod Liver Qil, for that has been his mainstay “The elk have their yearly tests of strength, tod, to determine the ques- tion of leadership, usually in July when the velvet is worn off the new anilers, and these are often very hard- fought. . They are among the healthiest anlmals we_have, but the deer do not get along so well. They miss the chap- arral and deer gru3s that we can’t get for them. “Both deer and elk are brave in their suffering and the only way we ean tell when one of them is sick is by .the drooping of the ears and by his leaving the herd. “The eight ngaroos we have are doing fine—we've lost only two in the last few years—and it's a fortunate thing they are. for it's next to impos= sible to handie them. They bite and scratch with fury and ome of them is much stronger than a man. I cured one of some throat trouble by getting him % inhale sulphur, but I am best pleased when they have nothing the matter with them. “With the bears and their cubs, as well as our two antelope, captivity seems to agree, for they are all getting along just as well nd I think bet- ter—than if they were at large. 'Of course, there Is this about an animal that is sick, in its native state he can find his own remedies, nature teaches him what to eat, while in cap- tivity they miss that and no keeper can offer any substitutes. Sometimes we get a veterinary surgeon to ‘examine round Cape Stiff in midwinter. See that doble gaskets are put on the mainsail d foresail and get the main spencer ready. The wind's backin’ into the south- west, and before daylight there'll be somethin’ doin’ For a week the powerful tones of the gale rang over the Southern Ocean; we were tove to for days at a time in a huge sea, and the horizon was everywhere filled with breaking crests.. We had reached the longitude of the Horn and were mot far from the Diego Rameirez, and the skipper cautioned the mate to set a double lookout for ezstward bounders. Not a glimmer of ‘the Monhegan had we seen siice she dared the strait, and T trembled lest she had fallen among the fangs under the Bell Mountain. By degrees§he weather had moderated a little so that we could set all the lower topsails, with a reefed foresail .and spencer, though it was still blowing a hard gale when, just as a squall whirled by, there lay my rival not a mile away. She was on the starboard tack and was making very heavy weather of it, driving through the seas like a heavy cask, as these metal diving bélls always do. The watch was aft on the poop, for the main deck was like the open sea, and for ‘a minute I missed the form of Cap'n Jim; though I soon perceived him attend- ing to one of the men, who seemed to be hurt. But I had no'mourht for him, no eye for aught but that implous vessel. Love veneration, reverence for my old idel vanished as I glutted my gaze upon the interloper and realized that the hour had come when T could hurl upon her the mo- mentum - of my six thousand tons. We ‘were both under the same canvas, though ) N one of our alling creatures and help us care for him, but loesn't oftem happen that we can do much good, even then. “I've been a sables, with worse e I had with any other an ich timid little things and get trightened at the sight of vis bite elves till spa they die. We bad five and after all but two h g with themselves in t} I took these last ones to where no one would d u h they wouldn’t see any one bu I think they may outgrow their frig but I am not sure. sles have seldom been raised in captivity; that makes me all the more anxioun; to. su ed with these.” ask, “does he make harder?” “Very little. The smail boy, and the big boy as well, is almost always in- terested enough to let the animals alone. The rules are very strict on this point and we are careful to see they ai obeyed. but e is li trouble. The peacocks have occasionally been robbed of their fine tail feathers by ' people wanting a souvenir, I suppose, who. do net stop to think of the y do the poor birds, and somet itors want to feed the animals something they think won't hurt them, but take it altogether we are not troubled a great deal. “Phere is no work more interesting than the care of animals, park animals particularly. They're so much like people in their tempers there’s no such thing as getting tired of studying them.” And T told Mr. Leland -that some day 1 intend to pay him another visit, when I hope to meet his charges face to face. 1 promised not to feed them anything whatever nor to do violence to any lv- ing creature in an effort to secure & souvenir of the occasion. I was on the port tack, while, as I have sald, the Monhegan was on the star- board, and so had the right of way. This was as it should be, for now she could not escape me. Stanford, with the rule of the road inflexibly in his mind, would not yield a fathom. We were fast approach- ing now and had neared to half a mile. How grand the pageant at the moment when she reared into the air on the ridge of each sea and shot over Into the bub- bling waste! A hundred tons of brine roared over her bulwarks at every plunge, and I watched the two men at the wheel grinding like abandoned souls. But, rigid like a beast crouched for the final spring, I stole up en the gray hull. heedless of the curses that now broke from Graham's lips: “For Christ’'s sake, roll yer wheel up,” and himself wrought at the spokes like the man-ape he was. A squall was thundering down on us, span- ned with an arch, as the gate of hell. I could hear the lash of the hail when my jib-boom lacked but a cable’s length of the slaty- sides, and for the last time I eard the great tones of that volce, “Hard down, men, for your lives; hard down. Let her come up. God, Grajam's going, to ram us. Too late. . At the same instant a squall burst, a giant sea swung under me, and with & sereech I dashed upon my victim. Masts and yards tumbled in steel splinters on my deecks as ! drove the sharp of my bows into her crumpling sides, buf. wounded as 1 was, I struck again and la) my stem into the gash, while the S s st sigh, my conque: N ior broadside upward and the ahvsses of that dreary Wasta: