Chicago Tribune: Mark Jacob
With the death of Affie the elephant at Brookfield Zoo on May 15, Chicago is left with only one zoo elephant. Here’s a look at the pachyderms of the past:
1888: Barnum and Bailey Circus visits Chicago, and local officials ask the circus to donate an elephant to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Circus owners respond that if they gave Chicago an elephant, every town would ask for one. But they’re perfectly willing to negotiate a sale. The zoo buys an elephant named The Dutch and other animals for $3,000. The Dutch is renamed Duchess.
1891: Duchess escapes the zoo and wreaks havoc along North Avenue, entering a saloon and wrecking its fixtures and glassware. Police scramble to corral the pachyderm, and a horse is killed in the chaos. Damage is put at $1,500.
1900: Duchess, who is described as calm among children, works with four camels to give rides to zoo visitors for 5 cents apiece. The rides are discontinued a few years later.
1904: A story in the Tribune begins with an imaginary dialogue between Duchess and zoo director Cy DeVry in which Duchess complains about being kept in chains since the North Avenue rampage and adds: “My supply of peanuts would be scorned by any self-respecting circus elephant.” DeVry allegedly reminds her that “you ran away…and cannot be trusted.”
1906: Ald. “Bathhouse John” Coughlin, one of Chicago’s most corrupt and colorful politicians, pays a reported $3,000 for a Lincoln Park Zoo elephant named Princess Alice and sends the elephant to his private zoo near Colorado Springs, Colo. The Chicago zoo is willing to give up the animal because its trunk was damaged when it got stuck in a door jamb.
1908: Lincoln Park Zoo builds a new elephant yard, and Duchess is finally unchained.
1924: Duchess dies at an advanced age, estimated at 85-90 years by zoo director Alfred Parker. The zoo buys another elephant from the Philadelphia zoo. Parker writes to an aide: “I am having quite a bit of trouble getting transportation for the elephant. The express company talks of chartering a car and I cannot see the joke.” The pachyderm arrives via train and is called Deed-a-Day, a reference to a Boy Scout campaign to pay for the elephant.
1936: The Chicago area’s new zoo, Brookfield, adopts Ziggy, an elephant with a checkered past. Ziggy was entertainer Florenz Ziegfeld’s gift to his 6-year-old daughter, but he smashed up the family’s greenhouse and was sent away. He eventually joined a vaudeville act called Singer’s Midgets, featuring little people. During his show business career, Ziggy reportedly attacked a trombone player and threw him 30 feet. At Brookfield, Ziggy’s troubles continue, and in 1941 he attempts to gore his handler, Slim Lewis, who escapes between his tusks. Henceforth, Ziggy is chained up.
1940: Brookfield officials announce that Ziggy and his companion, Nancy, are expecting a baby. The zoo throws a baby shower attended by 40,000 people, and the National Dairy Council donates a 400-gallon bottle. But zoo officials later make the embarrassing announcement that Nancy was never pregnant — she had just gained some weight.
1942: Deed-a-Day dies at Lincoln Park. An autopsy finds that she swallowed glass from broken whisky bottles that callous zoo patrons threw into her enclosure.
1943: Lincoln Park Zoo acquires Judy from Brookfield Zoo. But the 35-year-old elephant refuses to ride in a flatbed truck, so she walks the 18 miles to her new home. The trek is wisely scheduled in the evening, after rush hour.
1965: An elephant shipped from Bangkok en route to a zoo in Michigan City, Ind., is dead on arrival at O’Hare International Airport.
1969: Michael Sneed — then a Tribune reporter, now Sun-Times columnist — reports that Brookfield has kept Ziggy chained to a wall for decades. The article inspires a fund-raising drive that pays for outdoor facilities for Ziggy, who dies in 1975 in his mid-50s.
1971: Judy, the much-beloved Lincoln Park resident who is known for her “shimmy dance” and might be the oldest elephant in captivity in the U.S., dies at Lincoln Park Zoo.
1990: Shanti becomes the first elephant born at Lincoln Park Zoo.
2005: After the deaths of three elephants in less than two years, Lincoln Park Zoo suspends further exhibition of the animals, pending study.
2009: At Brookfield, 39-year-old Affie dies, leaving her younger pal, Christy, as the only elephant in a Chicago zoo.
– Mark Jacob
Sources: “The Ark in the Park” by Mark Rosenthal, Carol Tauber and Edward Uhlir; “Let the Lions Roar” by Andrea Friederici Ross; “Lords of the Levee” by Lloyd Wendt and Herman Kogan; and Tribune archives
By Yadira Betances
ybetances@eagletribune.com
NORTH ANDOVER — The Rev. Jerry Hogan knows a thing or two about show business. As a chaplain for circus performers, the priest is usually under the tent watching as acrobats and clowns bow to the crowd's applause.
Hogan is now getting his own taste of the spotlight. He will appear center ring next week as the guest of the CatholicTV show "Going My Way" - a modern day version of "The Merv Griffin Show," featuring clergy as the musical talent.
"You feel like you're on the set of Conan O'Brien or Jay Leno," said Hogan, who also serves at St. Michael Parish.
For his musical number, Hogan appropriately sang "Send in the Clowns" accompanied by the Rev. Chris Hickey on vocals and the Rev. Paul Rouse on the grand piano.
"(The song) is about sadness and where you are in life," he said. "It's also a code for when someone falls to bring in an act to keep the audience distracted."
During the interview, Hogan talked about his work with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus, Big Apple circus, Cirque de Soleil and other traveling shows, as well as his ministry at St. Michael's.
"I'm glad I did it, but I don't know if I'll watch it," Hogan said.
Hogan, 63, is chaplain to an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 Catholics who work in the circus in the United States. He said 65 percent of the circus workers are Catholic because most of them come predominantly Catholic countries in Latin America and Europe.
"They have a great sense of faith and belief in God," he said.
In addition to bringing the church to clowns, acrobats and human cannonballs, he blesses everything from trapezes and tigers to train cars and tents.
Hogan fell in love with the circus when his father took him to one in 1954. In 1990, he joined the Circus Fans Association, and began writing to then-circus chaplain Jack Toner. Hogan often pitched in for him when he was not available, and when Toner retired in 1993 due to heart problems, Hogan became his replacement.
"It's been a blessing to be working with them. This is an outreach as my call as a priest and an affirmation of my vocation either here (at St. Michael) or in the circus," Hogan said.
There are also sad moments.
He was called to provide support when aerial acrobat Dessi Espana, died in 2004 after falling 30 feet onto a concrete floor during a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus show in St. Paul, Minn.
He also presided over the funeral of Gunther Gebel-Williams, the famed animal trainer for Ringling Bros. who died of cancer in 1991, as well as the funeral of another animal trainer who was mauled by a tiger in 1998. He was there when a Ringling Bros. circus trained derailed in Florida in 1994, killing a clown and an animal trainer.
When not traveling with the circus from Florida to New York, he is in constant contact with circus performers through e-mail.
At St. Michael, he is part of the ministry with the Rev. Paul Keyes and the Rev. John Delaney, team moderator.
In addition to celebrating Mass, Hogan also teaches religious education and leads a men's group at the church.
When not preaching or teaching, Hogan enjoys going to the theater, the symphony and the museum. He is an avid sports fan and has been a 39 year season ticket holder to the New England Patriots and enjoys watching the Red Sox and the Celtics.
Irene Tasso, wife of comedy juggler Dieter Tasso, died suddently this week in Sarasota.
Cards of condolences can be sent to:
Dieter Tasso
4874 Hamlets Grove Drive
Sarasota, Florida 34235
DieterTasso@aol.com
In lieu of flowers, Dieter suggests that you make a donation to your favorite charity in Irene's memory.
Thank you.
Mike Naughton
Vice-President
Showfolks of Sarasota
....Gunther....
....Gary Thomas....
....Terrell Jacobs....
....??....
....??....
....Joseph Marcan....
....Wade Burck and The Hawthorn Tigers....
....Ryan Easley with 'America's Own'..Casey Cainan's Tigers....
....Trudy Strong and The Hawthorn Tigers....
source:AFP
translated from french
The high court of Valencia has ordered the seizure of two elephants and a jaguar, "mascots" for years of Jean Richard Pinder Circus, deemed illegal it was learned Wednesday from a judical source.
This seizure was ordered Jan. 29th on the grounds of " unlawful employment at an instition of non-domestic animals", "improper use of non-domestic animals", and "lack of certificates of competency for the reception of said animals", the source said that the facility has been sentenced to 6,000 euros fine.
Gilbert Edlestein, owner and manager of the circus disputed the reasons for the seizure and appealed the decision, including the "default certificates".
Mr. Edlestein, also president of the unions National Circus, expressed his determination to oppose the seizure of his animals. " Both Pinder Circus elephants are the mascots of the circus for the last 25 years" he told AFP before challenging the associations that have made civil parties in the case, Assistance Animals and 30 Million Friends.
source: AFP/ Feb 3/ 16:15
....On Wednesday Asia the elephant, unveiled the new street sign....
The city of Columbia is honoring the "Greatest Show on Earth" in a big way.
A portion of Greene Street, in front of the Colonial Life Arena has a new name. It will now be called Ringling Way.
On Wednesday city officials, circus performers and Asia the elephant, unveiled the new street sign. One circus performer calls the renamed street, the ultimate compliment.
"Having you guys appropriately rename this street Ringling Way is a deep, deep honor for us," said performer Sean Davis. "And it's just going to reaffirm our commitment and our excitement to come back here to Columbia every year."
The Ringling Brothers circus kicks off February 4th and runs through Sunday, February 7th.
