Talk:Topsy (elephant)

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[edit] Voltage

What kind of voltage did Edison use? Cburnett 16:04, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

I'm curious about this as well. I originally heard it was DC, but many more sources since then have said AC, which I believe is correct, though I can't be sure.-Triviaa 00:26, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
The contemporary newspaper article said 6,600, which was probably the high voltage side of the AC supply at the location.Edison 00:50, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
Recall that Edison was in the midst of a battle with Westinghouse in which Edison claimed that DC was far safer than AC. His filming and distributing Topsy's death by AC was doubtless a way of slamming the dangers of Westinghouse's AC. 64.30.203.214 (talk) 01:22, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Categories

Both 1875 births and 1903 deaths are subcategories of Category:People... which an elephant obviously isn't... so this needs to be recategorized... I'm not sure how. gren グレン 17:29, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Poisoned Carrot?

Could someone clarify that either Topsy ate the carrot but was not affected or did not eat it at all (the latter is mentioned in the article)? I've heard both sides. --65.190.140.201 01:11, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

The contemporary newspaper article said the poisoned carrots were fed to the elephant before the electrocution. If 2.8 mg/kg will kill a person,per [1] and if elephants have a similar sensitivity, then 480 grams would kill a 171000 kg or 188 ton elephant. The largest Elephant on record weighed 12,000 kg, so it would have been overkill by a factor of at least 14, or eating 1/14 of the offered poisoned carrots would likely have killed her. A higher dose would have killed her more quickly. Edison 01:01, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Name

I can't really find any sources on the internet naming this elephant "Topsy the Elephant" (rather than simply "Topsy"). Anyone got any sources for this? --Oldak Quill 23:07, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the debate was move to Topsy (elephant — Mets501  (talk)  19:12, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Requested move

Topsy the Elephant → Electrocuting an Elephant – There seems to be no source for the name Topsy the Elephant rather than just Topsy. The animal seems to be notable mostly by virtue of having been whacked by Edison. Electrocuting an Elephant, OTOH, is a significant early film, for which we have no article. TheMadBaron 20:38, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Survey

Add "* Support" or "* Oppose" followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~~~~

  • Oppose, the article barely even mentions the film as is and I'm thinking it would probably be better to have a seperate article for the film anyway. Perhaps a better title for this would be Topsy (elephant)? Recury 17:51, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
  • Oppose. See below. --SigPig 06:17, 28 September 2006 (UTC) Concur with Recury: Move this article to Topsy (elephant), create a movie stub for Electrocuting an Elephant. OR, leave movie where it is until you have enough to actually make an article. --SigPig 06:20, 28 September 2006 (UTC)
  • Oppose per Recury. I would also support a move to Topsy (elephant). --Oldak Quill 17:08, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Discussion

Add any additional comments

I notice that no-one has responded to OldakQuill's question above, and Topsy the Elephant seems to me like a strange title for an article that isn't about a children's book. I'm wondering whether Electrocuting an Elephant, as an early Edison film, isn't at least as notable as the unfortunate Topsy. I've redirected Electrocuting an Elephant and Electrocuting an elephant to the current (no pun intended) article, for now, but I propose that this be moved to Electrocuting an Elephant. If this does not meet with general agreement, then I would propose, instead, creating a seperate article to deal with the film specifically, though I think we'd be stretching the available material a bit thin.

TheMadBaron 20:02, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

The consensus is clearly in favour of moving this article to Topsy (elephant). I can live with that. I'll move it now, and withdraw my original proposal. TheMadBaron 02:23, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.