No one denied that Topsy was one temperamental elephant.
A resident of Luna Park, one of the spectacular Coney Island amusement parks of the early 1900s, the 28-year-old pachyderm had already killed three trainers.
[Well, one did kind of ask for it by trying to feed her a lit cigarette.]
Luna Park’s boss wanted her put to sleep. This being Coney Island, he made a show of it.
More than a thousand people came to an arena to watch Topsy eat cyanide-laced carrots.
She didn’t die though. After considering hanging, Luna Park officials decided to electrocute her. Enter Thomas Edison, who sought a venue to prove that his direct current was safer than alternating current.
Luna Park gave Edison the go-ahead. On January 5, 1903, more than 1,500 people watched three-ton Topsy take 10 seconds of alternating current. Her grisly end was soundless and instant.
Edison filmed Topsy’s death and called the footage “Electrocuting an Elephant.”
Elephants have a long history entertaining New Yorkers. Read more about it here and here.
Tags: amusement parks of Coney Island, Coney Island, elephant electrocution, Luna Park, Thomas Edison electrocution, Topsy elephant
June 2, 2010 at 4:33 am |
Ten seconds? That’s a very long time when red hot irons, so to speak, are applied to every inch of your entire nervous system. She didn’t die instantly or painlessly.
Probably the most disgraceful thing EVER to happen to Coney Island. One of the most egregious example of the mistreatment of animals.
June 2, 2010 at 4:41 am |
You are right–I should have said she “reportedly” died instantly. Accounts at the time also said she died soundlessly but I’m sure her body made a pretty gruesome thud when it hit the ground.
June 3, 2010 at 2:24 am |
anyone able to update wikipedia?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents
July 1, 2010 at 4:39 pm |
Actually, by 1903 standards, 10 seconds WAS considered “instant.”
Nothing else at that time was that fast. They didn’t have nanoseconds and cyberspace back then, remember. We need to be careful of judging past history by current standards. What we consider cruel and unusual punishment today, would have been unthinkable and unachievable back then. And what was seen as modern and humane then would be unthinkable today.
July 1, 2010 at 5:28 pm |
Good perspective, thank you.
August 14, 2011 at 12:00 am |
.
I have seen the electrocution footage and it
was instant death: she just fell over, that was it.
No gruesome thud, no drama….she fell over
exactly like a person fainting.
This stuff about the trainer feeding the
elephant a lit cigarette is way out there in right field.
That’s like calling a cop a potential bank
robber right after he walks out of the academy.
I’ve read more than once that
it was a man pretending to feed her.
The s.o.b. was killed for it, and that’s
exactly what he deserved
&
they should have given that poor
elephant a ride back to Africa.
.