behind the ear while she was trying to eat watermelon. Understandably Mary became enraged, threw him against a drink stand and stomped on his head. The locals were horrified and other nearby towns vowed never to allow the circus in if Mary the Killer Elephant was around. At this point Charlie Sparks, circus owner, realised that he had to take drastic action. What do you do with a bad elephant? Hang it of course. In front of a crowd of bloodthirsty townsfolk, Mary was chained by her neck to an industrial crane and lifted off the ground. The first attempt failed when the chain snapped, breaking her hip and annoying her. The second attempt worked, and after a few minutes Mary had met her maker. She was buried nearby and became the first and possibly the last elephant to be lynched.
And in a brief round-up of other bad elephant history... in 1826 Chunee was executed in London with 152 musket rounds and a sword, and in 1903 Topsy (pictured) was electrocuted by none other than Thomas Eddison himself. The video's on Youtube.Hmm. Surprising the number of ways you can execute an elephant.
2 comments:
Crushing by elephant was a popular method of execution in India.
On the whole, I'd prefer to be a man crushed to death by an elephant than an elephant hung by a man.
Don't worry, I feel you're unlikely to be hanged as an elephant.
Anyway, excuse me Peter, I think the real issue here is not in the way Mary executed her keeper, but rather that she arrogantly made such a decision in the heat of the moment. Don't go defending bad elephants.
If capital punishment is permissable, then I suppose having your head crushed is one of the swifter, more interesting ways to snuff it. For complete lex talionis they should've found an even bigger elephant to crush her head.
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