Bolivar and Basil - Forepaugh Circus Elephants Save the Day - Brockton Mass. - Harper'r Weekly 30 June 1884

ELEPHANTS AS FIREMEN.

We copy from the Boston Herald the following interesting account of an incident which Mr. Church has illustrated in the sketch on page 412. The elephants which performed so well the duty of firemen at a critical moment belonged to the menagerie of Mr. Adam Forepaugh. Shortly after a recent matinée performance at Brockton, Massachusetts, a one-story frame building near the tents caught fire, and in “a few moments the entire building was enveloped in flames. Attached to the station-house was a row of horse sheds, and connecting with the latter was the grand stand, in close proximity to which were Mr. Forepaugh’s tents. There being no fire appliances on the grounds, it may well be assumed that the burning building gave serious alarm to the circus people, as well as to the citizens, many of whom had not yet left the grounds. “At this juncture Mr. Forepaugh and his general manager, C. W. Fuller, appeared on the scene. It was plainly apparent that unless the horse sheds were torn down the grand stand would burn, and in that event the destruction of the circus tents was inevitable. While all were excited, and making futile attempts to pull down the buildings with their hands, Adam Forepaugh junior came running up, and, taking in the situation at a glance, called his colored assistant and hastened to the elephant quarters, soon after appearing with Bolivar and Basil, the latter being next to the former in point of size. The two huge beasts were hurried over to the fire, and, much to the surprise of the spectators, began pulling down the horse sheds in obedience to the direction of the junior Forpaugh. The bystanders removed the débris as fast as it accumulated under the mighty blows of the elephantine firemen, who seemingly looked upon the affair as a matter of little moment. In an in credibly short space of time the horse sheds were demolished, the grand stand was saved, and the circus tents loomed up as proudly as ever, It is proposed to make Messrs. Bolivar and Basil honorary members of the Brockton Fire Department.” A comical feature of the scene was the appearance of the “fat woman,” the “living skeleton,” and a wee bit of a dwarf in a group, all of them deeply interested in watching the efforts of the sagacious elephants to demolish the sheds.

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