§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTON (Tower Hamlets, Poplar)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his attention has been called to the item on the programme of entertainment at the London Hippodrome, entitled, the Plunging Elephants, where the elephants are forced on to a steep incline and precipitated into the water; and whether he proposes to take any action to stop such a proceeding.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Akers-Douglas.) I have no special power in this matter; but, having made inquiry, I am informed that no force is used in the performance. The elephants, under the direction of a keeper, proceed to the head of the chute, and thence slide into the water. There is no cruelty; and the animals are said to be well kept and cared for.