Milwaukee County Wisconsin Genealogy

 News and Notes from Old Milwaukee County Newspapers

For the Year 1952

Elephant in the Cemetery

Source: The Monessen Daily Independent (Monessen, Pennsylvania) 1952 May 24

Elephant Frightens Motorist

Milwaukee, Wis. (UP)-A bull elephant lumbered out of a Milwaukee cemetery and turned a peaceful outing into a temporary nightmare for Mrs. Casimer Kott and her family.

Mrs. Kott had taken her mother, Mrs. Agnes Woldanski, and her four-year-old twins for a drive yesterday. She was passing by the cemetery when the elephant trundled toward the road.

The tires screeched but Mrs. Cott braked to a halt. But the elephant continued straight for the car.

A blast of the horn and screams of the twins failed to stop the tanklike approach. Mrs. Kott tried frantically to start the engine, which had stalled when she put on the brakes.

Hard to Convince

Finally, with the huge bull less than 10 feet away and still coming, she got the car started and made a "jack rabbit" takeoff. The car slipped by the elephant with a scant five feet to spare.

Cemetery attendants were hard to convince they had an elephant on the premises.

But finally Mrs. Kott's persistence convinced them it was no joke and they went to the spot with the Kotts trailing at a respectable distance.

There they found the elephant munching peacefully on the rich cemetery grass. Nearby was Robert Moore, manager of the Kelly-Morris Circus which was in Milwaukee for a one-day stand.

Moore explained he had taken Trilby, a 30-year-old grey bull elephant for a stoll between shows to "stretch his legs."

The twins declined a ride on the "gentle" bull's back.