Eva, an elephant belonging to a Detroit circus, has died from effects of an injudicious meal.
Inspired, perhaps, by the example of Jumbo, who consumed an enormous quai y of Faschingskrupfen cakes without coming to harm, Eva devoured a pair of boots and lived to regret it, Her keeper removed his boots and fell asleep beside his charge. When he awoke the boots were gone, and their whereabouts were plainly indicated by the uneasy look in Eva's eyes.
As the week passed the elephant's condition grew worse, and she made repeated attempts to escape in order to be able to die alone, She Ate Boots The elephant, whose motto is haud (or should it be howdah?) immemor is rated a sagacious beast, comments "The Times." All the more perplexing, therefore, is the strange and terrible fate of the pachyderm Eva, This misguided creature ate a pair of boots belonging to her keeper, who had taken them off during his siesta, Cothurnophagy, even among elephants, is rarely indulged in with impunity, and Eva—to use the invariable formula of Old Moore's Almanac—has joined the great majority.
The tragedy gives rise to some interesting speculations, At first sight it looks like a case of death by misadventure; but he more you think about it the harder it becomes to believe that any elephant would be such an ass as to eat a pair of boots by mistake. Absence of mind will not explain it. There are a good many objects which an elephant might pick up and devour in the abstracted, unregarding way in which we humans eat salted almonds at dull dinner parties; but boots are not among them, Boots take some eating. It requires sustained effort to get outside a well-made pair, It is not the sort of thing you do in a daydream without noticing it, No, "Death by misadventure" will not wash. There is clearly a human interest story, or rather an elephant tine interest story, behind this sad business. The key' to it lies in the fact that Eva was not one of your staid, avuncular Zoo elephants; she belonged to a cireus....ls it necessary to say more? We all know the kind of people circus-folk are: we all know what searing passions, what black revenges, what heroic sacrifices, what twisted smiles and The business side of the Advertising Association convention was brought to a close at a general session presided over by Sir Edmund Findlay. An address was given by Sir Harold Bellman, chairman and managing director of the Abbey Road Building Sóciety, on "The dangers of the mis-spent pounds."
Sir Harold Bellman said that many who sought the aid of advertising realized that finance had now been largely democratized and that this was pre-eminently the day of the small investor; they realized too, that many small investors were concerned with the security of their investments.
As a result, a class of advertising had appeared sponsored by certain building societies, certain property investment societies, certain fixed trusts, and the like, which was directly aimed at these investors. To say that these advertisements were fraudvient might be going beyond the facts; but to claim that they were ill-advised was within the limits of reason, In many cases there was sufficient evidence on the face of these adver-fisements to condemn them in the eyes of any discerning person. They promised "absolute security"—a term which should never be allowed in any financial advertisement, since "absolute security" was in this work-a-day world beyond human ingenuity, In conjunction with this impossible promise they offered rates of interest considerably in excess of the normal current rate applicable to the field in which they operated. This must be interpreted as indicating the presence of abnormal risk in the business concerned or incredible inexperience in those controlling the operations—both conditions to be avoided by prudent investors. Yet these advertisements continued to appear in the Press, in the columns of otherwise reputable organs. Some attempt had been made to apply remedial measures. The investigation which their association sponsored regarding property investment societies had undoubtedly had a useful influence, but he would like t& see the range of this influence extended.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.