FEATS OF "MARY"

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 60, 12 March 1927, Page 20

FEATS OF "MARY"

APE RISKS ITS LIFE FOR A CHILD.

Mary, Mr. Cherry Kearton's chimpanzee is, it is true, only a chimpanzee, but she is quite as useful and intelligent, and much more amusing, than many human beings, says the "Daily Express." He tells of her wonde/ul intelligence in his new book, "My Happy Family," a happily told story, which includes not only Mary, but Robin, the mongoose, and Tommy, tlie terrier, and the fund a small boy visitor, Peter, had with them.

These are some of Mary's accomplishments: She lights and smokes a pipe; takes her meals with the family; paddles and punts a boat; plays tug-of-war with Tommy; unties her master's shoelaces and takes his shoes off; rolls the lawn; screws the nozzle on the hosepipe and waters the grass; helps to lay bricks, carrying the mortar in her mouth and the bricks in her arms; powders her face; does dumbbell exercises; enjoys the films; picks out monkeys in picture books and kisses them; hammers in'nails; goes fishing with a rod and line and bent pin-hook; is fond of "writing" with pencil and paper; and teaches the dog Tommy to eat bananas and plums. All these and other accomplishments are interestingly brought out in Mr. Kcarton's charming story of the boy Peter's visit to the author's liome. On three occasions she proved a real friend in need. Once Tommy fell overboard when the party were out boating on the lake.

"Of course, he could swim, and there was no harm done, but it was touching to see Mary's anxiety. She stood up, grasping the gunwale with one hand, while with tho other she reached down into the water, making frantic grabs at Tommy; at his head, his collar, his legs. Before either

Peter or I could come to tho rescue she grasped him by the leg. Tho little boast yolped, but Mary seemed to know the rule that when rescuing any one from drowning you must not heed the victim's struggles." Once also, when a child had wondered to pick buttercups in a highfenced field in which was a bull, Mary, noticing that tho human rescuers woro deterred by a high fence, left her fishing, quickly scaled the obstruction, and advancing on tho Dull and- a herd of cows, sometimes on all fours and sometimes orcct, and brandishing her fishing rod, scared them off while the child was lured forth.

Another time, wlicu Peter had climbed a roof to catch Mary and had sprained his ankle, Mary realising his difficulty, gave up tho game and helped him out of a position of imminent peril on slippery slates, fifty feet above ground, until he reached safety.