SUZIE Q, Female Asian
1947 - King Bros. Circus
1949 to 1950 - Rogers Bros. Circus
1952 - Hills Bros. Greater Shows
1954 to 1957 - Ring Bros. Circus
1958 - Trapeze Bros. Circus
1959 to 1960 - Ring Bros. Circus
1961 - Bailey Bros. Circus
1962 - Fargo Bros. Circus
1963 to 1965 - Hoxie Bros. Circus
1966 - Beers-Barnes Circus
1967 to 1977 - Hoxie Bros. Circus
(No further Records)
Hoxie Bros. Circus 1975; The Herriott Family.
Elephants are "Hazel", "Sue" and "Bonnie"
Courtesy of bucklesw.blogspot.com
Elephants are "Hazel", "Sue" and "Bonnie"
Courtesy of bucklesw.blogspot.com
Final story
A small piece of information found in a 1978 Edition of the publication Circus Report brings to light the final story for Sue.
Circus Report, 7th year No 18 Page 5, 04/31/1978
Courtesy of CircusHistory.org
Courtesy of CircusHistory.org
"Irene would have been the replacement. While the article is in 1978, the occurrences happened in 1977 apparently late in the year." //Bob Cline
This elephant is not listed in the North American Regional Studbook for the Asian Elephant.
Update 04/28/2012:
More information regarding the death of Sue is found in a November 1977 issue of Circus Report.
Circus Report, 6th year No 47 Page 18, 11/21/1977
Courtesy of CircusHistory.org
Courtesy of CircusHistory.org
Sue was not a punk at death. She was purchased from Beers and Barnes by Hoxie in the 60's. She was died of electrocution along with Timmy Merokesh, raising the center pole under low high voltage wires in Indiantown,Florida. Dutch Crawford had the elephants that year. The young elephant we lost was earlier, and was "Irene" in the Johnstown Flood. John Herriott and Family was on the show when Irene died of Pneumonia. We had two Betty's and two Irene's. The first two were trained by Smokey Jones. The first Betty was an African, and she died in Winter Quarters in Miami. The second Betty was from the Pittsburgh Zoo and was an Asian. She had warts all over her trunk. The second Irene was also an African, who I think died in Winter Quarters. John Lewis jlewis37411@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comments. First, Bob Cline has noted from an April 1984 article in the Chronicle Telegram of Elyria, Ohio that it was Ellie of Roller Bros. for the death of which you speak:
Died - April 17, 1984 when electrocuted by raising a pole into a power line at Springhill, LA. Fell on & killed Tim Merikesh
Regarding the second Betty's purchase from the Pittsburgh Zoo, this is huge news. I previously researched numerous elephants by the name of Rani that were featured in the Children's Zoo at Pittsburgh. Your comments seem to imply that Betty ( now owned by George Carden ) was the third Rani. The original article can be found here:
http://www.showmeelephants.com/2013/07/highland-park-zoo-rani.html
I'll be emailing you soon. I would like to follow up with you more about the elephant Babe to which you inquired earlier on ShowMe Elephants' Facebook page.
Thanks again for the help.