ELEPHANT v. CYCLIST

Dunstan Times, Issue 2087, 30 July 1901, Page 6

ELEPHANT v. CYCLIST

There is always something exciting about watching a race—more especially if the contest be between a man and an animal. Who does not remember the keen delight with which he witnessed a race between a man and a horse in a circus ring for the first time in his life? How much more exciting, then, must be a race between a man and an elephant, especially when the man is mounted on a cycle? Such a content is one of the principal sporting features of the great PanAmerican Exhibition, which has just been opened at Buffalo, and is equal in importance to the Glasgow Exhibition, being, if ; anything, on a larger scale. The racing • elephant's name is "Liz," and the animal is said to be the swiftest pachyderm in the world to-day. Its challenger is a cyclist exchampion named Bald, and the races take place in the big arena, which is called the Stadium. The wheelman rides on the track, while the elephant has the right of way inside it. Of course, the cyclist concedes his four-footed opponent a substantial handicap in the races, which vary in length from half a mile to a mile. You might think an elephant could not cover the ground ; yet all people who have hunted these creatures will tell you they would prefer not to be chased by an elephant, even though they themselves were mounted on the swiftest of Arabs. Those who have seen " Liz" race at Buffalo say that the spectators are amazed at the speed and endurance which the animal displays. True, it takes the elephant about 100 yards to get into its stride ; and but for this fact it would be a serious opponent for the man on the cycle on even terms. As it is, once the elephant is fairly under way. its own weight carries it on at a tremendous pace, the animal lumbering along at a speed which an ordinary racehorse need not be ashamed of. Its stride is something tremendous, and must be seen to be appreciated ; the fore legs literally shoot out in front of the animal, so forceful and almost incredible is the rapidity of movement. Altogether it is certainly one of the'most remarkable and novel forms of racing on record ; and the thousands of spectators who witness it go wild with enthusiasm during the progress of the contests, which sometimes result in favor of the quadruped and sometimes in favor of the cyclist. The elephant seems to enter thoroughly into the spirit of the thing, getting quite excited during the progress of the races. Occasionally it curls its huge trunk up and trumpets its* satisfaction at the prospect of an easy win by a. dozen yards or so, proving that the sporting spirit is instinctive in some animals, just as it is in certain men.