European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 02, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse Full Are enormous and Best no to a the Tongue so powerful it Ismall stows Only what it that the 1 has a mind to. Indicated Doc Hen if a Laxa a administers a simple in a u f us a aug sled Lentin it works on minutes causing secretion the hulking beast s 1this sounds it s an improve Messy As tvs so. System for went snit pachyderm purgative ascribe a gallon of raw he patient often curled its Mouth Drew the Oil everyone with i he i linseed in once i ended up slosh an sleep in thing the Doc likes about m some mesh or we Lettal work saving l Nasty Job. An elephant with Lse r use ome tooth he noted l often plus up part of the detaining i its trunk Man Euver a couple Ine behind the offending molar toss its head about until the tooth the circus has Over 60-enterprising tooth Wise so they an annual dental lion or other Jungle am Breaks a tooth and it threatens Tonto a serious health Hazard will Knock him Down then go to work while i Runng one is Early cases of Jungle dentistry the Doc was engrossed i fixing a tooth for an old lion Nam Damba when the aesthetic wore off. I the big jaws suddenly snapped shut land the treatment was terminated i but experience the Doc has t forgotten was the time a Giraffe Wasi about to give birth to a calf in the i circus specially constructed Wagon a1 vehicle with a Low Slung floor which i allows the animal More neck room Ihen travelling Between circus stops. 1 so there i was crouched Down in the Back of the Wagon scared As hell and Yelling for one of the boys up front to keep feeding her cookies. I actually turned that calf around during the de livery and was i thankful to get out of there in one one of the circus doctor s most haunting memories dates Back to aug. 4, 1942, in Cleveland when the men Agerie tent went up in flames during a horrifying Flash fire. It was All Overin three disastrous minutes. The elephants were seared and Inmany cases their Burnt flesh was Peel ing off in 2-by-4-foot sheets the Zebra were wild with fear and running around in circles and the camels just Laid right Down where they were closed their eyes and did t move a could have gotten every one of those camels out but it was t possible to Budge though Many of the elephants were horribly burned they responded to the command of their Trainer pulling up the stakes they were chained to and marching away in perfect hurriedly painted the Ani Mals with a solution to ease the Burns. Then in what must have been terrible moment for a Man dedicated to the Healing profession the doctor borrowed a policeman s revolver. Taking the Only merciful action open a him he walked along the line of caged animals putting away the most badly burned on the spot. When it was All Over although no humans had been seriously injured 65 circus animals were lost among the four elephants 13 camels 12 zebras two giraffes four Lions three tigers and 16 still gets mail about it often from circus buffs who have com across h i s 17-year-old autobiography titled circus lot of the mail is from kids who want to know about circus life he said and it comes from All Over be cause the Book was translated into 12languages. If i can Ever find the time i la update it and bring it out where he wondered would he Ever find the time the great death came while the elephant act it s no place for faint hearted girls. .1 a w a i i i the doctor looked on helplessly. What s that old gag about work ing for peanuts not being so bad if you happen to be an elephant Well Captain Hugo Schmitt a Man with More than 40 years of elephant training under his ample Belt claim she s yet to find one that really cares a Fig for a ? elephants Don t like peanuts that s right. They eat them because that s what people keep pushing at them said Schmitt. Suppose you Mother gave you nothing but dried crackers when you were a kid. How would you know the difference what elephants really like Are things like bread sugar bananas and they also seem to like ceiling insula Tion. While Schmitt was Busy ticking off Alist of palate tickling elephant treats one of his girls Marcella by name and certainly old enough to know better at the elephantine age of 45was hav ing dessert. Extending her trunk Over her head and through a 20-by-20 foot Hole she had ripped into the coiling work Marc peeled a strip of insulation from the ventilating ducts and stuffed it into her s Only playing just like a big kid insisted Schmitt As the trunk unwound for another go at the insulation. Apparently most of Schmitt s All girl pachyderm Herd is partial to a Little elephant play because the ceiling seemed to be going just did t make the ceilings High enough when they built this place said Schmitt referring to Manhattan s newest showplace the recently completed Madison Square Garden at 34th Street and 8th Avenue. Anyway neither the Trainer Nord. J. Y. Henderson head veterinarian with Ringling Bros and Barnum Bailey circus seemed Overly concerned about the girls dining on the insulation which apparently came under the head ing of dietary it s hardly surprising the girls eat insulation considering that each of the ladies maintains her Bulky shape by putting away 100 pounds of Hay each Day plus 20 pounds of Grain and Wash ing it All Down with As much As 25 Gal Lons of water. But then they must keep up their strength particularly this season for their mad mod Carnaby Street comes mid Way in the second act when the ringmaster s booming voice rocks the rafters with the cry it is now elephant time and the ponderous pachyderms come to you As Flower children with that Schmitt s girls lumber around the Arena to the blare of circus music. Red Orange and Green Flowers arc painted on their wrinkled Riding High atop 10 of the 17 pachyderm performers is a Lovely ass in spangled mini skirt Neon coloured tights and Matching mod Schmitt deftly leads his charges through their classic paces the show girls cling to their perches Broad smiles never of the mini skirted beauties stretches out on her Back in the spot lighted Center ring managing a Frozen smile As she stares at the Bottom fan elephant foot gingerly being Low ered to within inches of her other showgirls cheerfully Hook their thighs through the elephants jaws and Are whirled about by the lumbering Schmitt orders his Mammoth elephant Friend Targa up on her Hin legs and to the Delight of the circus fans she obediently follows him across ramp like Bridge. The act like All elephant acts ends with an elephantine tableau Ilia hulking animals posing against each other Bookend fashion. Then there s a Tail in trunk clash for the exit and an other session of munching on that marvelous tasting s no wonder they Don t like i a nuts. I Sunda june 2, 1968 the stars and stripes Page
