Ringling-Barnum 1949 #9 (Photo by Bob Good)

Scan000010080, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Letter from Bill Woodcock..........1-30-55..........To Tom Parkinson "Letter from Steve Fanning with much elephant scuttlebutt. He says RBBB will add 5 cars. That will make 75 won't it? Says 55 bulls. Biggest herd that ever trouped if they take that many. It appears that RBBB elephant department, like Ancient Gaul, is divided into three parts. Steve says that Reed is breaking 10 bulls, has Smokey with him. Says that Schmidt is breaking 10 more and is going it single handed with nothing but a club and his bare hands. A mighty man. Steve writes that the Dutchman is by no means a bad Joe and others have given me the same picture lately. A guy in a foreign land, not speaking or understanding our language too well and with much opposition from American elephant people, most of whom are phonies. Well, I always said the guy was a real-for-sure elephant trainer."