458 WALL STREET AND THE WILDS 



A letter from Dr. Hornadav of the Zoo was 

 the cause of our dispelling several local myths. 

 Old Mose, an alligator twelve and one-half feet 

 long, was the patriarch of the reptile colony at 

 the Zoo. He had a rival in a younger alligator 

 of great ambition but hopelessly deficient in 

 length, being twelve inches shorter than the mam- 

 moth Moses. It occurred to the lesser reptile 

 that if he couldn't rise to the height of the great 

 lawgiver of his race he might pull the patriarch 

 down to his own level and he bit off eighteen 

 inches of the tail of the venerable Moses. The 

 long-time ruler of the reptile house fell to the 

 second place, his haughty spirit could not brook 

 the disgrace, and he died, full of years and bit- 

 terness. 



Dr. Hornaday suggested that the Zoo would 

 like to fill the place of the lamented Moses with 

 something of similar length, say not less than 

 twelve feet. I had myself killed an alligator of 

 fourteen feet and four inches and had heard local 

 rumors that two or three 'gators of similar 

 length were still living. As I followed up the 



