Zing went the strings of my heart

I was hunting down more info on the adorable Roger, and came across two major discoveries-

1) It was not a Projo reporter who suggested that the kiddies raise the needed dough to ransom the pachyderm prince. It was a concerned citizen by the name of Mrs. WHT, who wrote to the paper-
It has occurred to me that the school children might raise the amount needed. Could some responsible person be appointed in each of the public schools to receive donations…? In addition to this, would the Journal open a subscription so as to allow children other than those attending public schools to hand in their little gifts? If some such plan could be carried out, it would not be long ere a large part, possibly all of the $1500 would be secured. What a source of pride and pleasure it would be to the children to be able to say, “We Bought Roger!” And so it began...
2) One of the first people to donate money to the project was a 76 year old fellow from rural RI who wrote that he used to love it when the "travelling menageries" came to town to show their bears, camels, and, usually, and elephant. My heart stopped.
If he was 76 in 1893, he would have been born in 1817. He lived in rural RI on the travelling animal circuit. That meant- holy hamburgers!- he would have been 9 years old when the tragic Bette was killed in Chepachet. A real living link here. If only I could go back in time and talk to this guy! But, as is so often the case in RI, stories mesh and generations meld. A man who saw the tragic beginnings of elephants in RI was also a player in the redemption of elephants in Providence. I couldn't have fantacized a better character.

And now I am now in the process of auditioning voiceover actors and getting more pix...

More as things progress