The San Francisco call. [volume], October 20, 1907, Page 5, Image 5

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
The San Fraacisco : Suiiday OalL
GOOD BYE TO WALLACE
AND PRINCESS
AND ABDUL HAMID
THERE are walling and lamenting
heard at the Chutes these days,
for the prJd- and glory of the
email boy's existence is depart
(ng. No more will the wooden walls
O< the «oo echo the tiger's hollow roar.
XT© r>«7 T> will the stout iron bars qulv'»r
ex Jhcco, the big African lioness,' hurls
fctesfia* muscle against them or grasps
'f»i+w> fcatween yellowed fangs in vain
kffiuet ' to renfi her Pr le « n . doori. No.
tzsv rrill the ercruchlng panther slink
osasbuclr alosg Il*t six by eight feet of
Iflayea rpte*. : eyeing with ; don malic*
JtU cUtk. well fed form* oatstde, while
tar tOmw* steal unceasingly 'ia and- out
itheir vtfret'cacatb or cerape careatlng-
Jy <2oatr tie «M»ooth, bare . floor. •Xo
tzsv vrfU. JLhtvl HamldV the dromedary
Cress tb» far /wastes of Africa, rook like
C3b* tiJtp cf th* AtfTt that he is, as h«'
taarea— yw petnally \u25a0 cp~ and down. :Ko ;
C2sr» wKI €&• tltek. tear ratr his hcg«
MOt la air ft* he voraciously devours
«adlecs relays «f'«ucculentj peanuts
.-tremblingly- offered: by childhood in
frock er trons«r. For. the zoo hu been
add. tat Inhabitants of the- cages are
%etfif tail a away and the glory of the
Cbste* ' is <!axoed»
It 1» th* children who realize it moat.
To them the Chutes has been- a veri
table faii7iaad peopled with aU •orts
c f straa ga and \u25a0 wonderful - things, but '
t£e chief Joy of all the attractions" has
teca tha delljrhtf nl and ; terrifying zoo.
Eera tt was tbat: the! animals^ pondered
vr»f la fancy -appeared In ilv
fafli reaUttea "Here- *>Jt.Hr .was that
Cite sooct .awful asd awe'; inspiring,
. creator*? thai eref existed between the
t «-£«• of a , book could > be : seen _in « the '
fiesh. while wide eyed childhood . stared
lhro«»1i th«"bar«'ind l nu.rrele<3 1 ailentiy :
how It was that beasts that had done
euch wonderful things should let them
selves be shut* up in boxes and mas
tered by ;*xhan. i >. Yet tho ~ faith of , the
children- never faltered, especially th»t
of th<» small -boy. \u25a0« He knew that the
big bpsr, groVling dfcep in his. corner,
was- really Bagheera, the. bear of .tha
jangle; "that Baldo wag, only two '.cages
away; that the tiger,' lashing his ; sides
with an unruly tail, was In faot.Shere •
Khaii,' and^ that'JHjLthi, " the
was Just asibipr*nd mighty, ag he had
pictured' him in frightened dreams. f
-But for those who, knew.thederiUens
of the cages merely by the; weekly as -
soelfttlon wljlch' they were 'able) to en- •
Joy, the names- used by the keeper 'of
the . 200 .animals// Mr.^Lawrence, 'are
good enough, for they bring .to "mind a
host Of recollections, too.? .Was-'ft^sot'
Juno, the lioness who so. nearly carried
off little Tommy's hand when, in . ft
childish: fit 'of admiration, be tacaa
' tlouely slid too near the cage to 'stroke
the glossy, fur of /the "bls;"cat^?UWas
it not Princess,: the. mighty elephant,
who curled her^flexlble trunk around a'
tiny ; girl's vw'aist -one day .and {gently
raised her. some 15 feet from the ground'
to the maidenly ; alarm of ' the ifrilly:
miss? .W'as^it- not 'the -old -blind; bear
to whom- Johnny* used to f eed Jnnumer- ,
able bags of peanuts every Sunday, and .
are not . these ; very \u25a0 names household .
words in hundreds. of families,', and .the^/
weekly visit to i their, quarters a. thins
to be looked forward^ to Twltll^oyt^: Is
not the : silver . tipped? Hussitn I bear at
once ; the terror, and • de-llght of .- the • In
fant ' swarrii > that ; rushes j. madly \u2666 to \Vk%\
zoo on rr e very opportunity cllnglnc fear- ;•
fully 'to innumerable VpapaVivhaidsl"*
Have not . the children \ a - Trilby, :- Wai- <
• lace. *Bul tan ; and * Rajah': of • their .j own? ;
What Is * to become': of 'J the \ credulous,
sticky, peanut and popcorn » population '
now?.: -v -'C'- . ,v ': - -'\u25a0/\u25a0rj'-'.- '.'• ';';\u25a0' • '\u25a0' —
But 'though- tlger/flionfana/panther* 1
laid ' wiUrbVxdeiwte^.vther^
be " a" 7 heiptef;^ithoasht*'. to ; cheer i the*'
ye^2iiestsi»^^*-art»4a»t*a#'<»»on3r,
tleoiuMJt » u« i 1& 'iba&eettas : m«ra3t«y« >
for, th« insiuitii 498 ; other mxaimbl* of • •
f •rings, • tof t|l - tji« : ohiMrso • wtn "oot".
b« as loyal as the' bor*. of six summers, •?
who, v , brtngin .&; ihls*\ yottve , contribution :\
tight, clenched in hi s\ hand,' opened wide
hlji ? 'eyes 'when, he*: beheld: the^cage - of %
bis -/ particular f fldtis '$ Achates •;.. empty. :
Im b*l* *•' •B*es'«nt^ppily, and'
nothing C9ald ooqsfortblsi when told
tbat tb« b«a» bad died. •TVbsT* is he,
papir viMjMkoßti* d«mandin». :
blind : bear who' used to hold his mouth
open,-; don't - you 1 remember ??^ and V on :
being '-. asaurid "oreV jand over againj that'
; the', \u25a0 blind J bear -Twbo ; naed •' to hold - his
moflth Vop en \wii^indeed » gone firWer,
hV wtnt ; away* robnrnf nlly^biv. little btg
•f peanuts held tight In his warm hand.,
irtikihg^his -head' i«i «o v :tbat :t>e™te»r«
- rolled ; orer • ..and fell > down ' wbite } he
sts^tfastly refused to ' bestow ~ bis pfa-'
cuts 09 any but the one he bad brougJit
\u25a0 tb'«m r tor.'. ""';"_\u25a0\u25a0'\u25a0 \u25a0'? V v/,'*v /,'* :: "~""' " : " ; '\.
. jfot ill -.friends'.' oH tbe ' enlm^ls ~spm "
as.-' faithful -as; this yon"*, '\u25a0.th«uirh'" : _'th»'
case 'of the lady .who used' to\u25a0jvisit^tb«;
pela» be*r Mgol*rly every Sunday gee»
far'; to' aberw tbat_ loyalty to^: animals*
'Im ibared '; in \ a' ; ; lars;.* -"degree^ by /-i&i .
grownnps. , v;Thia <\u25a0 lady :".had a been east
on •> trip, ; and : - on - he r ; return tb e • firs t^
tt>*T»g \u25a0*•': dlfl was Jto - bring a party 'of
"•astern friends to^ viewl the r polar r > bear.
Nothing could \u25a0" exceed \ her di gutt when
told - that- the- polar bear.; which hadj
been til twithj. tuberculosis - for . some
1 time, had such a :.bad-.con
dition that It f had -become necessary to'
'shoot.-; him: "V.,!-Wbat!"J s "she;, .exclaimed. .
' "You i had -to, shoot him! Then I don't
care \u25a0anything -about your old zqo any
:more. wr '-^ '•' *V '" ".."\u25a0':'.[[ ' '\u25a0\u25a0 .•.-''\u25a0
So it was with another, woman and
her husband, who. though alike in their
admiration of tlie zoo, showed [.different :
• pr ef erences^i're gardin g; . the i 'animals.
She liked .the; bear and he liked Sultan,:
i th* bigi mass' of hair .- and : f ur and -vin-J
•diettriness * that * h ad ed '. his" lust
for- human \biobd > by*- the slaughter .of
fhi^TttenV'T'The^ifO'fed' the bear, pea
not* till! he was; Absolutely, gorged 'and
"-then'^uld^lngerjaboutUh^^ca^e^or
the unwieldy « b ra te. » s e eming to h ave ; a'
;* 'affection "r-t or him, while the"
': husband, equally. . enthusiastic y in : his
- admiration : of ; the i lion, , would*; spend
moat f the" afternoon Cviewing t Sultan
> in v ditterent r»'tUtudes {and "occasionally
\ sptirrlrg^him • to annoyed •growls. 1 .While
eaoh'Vfreiuenter^^of ioo Jhts ; his
iowa '- pet animal v to -whjom -ajl 'hli ? at«;
tentlo.n U >paid, it .1* a" mooted ques
tion; whether -; the animals recognize
th«M;Mtad«'tn.»th'eir-tiirß. .""Oh; I' am
•urete knows Jn«>** some admirer: wilt
exclaim. ." *? can" ace sbls ' eyes . change
when I^cotte * jifitT.f. yfbY^. b •*\u25a0* seen nte
•very ; Sander, for - months. ;r«», • indeed, ;
IJ6 know* mj.'rin tare.*' -^ '. .. ". • ;'
\ \u25a0•:• But ; they ."don't/";. At; least- that is . tha",
dletnar ct Vr. J/awr ev.es, and ht knows
. It j' any -'one - does.- '4 For, " If - : the anlmajs :
. know \u25a0 &ny \u25a0 jone, ;'tiM*y, '{of : •.'[certainty,"
know; their • keeper. \u25a0. Mr. - Lawrence can^
put his hand' throngh the bars to stroke
any .fur {he "^pleaaei rand the \blff* cats
will* roll 'oyer,on7 th«lr; backs lllk» kit
tens.'ready. for _a ' frolic. '. But^. then yh»
sees them? every -. day : more than ; that,
• theyj depend -.upon ;hlm '] f or ' thelrT food.
They know : the t*and :' that : feeds . them, s
In that respect th© animals and humans >\
are - quite ' alike. \u25a0 ". - -_ \u25a0"_• : '"'"j" '.-''.•—» -",.
So *chll.drehvandf grownups :"are loud
in their- lamentations -over the removal
of the best- roo ' San Francisco now*
knows. \ Ringling Brothers have bought
'. four; tigers, two : llamas, ; two> leopards, "'.
three pumas and "one big* snake.' Per-*
: . haps '* vrhefn ' the clrcus'is \u25a0 here *" 60^ its _
next -tour Tsome of. the children will *
"* recognize familiarL faces In r ;the ring."
Steve^Lawrence,^ keeper. of 'the '35 . anl-.
mals *at .'the . zoo I tor -'-the £ last,- three
years,*". has . purchased*,two ? panthers, . a "
leopard and 'several 'other, animals for,
<road^antl|sho*w: purposep.- The big-lion '
Wallace 1 is already; on't^e road and^the"
panthers^". and,- -.leopard's fare being •
/trained 1 to *.do ;a^ number i of,r.trlcks' be- 1
fore ' " opening ; at^the ", Emp lre." whence**
they will ".'.go r 'l Ito * < the
-\u25a0then 'to San Jose and Sacramento. ".Mrs."
~ iAwrence »/ is .toj have "charge of; : the
animals; in f : the of
\u25a0tuntk - How they' VIU aik* |thei« ; nay*
life remain* to be tdl<!.' Tha black bear
Uaj bssn securad by a private citisan,
ar.d th» pon!*3 ' JacJc and Gill are al
r.eady; In* new -quarteu preparatory to
b'jjlnnins anew career. .*\u25a0 "-\u25a0
VWlth the I first preparation • far mot.
Ing,- 'tha animals/ -aeemtng to (uiput
that loraethfss w«s vroas. rrers Is an
uproar. With tb» actual njave from
the lajg« aao C£ge to \u25a0 a v^ill^r •^tjj-
Ping- one they grew rebellious, la
se.ve.ral caaet.it .was ;"cecessary to rep*
and- drag theja^'out by 'tore*. Sspa
ciallT. -was this th» case with- -ths two
tigers /who .were .born* and raised : la
tha zoo and who had never been out
•tdt It* walls. B=arllps and spitting
and growUaf they retreatid to tha
farthest corner andv~ for *a ' ttma, daSed
th» united efforts of keepers. Finally
1 1 was accomplish* d, hut at th» esjeas *
of (two* ; badly * frlghtensd "aad angry
beasts who, however. Mr. Lawrence
says, will soon become accustomed to
the" out* world and perhaps be loth
to I return to ; their former quarters If
they .'could. *-
, But - the "question v pat at the be
sfui»ing r of this story has not yet been
answered. What Is the peanut" and
popcorn \ population *, of Ban * Francisco
going: "to. do. .without ;a too to which It
can"? make -aya v weekly pilgrimage? STo^t
the'^ glories of; the zoo remain foreTer
a memory written only in childish' eyas
andiionging.Tiearts?. Is not some -one
public" "spirited and large ' .hearted
enough to .start at ; least tha nucleus
of a.zoo for the edification and pleas
ure of the youngsters? And it is prom-r
!sed that not . only the , children will
enjoy and - profit by " any , tigers, bears
or. lions.- properly caged, that may coma
this way. Grown ".up : people by the
hundjreo'j' will* be -tlieie. •" I; shall be
there," too.'