In an attempt to discredit Westinghouse and Tesla by showing how dangerous AC electricity is, Thomas Edison electrified an elephant named Topsy.Find me … The fire also destroyed Lorenzo Shaw’s Channel Chute, a wooden roller coaster built in 1895 that encircled the hotel and was often called the Elephant Scenic Railway. To be more precise, it’s to be guilty of being a wild-caught elephant held Although he was the president of the Edison Manufacturing Co., which, among other things, oversaw the film company, day-to-day operations were in the hands of the vice president and general manager William E. Gilmore. But a chimp has more in common with us than not; for want of a mere chromosome he might discard his bananas for a cubicle. After killing a spectator in 1902, she was sold to Coney Island. Did Edison really electrocute Topsy the Elephant? Edison then began to question the safety of using an AC system. The circus toured that year in combination with a Wild West show. While there, the elephant, which was turned into a circus animal, was involved in several incidents, one of which killed a… But because Topsy has a bad reputation as a dangerous elephant, no zoo or show will buy it. The elephant was then executed ruthlessly. The owner of Luna Park then turned to the latest electric current invention at that time. Although Edison's company filmed it, some argue that it was unlikely that Thomas Edison was a direct part of the execution. Historical accounts of Topsy’s errant behaviour  It is arguably the most famous animal execution ever—the killing of Topsy the elephant at Luna Park on Coney Island in January 1903.  It received national coverage in the newspapers, and the Edison Manufacturing Co. sent a film crew to document it. Topsy, one of which was pushed with a sharp hook between the eyes and on the head. The execution of Topsy, a female elephant, in a publicity stunt advertising the opening of Luna Park on Coney Island.  Elena Holodny, writing in Business Insider, chimed in, too, noting that Edison “sought to prove that alternating current actually can kill quickly.” Holodny then goes on to say that “at a demonstration [Edison] held at Coney Island, he electrocuted and killed a circus elephant named Topsy.” Countless other websites have followed suit, making the same claim against Edison, likely because the film made of this singular event was given the title “Electrocuting an Elephant—Thomas A. Edison.”. A baby elephant from Southeast Asia was brought secretly to America. Topsy was about 35 years old at the time of her death, which is about half the expected life span for an elephant with a decent life in the wild. The silent black and white documentary was also the first animal death to be filmed in history. Her dangerous nature was none other than the result of training and the cruel treatment she often received over the years. Topsy was killed instantly and Edison, in his mind anyway, had proved his point. A favorite was Topsy, a three-ton tusker whose great strength had been put to use building the attractions that made … Edison's direct current (DC) method was widely used at the outset. Start by marking “Topsy: The Startling Story of the Crooked Tailed Elephant, P.T.  To meet these objections, park officials, with the approval of the SPCA, subsequently decided to use a combination of poisoning, strangulation, and electrocution. Topsy's feet were then placed in a conductive copper sandal so that she could easily be electrocuted. During these experiments, Edison and his assistants electrocuted a number of animals, chiefly dogs provided by the SPCA. The film was released and watched on the kinetoscope under the title " Electrocuting an Elephant. " Topsy was originally owned by Forepaugh Circus where she killed a drunken spectator who burned the tip of her trunk with a cigar. In 1903, he played no role in the direction of the Edison Electric Illuminating Co. of Brooklyn, which in any case was acting at the behest of officials at Luna Park in conjunction with the SPCA. The industrial giant, George Westinghouse, was also supported this discovery, which was then immediately used widely. Topsy belonged to the Forepaugh Circus and spent the last years of her life at Coney Island's Luna Park. A baby elephant from Southeast Asia was brought secretly to America. It is tempting to grant the title of the world’s most intriguing animal to one of the great apes. Edison has therefore been accused of torturing Topsy in order to satisfy his ego and further his commercial interests. His presence was not even mentioned in newspaper reports. The execution of Topsy, a female elephant, in a publicity stunt advertising the opening of Luna Park on Coney Island. He played down the use of air conditioning, lobbied congress, and spread false rumors surrounding Tesla's findings. In most cases, Edison had no personal role in the formation or direction of these companies. TOPSY THE CIRCUS ELEPHANT (PART 2) In 1883, as part of his ongoing rivalry with Adam Forepaugh, P.T. Topsy (circa 1875-January 4, 1903), was a circus elephant killed by electrocution on January 4, 1903. Trying to maintain his good name and standards, Edison became involved in a propaganda war. Her life represents the treatment of animals exploited by the entertainment industry and symbolises America’s industrial empire. She, in turn, killed him. Like so many local illuminating companies across the United States, the Brooklyn company used the Edison name because it originally employed the Edison system of electric power generation under license from the Edison Electric Light Co. of New York. Not satisfied with all of that, he also staged a public demonstration about the dangers of using AC currents. Not wanting to keep a “bad elephant,” the Forepaugh circus, which was then owned by James Bailey, sold Topsy to a group that helped Due to high maintenance costs and nothing to handle Topsy, Thompson and Dundy tried to eliminate her. While there, the elephant, which was turned into a circus animal, was involved in several incidents, one of which killed a spectator. Even though she attacked and killed people, I believe she’s innocent of any guilty act. These experiments at Edison’s West Orange Laboratory did convince SPCA officials that electrocution was a more humane and efficient way of euthanizing animals than either drowning (in the case of dogs) or hanging (in the case of other animals). Electrocuting an Elephant (also known as Electrocution of an Elephant) is a 1903 American, short, black-and-white, silent documentary film of the killing of the elephant Topsy by electrocution at a Coney Island amusement park. Topsy, a circus elephant that had killed 3 people and was “condemned” to die by execution and the circumstances of her death later became an apocryphal legend of the Current Wars, though a false one. But the film could have borne no relation to this so-called “Battle of the Currents,” which had ended more than a decade earlier. It is arguably the most famous animal execution ever—the killing of Topsy the elephant at Luna Park on Coney Island in January 1903. A memorial for Topsy The elephant belonged to Forepaugh Circus and was considered too violent, so it was decided to put her to death. The precautions were unnecessary, as Topsy was killed nearly instantly. On this day the the circus elephant Topsy was killed by electrocution. There Topsy was involved in several high-profile incidents attributed to the park's new owners, Frederick Thompson and Elmer Dundy. Edison was prompted to conduct experiments on animals after SPCA founder Henry Bergh, Jr., contacted him to ask whether electrocution might provide a humane way of killing unwanted animals. Edison is not mentioned in any of the numerous contemporaneous newspaper accounts of the killing of Topsy. The New Bedford Mercury reported that the SPCA officers present had said that “they had never seen a more humane manner of causing death,” though they likely had very little real understanding of the effects of electrocution in spite of the experiments Edison had done. They get information about alternating electric shocks and decide that electric shock execution will be a more humane method of killing Topsy. Chronicles on History, Politics, Feminism, Racism and LGBTQ Take a look. Topsy the Elephant. Because she killed … Topsy then reportedly attacked several trainers until they were reportedly responsible for the deaths of three people. And in 1902, Topsy the Elephant made national news when she killed a spectator at Forepaugh’s circus. No, the owners of the Coney Island Luna Park, messers Frederick Thompson, and Elmer Dundy Did. Luna Park management initially planned to hang Topsy.  But the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals objected, claiming that this method of execution was unnecessarily cruel. He said that Westinghouse would kill their customers within six months of having the system installed in their homes. Topsy the Elephant belonged to the Forepaugh Circus and spent the last years of her life at Coney Island's Luna Park. Apparently, Edison realized that AC generators were more widespread throughout the country than DC. Abstract An Asian elephant called Topsy was electrocuted in front of 1500 spectators by Thomas Edison in New York on January 4, 1903. The execution took place on a dreary Jan. 4.  Topsy was dosed with poison, and a rope was put around her neck. Topsy was later sold to entertainment entrepreneur Paul Boynton, owner of Sea Lion Park on Coney Island. The Daily Beast's Michael Daly's new book Topsy explores the life of the ill-fated elephant, who was put to death for being a "serial man-killer." At the end of 1902, the Sea Lion was apparently auctioned off and remodeled into Luna Park. One of them was his trainer named James Fielding Blount, who was drunk. Some people believe that Topsy's execution using electric shock was carried out to prove the competition's greatness between the two great inventors, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. In fact, the correspondence between Edison and Gilmore during January and February 1903 (there is none from December of the previous year) chiefly concerns patents for phonograph speakers. Forepaugh Circus gave a false statement stating that Topsy was the first elephant born in America. She was sold to Sea Lion Park in 1902 which was then sold to … The historical archetype of these executions was the killing of the elephant Chuny in London in 1826. She was later smuggled into America by Adam Forepaugh, the owner of Forepaugh and Sells Circus, who dishonestly used to bill her as the first elephant born in America. The answer is an emphatic “no.” Topsy was sentenced to death by Luna Park officials after she had killed three men over a three-month period.  That she had, under the goading of her drunken handler, menaced the local police and some workmen likely also influenced amusement park officials in their decision to rid themselves of the elephant. He said he would never do it no matter how much money he offered. Topsy's bent tail was evidence of the result of a severe beating. The elephant traders in Southeast Asia seized the baby elephant weighing 200 pounds. A terrifying film made the event infamous, leading to confusion over whether this was part of the epic battle between Thomas Edison and Nicola … It angered Blount, so he allegedly stuck a lit cigar into Topsy’s trunk. The 10-foot elephant was supposed to hang Topsy in the park, but a community organization for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals objected and said the manner of execution was cruel. Edison had Topsy fitted with copper-wire sandals, and before a crowd of thousands, an AC current of 6,000 volts was sent coursing through the elephant until she toppled to her side, dead. Barnum obtained a young elephant with white patches on its face and trunk and exhibited it as Toung Taloung, "Gem of the Sky," a sacred white elephant he supposedly purchased in Burma for $200,000. Namely, the elephant killed three people in the last three years, including her abusive coach who allegedly tried to give her a lit cigarette to … Unaware that the elephant was terrified of the glaring stage lights, deafening crowd noise, and constant beatings, Phil Wingren, who brought his family to the circus, remarked that Topsy must relish being a star. Topsy was originally owned by Forepaugh Circus where she killed a drunken spectator who burned the tip of her trunk with a cigar. Nor is there any evidence that officials of Luna Park, the SPCA, or the Brooklyn Illuminating Co. consulted him on the case. The execution, chiefly by electrocution, has since been the subject of articles, books, and television documentaries, and in recent times has become something of a cause célèbre.  These days it is usually erroneously portrayed as a key moment in the so-called “Battle of the Currents” between Edison’s direct current system and the Westinghouse-Tesla alternating current system, the outcome of which (a victory for Westinghouse) would determine the course of electrification world-wide.   Â, As American society has become more sensitive to the suffering of animals, the execution of Topsy has also been portrayed in the popular media as an example of animal cruelty. Even though she was pronounced dead, workers still tightened the rope around her neck for up to 10 minutes to confirm. Learning from the past is not erasing history! Many believe Topsy was a victim of the Battle of the Current, namely the direct current and alternating current between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. On January 4, 1903 Topsy the elephant was executed through a combination of strangulation, poison, and a liberal application of the new technology of electric current. In front of a crowd of journalists and guests, Topsy was then fed carrots laced with potassium cyanide. The incident wasn’t entirely Topsy’s fault; the patron in But was Edison to blame? This is the tragic story of Topsy, which also dragged the names of two of the world's great inventors, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. But the elephant refused, which then made Blount furious. Very likely the film company decided to document the electrocution of Topsy because it was of interest to the public. While Edison had nothing to do with the decision to euthanize Topsy and took no part in the proceedings, the SPCA’s understanding of electrocution as a humane means of dispatching animals was certainly influenced by experiments Edison and his associates had made at his West Orange Laboratory during the late 1880s. To prove this, Edison then began conducting a series of trials and demonstrations for AC currents using a variety of animals ranging from dogs to horses as experimental objects in his laboratory in West Orange. Did he have anything to do with the execution of Topsy? The question of This incident was widely publicized. Myth Buster-Topsy the Elephant Did Edison really electrocute Topsy the Elephant? But apparently, the alternating current (AC) method invented by Nikola Tesla was more efficient. Edison associates had also used the results of this laboratory research during the Battle of the Currents (1886-1892) to demonstrate that AC was more dangerous than DC. The newspaper accounts vary from several thousand to 1,500 to “only persons immediately concerned and reporters.”  Had Edison been present, the newspapers would certainly have made note of it, but none even mentioned him at all. Edison's DC method was badly defeated. However, the War of the Stream itself ended in the 1890s. Just how many people came out to witness Topsy’s execution is a matter of dispute. Edison then began to carry out propaganda that discredited Tesla’s findings. An electric current of 6,000 volts then flows into her body. Not infrequently, she was also beaten and threatened with dangerous objects. Topsy the Elephant, had killed a drunken handler, who had burnt her trunk with a cigarette after she refused to drink Once the switch was flipped, it took just ten seconds before Topsy fell over and died. It received national coverage in the newspapers, and the Edison Manufacturing Co. sent a film crew to … Once Luna Park officials had decided that electrocution would be used on Topsy, they required the cooperation of the local electric power company— the Edison Electric Illuminating Co. of Brooklyn, which under the supervision of electrician P. D. Sharkey provided technical assistance and 6,600 volts of power relayed from new General Electric AC generators in nearby Bay Ridge. She performed at the Forepaugh Circus for 25 years, and after killing a … The execution date was set, January 4, 1903. She was illegally brought to the United States as a baby and made as a stage animal in Forepaugh Circus. The trainer back then was strict and cruel to control circus animals. The tortured Topsy then fought back, which ended with Blount being killed. For decades as a performing elephant, Topsy got the title as a dangerous elephant, especially after killing a circus audience in 1902. Topsy was a female elephant who was born around 1875 in Southeast Asia. As the 19th century turned into the 20th, one of the biggest attractions at Coney Island's "Luna Park" was its private herd of elephants, which roamed freely. While there, Topsy was involved in several incidents and again deemed unmanageable. However, the efforts by Edison and his company to disparage the Westinghouse system failed as a competitive strategy because AC proved to be more efficient for transmitting electricity over large distances. Among the press that arrived at the time, one of them was a crew from the film company Edison Manufacturing who filmed the execution. Topsy’s true crime, if indeed it was an offence, is to be an elephant. Edison’s cameraman filmed the entire scene, and the motion picture, titled Electrocuting an Elephant, was released later in 1903. About 10 minutes later, Topsy fell to the ground and died. They then also tried to give it away for free, but no one wanted to have it. As if she knew what she was getting into, Topsy had refused the food. It is also unlikely that he was personally involved in producing the film “Electrocuting an Elephant,” even though the title bears his name. These experiments were also undertaken at the behest of a commission established by the State of New York to find a more humane method of executing criminals and led to the institution of the electric chair as a common method of execution in the United States. However many spectators there were, Edison was not among them. But he refused. Edison's experience in this matter then prompted Thompson and Dundy to contact him. A Tale of Two Islands: Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Chuny travelled to England from Kolkata on board an East India Company ship in 1811, and, after a brief stint … Both are competing between the DC ( direct current ) system and the AC ( alternating current ) system introduced by Nikola Tesla. Topsy the Elephant Topsy the elephant, born in 1875, was a female Asian elephant who had been brought to the United States. She was sold to Sea Lion Park in 1902 which was then sold to … TOPSY THE CIRCUS ELEPHANT (PART 3) The opening pages of the Adam Forepaugh Route Book for 1889, featuring Adam Sr. (right) and son Addie (left). Died 1903. Let us then examine a species a bit more difficult to anthropomorphize (but hardly impossible, given … Because she had killed Topsy quickly grew to be ten feet tall and weigh over four tons. Topsy the Elephant gained notoriety in America as part of the Forepaugh Circus when she killed a spectator in 1902 and was subsequently sold off to Luna Park. She killed her trainer, and as a consequence she was hanged from a railroad crane in East Tennessee in 1916. Brooklyn, New York. It is worth noting that none of Edison’s extant correspondence from the period mentions Topsy or the electrocution of an elephant at Coney Island or in any other way links Edison to the execution.  And none directs Gilmore or the Edison Manufacturing Co. to make a film of the event. One day Blount went to the elephant's tent and tried to give Topsy a whiskey. Topsy's old trainer Whitey Ault was offered a sum of $ 25 to do it. Topsy, who was said to have been involved in the incident that killed the spectators, was sentenced to death. Thomas Edison, one of the giants of American history, is often credited (or more accurately, maligned) with using electricity to … Summaries The execution of Topsy, a female elephant, in a publicity stunt advertising the opening of Luna Park on Coney Island. Thousands of people gathered in the half-finished courtyard of Luna Park to witness Topsy's execution. It is sometimes said that Edison had the film made to further dramatize the dangers of the alternating current system.  It was, according to this canard, all part of the longstanding publicity campaign to discredit AC and promote Edison’s own preference, direct current. 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