A BABOON CASE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13759, 26 May 1908, Page 8

A BABOON CASE.

' . AMUSING LITIGATION.

■how TWO APES WERE .recognised. : -the COUPLE WHO found "the ;'l''',.\ ■. -devil." ' ■'-"; ... [FROM OUR OWN OORRK.STOXnKN-r.] ' • 'London, April 17. Of all interesting courts, those of the official referees are usually the most devoid of interest and humour. But there was an exception this week. And the case under consideration was all about baboons. / In South Africa baboons can-be bought for the price of'.a mongrel dog. Skilfully trained for circus work' they may be- worth from £50 to £70. But some of them, have a habit of dying suddenly. Out of about 40 bought by Mr. Frank Taylor during his South African tour with Mr. Bostock's menagerie, 25 were .sent home, and a number of these died. Of those retained for the tour only five survived. These- are' now appearing at the Coliseum, under Mr. Taylor; but Mr. Bostpck says they are his. 111. the days. of. Solomon the question of ownership might have been decided by the threat of the sword, in these times of human precociousness, judgments are less venture- . some.' ,/■-.'-, • --:.-'• . "Taylor's baboons," therefore, are the subject of commonplace litigation, and on Wednesday the case cam© before Mr. Vetey, sitting as official referee, having been "sent ' down" by Mr. Justice Phillimore, -who began ; the hearing of ,the action with a common jury last December. In 1903 Mr. E. H. Bostock. the famous menagerie and music-hall proprietor, formed a company to send out a circus and menagerie to South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. " " Mr. .Taylor (now of Clement's Mansions, Fulham).was then in Mr. Bostock's service as a trainer of animals, and :he was appointed manager of the tour. It cost Mr. Bostock over £6000 to equip the circus, and his loss on the tour was about s £3000. In the event of the loss of an eleV phant or baboon or other important animal, Mr. Taylor had power to buy others to . fill their places, but his spending power was limited to £250. ■:'■■, Before the end of the tour (according to Mr. Walter Pane's opening statement) Mr. Taylor gave up the management, and Mr. Rostock had to send out his own son to take charge. When Mr. Taylor reached England in April, 1906, he brought with him five of the baboons bought during the tour, and had'them removed from their cages at - night time. Since then they had appeared at various halls, and three of them had . been: recognised by members of Mr. Bostock's staff. These .' were: ."Potch;" bought at Potchfstroom; " Cradock," bought at Cradock, Cape Colony, and "Jackie." "Potch" is said to be a'" sacred baboon." A man named Priest said that the baboons were fed out of the profits of the show. ■ Do baboons eat much? asked counsel »in ;.; cross-examination.lt's ■■• all -according to. their size, sir! You can never tell when they've finished! Were you on friendly terms -with them?— Quite. ~ ~ .'. / t . , .'' •,'.., t , And you recognised them in Captain Tay- , lor's show at the Coliseum,' in Glasgow,' last) year?—-Yes, I. recognised Potch and CraV dock—particularly Cradock. ..How?—By the tricks he did. ! How do you know' that the-, tricks you saw-were, not those of, the original Cradock's understudy?—Of course, I couldn't tell that. May,.have been. .'• ... . „ - " '.'■'■ 'An '.'entertainer" in '.the' ' show,' Thomas Howard, 'whose daughter did thought-read-ing spasms in the lions' den, also recognised Potch- and 'Cradock, and so did an attendant, named Carlisle, who,remembered the,.tricks they: did. He also was at Glas- ' gow last year and "called in at Taylor's show to renew old friendships and memories. . There to his joy he saw the old South African baboons as large as life. . ; . r Cross-examined: How did you recognise them-?-— I.heard 'em! . . What? They don't talk, do they?— f hut I heard 'em answer in their names— particularly Cradock. I recognised him also by the make-up of the animal, though he was dressed up. , ; What was he .wearing?— Trousers, sir. Then you didn't identify him by his form? —Didn't I? ' You don't know baboons, evidently. ■ ' , Another witness who was also in the show remembered the very night of the disappearance of the five beautous baboons. It was in Australia, at Perth. "I saw them ■, the last thing one night," he said, "and I ' went- to the cages early next morning." Did you see any of the baboons there?— : No) sir, was the cautious reply, I only saw the night watchman. / -V;.-. Mr. Taylor, in the witness-box, described the adventures of the menageries in the round-the-world -trip- (which.was not oversuccessful, he admitted). On the return journey to England he brought with him the five baboons, a Tasmanian wolf, and a Tasmania!] devil. '■■ The wolf was horribly sick in the Red.Sea, and Mr: Taylor "had to keep his heart going with doses of stry- , chnine." "The devil," was completely lost for 1 two.weeks; it was eventually found on ; deck one ■', night by a '"mashing couple." , • By a what?—A M-a-s-h-i-n-g C-o-u-p-l-e, sir! (Laughter.) , , He brought •■home five baboons, and four of them, including poor Cradock, died when they got home. Cradock, poor chap, died at Hammersmith of very pronounced consumption. Counsel (sadly): Did you attend the funeral, Mr. Taylor? . Mr. Taylor (almost in tears): N-n-n-o, sir; but—but I've got the gravedigger here. It was untrue to say that either Cradock or Potch had ever performed at Glasgow. The dear things were corpses before the show had arrived there. However, in the result, yesterday, the official referee said he thought the plaintiff was entitled to the return of the baboon named " Potch/' and lie would make an order to that effect. Two other baboons he valued at £80, and the defendant must pay that sum or return them. He awarded tho plaintiff £369 14s 2d, as due to him on the accounts of the tour, together with the costs of the reference. The defendant denied that the baboons were .worth £40 a week to the Bostock Show; when they arrived in London their education was still unfinished, and no one would have given him 40s a; week for a turn." There was an item of £34- which defendant claimed from the plaintiff. For many years, he said, he was a lion-tamer, and could never insure his life for the benefit of his wife and family, because he was daily at the mercy of the animals. At Johannesburg he nearly came to grief in the lions' den, and his wife and friends implored him to give the business up. At Durban he, met a man who asked to be allowed to insure him, and he paid £34 for an in- ' surance ■of £1000. The doctor passed him, - but he subsequently received ■"'"u-- letter from the insurance office saying that they declined the risk and returned the £34. This £54 he paid into Mr. Bostock's account at the Standard Bank of South : 'Africa it -was his own money and he claimed the return of it. . ,