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WO bedtlcks were engaged In an animated
scuffle, rough, but noiseless; for, of
course, bedtlcks have no angular or
crusty protruberances to hit against
things and make Inharmonious sounds.
And, talking of harmony the animated
sleeping bags gave an exhibition of
grace, llssomeness and svelte agility the like of which
would be exceedingly difficult to find. First one
would have the apparent advantage and be on top,
only to be rolled over incontinently, swiftly and with
out a sound not even a grunt. Immediately the
other animated pile of softness would roll onto the
fallen one and be toBsed away like a feather, or a
feather bed. No wrestler of any style was ever
quicker to take advantage of openings than the ani
mated bedtlcks, albeit they seemed to have not a leg
to stand on. Sparring for position was not to be
thought of; it was grab and go, roll and rebound, flop
and fall, no hold barred.
"Here, you, Sam, fight fair!" yelled Pete Ander
son, the referee.
And one of the bedtlcks cocked an eye sideways
to make sure he had heard aright; then side-swiped
the other bundle of mighty flufflness and turned it end
on against a post. It was a hard swipe, too, but a
soft fall. Anderson yelled again and the clumsy
combatants broke apart for an instant, then piled
onto each other in fiercer fashion than before.
"That's always the way," commented A"nderson.
"These beasts will wrestle like champions when there
is no audience, but when the crowd appears they refuse
to budge."
Fancy Specimens of Bear.
Anderson Is the keeper of the Omaha "zoo," and
the animated bedtlcks are known as Sam and Queen,
probably the two largest cinnamon bears in captivity.
They might, of course, with equal truth be called
bundles of fur; but the bedtlck simile strikes one as
most fitting when watching the two soft huskies bat
ting each other about the paved floor of their pit.
And all the time the gladiators are silently tussling
Humbert, the cub cinnamon, is just as silently lying in
the door of the bear cave, apparently unseeing and
uncaring. Occasionally the cub will take one of his
paws into his traplike mouth and pretend to tear it
to pieces, but be is only faking.
While the mighty play is going on Nipper and Vic
toria, in the adjoining pit, fussily parade back and
forth along the iron grill, now and again erecting
their huge bodies against the bars and fixing their
eyes with ambitious intensity on the cinnamons.
"Nipper could lick either one of the cinnamons
with one paw in his pocket," says Anderson, "but Vic
toria could probably do the finish trick for any of
them if once aroused.".
Be it known that Nipper is the great black bear in
the Riverview park bear pits, and Victoria Is the big
silvertlp. Despite her better fighting condition and
more dangerous appearance Victoria has a very
wholesome reepect 'for old Nipper. While she is tak
ing a dip in the water, if Nipper approaches Vic gives
a grunt and a brobdignagian flirt and vacates the
basin Instanter.
4-
Xipper," Old but Genial.
"Nipper is the oldest bear here," says Anderson,
"and he is also the cleverest, For years he was our
exhibition bear and would do'a ereat many tricks, but
he is getting old now, being nearly 20. Come here,
Nipper, and shake hands."
. The animated hulk of fat and fur sidles up to the
bars and handily slips his claw-clad paw through a
bole that looks all too small. He shakes hands with
the keeper as gravely as a minister announcing the
text, then skuffles away vith an air as if to say such
trifling is beneath him.
Keeper Anderson asserts, and the assertion looks
good, that no finer bearskins ran be found anywhere
than those covering the two cinnamons. The fur must
be four to six inches thick, smooth as seal and soft
as velvet.
"Sam and Queen go to bed just like all decent
married people," says Anderson. "You Just ought
to see them, with arms about each other, kissing and
bugging and going on like a new married pair is
supposed to behave on the honeymoon."
Imagine two 900-pound lovers retiring to sleep in
fond embrace.
Nipper weighs as much as either of the cinnamons,
If not a trifle more, and Victoria is not far behind.
Humbert is still in the adolescent stage of growth,
but promises exceedingly well. He Is about the size
of the paunch Sam presents to view when he sits up
on his hams to rest himself. And If ever a comical
picture of double esseuce gravity was presented it is
6am Cinnamon sitting erect. He leans over backward,
but his paunch holds him at the perpendicular.
1
Deer Herd Almost Wiped Out.
In hears and buffaloes the Riverview park "too"
bas something worthy of show, but beyond these two
features very much Is left to be desired. A year ago
the deer park had twenty-three Inmates, but the cold
rains and sleet of the spring of 1910 destroyed seven
teen of the herd. No shelter of any kind is provided
for either the deer or buffalo. In the wild state these
animals bad the chance to find protection of some sort
from storms and could bunt a dry place to lay by
while bad weather prevailed. In their Riverview
rauge they must mill around in the mud and take
the storm with the sunshine as best they can. And
their range Is altogether too small to permit of proper
VI ih
Specimens of Bears and
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exercise. '). When disease struck the deer herd the bucks
were first to succumb, and the does the last to give in.
At present only half a dozen deer are left and one elk.
Of the seven buffalo in the park, all pure bred,
four were born here. Leggins is the pet name for the
big buffalo, a grand specimen of bis race. He is about
15 years old and seems fitted to take the lead In any
herd. Monarch and Napoleon are two young bulls of
fine promise when they get their full growth, two or
three years hence.
Anderson calls all the animals by name, and to
hear him talk to Dolly Dimple, a fine young buffalo
cow, and see her respond, proves they know a friend
when they see him. One of the cows has a year-old
calf as husky and hefty as a young elephant. All the
buffalo appear to be in fair physical condition, In spite
of the fact they have only about half an acre of range,
with a very muddy feeding yard. Just now they aro
beginning to shed their winter coat, which makes
them look rough and tacky as to "front."
Badger and Peccaries Fraternize.
An apparently happy family in one small enclosure
How the Workingmen Rule
HE inability ot the aldermen of Dublin to
T
make up their minds concerning the salary
to be paid the city's lord mayor, who is a
newsvender, resulting in remarkable fluc
tuations, first from 118,000 a year to
$8,000, then up to $18,000 again, and finally back to
the lower figure, draws attention to the fact that the
Irish metropolis Is not the only city in the United
Kingdom that can boast of a workingman mayor. It
is a question whether Great Drltain cannot show a
more democratic record In his respect than the United
States, popularly supposed to be the land par excel
lence of unrestricted opportunity, says the London
correspondent of the Washington Star.
It has happened, in two cases at least, that mayors
of English communities have actually risen from the
workhouse. Will Crooks, one of the most Interesting
representatives of "the other half," was born Ln the
workhouse, and it is impossible to imagine a more
humble beginning than that. Yet he was elected
mayor of Poplar and a member of Parliament. One
of the most respected citizens of the city of Jevon
port, Alderman Ilornbrook. who served as mayor with
distinction, was born in the workhouse of the same
town.
A former mayor of Leeds, the greatest of York
shire cities, Alderman Scharr by name, was the indus
A Woodland Easter
. 1 3 Easter morn! A day of loveliness.
The earth, and sky above, are bright
of mien.
Sweet Nature dons her fairest gala
dress
everywhere rare blossoms deck the
And
scene.
The birds their Easter carols blithely sing.
A swelling chorus echoes through the dells,
And with her Joyous message dawning Spring
The story of the Resurrection tells. -All
things look upward to the Heavens high;
, In offerings of praise each bears its part.
And deep within my woodland dwelling I
Kind Easter chimes are ringing in my heart!
John Kendrick Bangs.
(KM AH A HUMlAt' Hbifi: "Ai'ltlL 116,
11 1 1 jf7 sight attracts their temporary attention. B tRr
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is made up of a badger and a pair of peccaries. AU
three are good looking specimens of their species, the
badger at this particular stage of bis existence being
almost in the beauty, class. He is fat, glossy and of
most pleasing color, and has the faculty of flattening
himself out until he looks like an enlarged edition of
a flying squirrel. The peccaries, sent here from Ar
kansas, are a pretty pair', in their way, with 6hort,
stiff bristles. The black of their coat 1b plentifully
shot with gray hairs, and they look fit for a long, hard
race at any moment. Unlike their tame brother, the
pig, they have no curl to their tall; If they have any
tall at all they manage to conceal it.
In the wolf den are three grown ones and a family
of young ones, born a few days ago. The two largest
are like steel wire In their movements. One, the
female without a family, is. almost white, while the
father wolf Is heavily shaded toward black. Mrs. Wolf
with the family Is not on view at this time, but will
parade her tribe a" little later on.
In a cage adjoining that of the wolves Is located a
pair of coyotes. They carry about with them at all
hours a nervouB, quick and sneaky manner, and if
trious dispenser of penny sweets from behind the
counter of his modest store, when he was not main
taining the dignity of the highest ofllce in the u;tft of
his fellow townsmen. The contrast seems even
greater when it is said that he put off his apron to don
his robes of office to welcome the late King Kdward
und Queen Alexandra in the name of Leeds whei they
opened an extension to Leeds university.
Another workingman mayor can boast of a similar
royal association. The Welsh cKy of Cardiff chose
William Crossman, a working stonemason, to be its
lord mayor during a year in which King Edward had
promised to pay a visit to the city. The late king
became bo interested in this man of the people that
he determined to show It In an unprecedented manner
and, much td Crossman's surprise, tapped him on the
shoulder with a sword and said, "Rise, Sir William."
Alderman Bond has several times been mayor of
Plymouth, but those who knew him years ago when he
began his career as a boy in a local solicitor s office
would not have predicted that he would one day be
the city's chief personage.
Lights at
I
T WOULD seem that in very early days,
though lights , were prescribed at mass,
"they were placed not upon, but near, the
altar." Sometimes the number of lights
at a solemn mass was very areat and th
candles then used were invariably made of wax, says
the Ave Marie.
It would seem that in very early days, though
lights were prescribed at mass, "they were placed not
upon but near the altar." Sometimes the number of
lights at a solemn mass was very great and the randies
then used were invariably made of wax, says the
Ave Marie.
Anglo-Saxon writers, such as Aelfrlc ln bis "Tenth
Canon," give reasons for these lights. "The acolytes."
he says, "light candles at mass not so much to dispel
darkness as In honor of Christ. Who is our Light."
Even when later on It became the general prac
tice to have two candles lighted upon the altar, "two
others," we are told, "were often lighted at the
parochial or high mass during the canon, or at least
before the elevation."
But while it seems to have been usual at high
l!Mt.
Buffalo in Omaha "Zoo"
A Iolly Varden Coon.
A queer little coon holds one den all alone. He Is
an unconscious comedian and appears to be posturing
a la stage funny man all the time. Keeper Anderson
explains the Dolly Varden rear elevation of Mr. Coon
resulted from an accident In which the animal's back
was broken. The injured vertebrae knitted in such,
a way that the coon has the appearance of mincing
along with his shoulders very low and his hips very
high. Across the middle of his back the skin is hair
less, while the front and rear parts of the body have
the natural soft covering pertaining to well condi
tioned coons. With slow but sure agility thiB queer
coon takes his exercise by cllmblpg about the bars
of the cape once in awhile, but usually he is resting
and blinking softly in the sun on his platform.
I
Animals Are Docile and Peaceful.
"Could this badger lick the peccaries if the need
arose?" Is asked of the keeper.
"I don't know," he says, "but the three appear to
get along all right. A badger has a great reputation
for his fighting ability, but this one has never been
troublesome; probably because the little pigs have
heard of his capacity and let him alone."
"Do your bears ever fight?"
in Great Britain
The police force ln England would bardly com
mend itself to the casual observer as a stepping stone
to the mayoralty, yet two chief executives have
reached their high position by that route. Kingston-on-Thames
several years ago elected Councilor Clarke
mayor. His admirers made two unsuccessful attempts
before they succeeded in landing him ln the mayor's
chair, largely because the proud residents of the town
found it Impossible to resign themselves to the rule
of their former policeman.
Blackpool, the Coney Island of England, once se
lected Alderman Brodle to the mayoralty, despite the
fact that he was particularly fond of telling of his
experiences as a member of the force ln Manchester.
Timothy Owen, one of the most popular residents
of Aberaven, Glamorganshire, was a signalman on a
railroad when his neighbors expressed their desire to
Invest him with the office of mayor. On the occasion
of his first visit to church after assuming the high
office he had a curious bodyguard in 300 rallwaymen,
headed by the general secretary of the labor union to
which be belonged.
the Mass
mass on Sundays and feast days to have even in
smaller churches two candles on the altar and two
in larger candlesticks at the side the number was
much grenter In abbeys and cathedrals.
, At Chichester In the thirteenth century It was the
custom on great festivals to place seven tapers of two
pounds eat h on the altar, eight on the beam above
it and two on the altar step; and on ordinary days
three on the altar and' two on the step. We know also
that in the chapel of Henry VIII. on the Field of the
Cloth cf Gold, there were ten Kolden candlesticks on
the altar.
With regard to the universal custom of burning
candles befortt shrines and images it would be Im
possible to enumerate examples of a practice so be
loved by the faithful. Hut in England in the thir
teenth century there was a curious devotion very
common at that period which consisted in having a
candle made to the exact height of the person offer
ing It. The petitioner .hen spent the whole night be
fore the Bhrlne holdlnt the votive taper ln bis or her
bands all the time.
1)
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"Oh, sometimes they get a little fussy and I hav
to separate them. That Victoria bear is none too good
humored, and several times she has knocked me over
into the water basin. But I never have much trouble
with them."
Sara has moved up to the bars now, puffing and
blowing like a real wrestler after a bout, and Nipper
also pokes his nose against the iron.
"Sam what's the matter?" queries the keeper ln
a teasing tone of voice. But Sam only stares and wig
wags a paw. Seeing a good ohance, Queen lands him
a hearty cuff on the ear, and over he goes like a bala
of hay. Instead of resenting the cuff dealt him Sam
folds his front paws one over the other, ignoring the
lady bear as if sho did not exist, and ln disgust Queen
retires to an iron gate and assumes the pose of a
contented boy watching a ball game, with not a word
to say.
Keener Anderson an Enthusiast.
On the subject of animals in general, especially
those that should be represented ln any properly con
stituted zoological garden, Keeper Anderson grows
enthusiastic. He is a native of Denmark, has been
at Riverview sixteen years; before that spent
some years with a circus, and when he talks of the
Copenhagen "ioo" or the Hagenback collection at
Hamburg, Germany, he Is "all lit up," to use a pat
colloquialism.
"At Copenhagen they charge an admission fee
which would be equal to our quarter," says the
keeper, "and the Income is sufficient to maintain the
place in high class style and leave a surplus to buy
new attractions. On certain occasions the park is
crowded and the pleasure derived by the people gives
full warrant for keeping it up In line with tbe very
best."
Of the possibilities of Riverview Mr. Anderson bas
opinions of his own, which he is slow to express; but
It Is plain to be seen he regrets the present paucity
of animals and birds in the park. There Is an aviary,
or bird house, in the park, but the only available
occupants are two owls, one Chinese pheasRnt, one
parrot and a monkey which latter la a bird of it
agitator when he gets a proper chance. During the
winter the parrot and the monkey have their retreat
in the hot house at Hanscom park. Among the posses
sions of the Omaha "zoo" thero used to be a wildcat
and an eagle, but they died.
The thought will occur to the visitor looking over
the small menagerie at Riverview park that, situate-d
as Omaha is, at the gateway of the wild game country,
there is opportunity to establish here a collet tlon that
might hope to vie. with those In Cincinnati, Chicago
and other American t itles. Lack of money at the dis
posal of the lJark board seems to be the main reason,
why the loral collection is not enlarged, but publio
fceniimtiit Is not keen either. Even a moderately good
Koodw '
ould
ti Ion
collection of animals and birds at Riverview w
piove a great drawing card for Usitors, ln the opi
of thobe who have given the matter attention. And
the educational value of a well selected "zoo" would
not be Inconsiderable, as other cities seem to bar
proven to their profit.
r
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