Topsy was another pachyderm which suffered a similar fate. She was an Asian elephant that lived in the early 1900s at Coney Islands Luna Park. She was taken from the wild as a baby and smuggled into the U.S. to be a circus elephant. Eventually, Coney Island bought her and used her as a work animal to build the parks attractions. Much like Mary, Topsy began to lash out at her abusive trainers, and killed two who struck her with pitchforks, and a third who burnt her sensitive trunk with a lit cigar. So, it was decided that Topsy had to go. First, the authorities fed her carrots laced with cyanide, but they had no effect. Then, they considered a public hanging, but the ASPCA protested and would not allow it. Then, Thomas Edison suggested electrocution with alternating current, which he had been trying to prove was dangerous in order to discredit his rivals at Westinghouse. Seeing one last chance to make money off the poor animal, Luna Parks owners planned to charge the public a twenty-five cent admission fee to witness the execution. Once again, the ASPCA came in and refused to allow the killing to be made a public spectacle. The owners stopped charging entrance fees to the event, but 1,500 people still turned out to watch the killer die. Topsy was led to a special platform, Edisons cameras were set rolling, and the switch was thrown. Topsy fell to the ground and quickly died without a trumpet or groan, although she was seen moving for several seconds. Edison later showed the film to audiences across the country, but AC still beat out DC in the end. [More Info: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy_(elephant)]
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 01:07:13 +0000
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