A 'Tail' Of Races By Elephants

[image]  PACHYDERM DERBY: These circus-trained elephants that wanted to line up trunk-to-tail are urged and prodded into running conventional racing style in one of three intra-mural homecoming elephant races yesterday at the University’s Ferry Field. An inter-collegiate elephant race, scheduled to follow, was called off because of darkness after transportation troubles delayed delivery of the beasts to Ann Arbor.  An estimated 4,000 persons saw the event.

A ‘Tail’ Of Races By Elephants

Some 4,000 spectators shivered through the University’s first elephant race yesterday at Ferry Field but never got to see the main event which was called off because of darkness.

The circus-parade type elephants rented for the U-M Homecoming program event, however, did manage to lumber through two elimination events and a final race in the intramural portion of the pachyderm derby before cold and darkness forced calling off the inter-collegiate finale.

An elephant named “Stew” by the kitchen crew of Sigma Delta Tau Sorority House won the elimination race to represent the U-M in the inter-collegiate event with the University of Washington, University of Illinois, Orange State College and Adams State College that was never held.

Transportation problems, including the tipping over of one of the trucks hauling the elephants, was one reason for the delay in starting the first race and subsequent failure in finishing the event.

Another reason was that it took a lot of prodding and urging to get the elephants, trained to line up trunk-to-tail, to line up abreast like any well-bred racing elephant would. 

Also it took 45 minutes to get the bulky beasts off the truck that was three hours late in arriving.