One hundred years ago
Animals, like men, have continuous destinies, and 'Jumbo', the great elephant, had his. It was his destiny to attract more attention than any other elephant which ever existed, and it pursued him till his death. Alone of his race, he has been killed by a railway locomotive. His keeper was walking him on the railway track towards St Thomas, Ontario, when he saw a goods train coming out. He ordered 'Jumbo' to get off the line; but the embankment was steep, and 'Jumbo' refused, declin- ing also to walk between the lines. He was, in fact, as serenely obstinate as male elephants usually are, and the locomotive struck him, squeezed him against some trucks standing on a sid- ing, and carried him about a hundred yards. He died in a few minutes. He is a loss, for he was the biggest elephant in captivity, and he ought to have lived another century, by which time, if the price of ivory goes on advancing by leaps and bounds, his species will be as extinct as the mammoth. It is amusing to observe the contempt with which the 'craze' about Jumbo is still spoken of. What was there contemptible about it?
Spectator, 19 September 1885
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