Gold Dust (c. 1873 – November 4, 1898) was a male Asian elephant that resided at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. from April 30, 1891 until his death. He was indefinitely lent to the National Zoo as a companion for Dunk by the Adam Forepaugh Circus. He is also alleged to have disemboweled a man in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1884.
On November 3, 1898, Gold Dust collapsed while walking to Rock Creek with his companion Dunk. Even with Dunk's assistance, he was unable to rise and died the following morning. A postmortem examination revealed that his intestines were inflamed and his teeth were in bad shape and could not close properly.
Famous quotes containing the words gold and/or dust:
“There is too much sour grapes for my taste in the present American attitude. The time to denounce the bankers was when we were all feeding off their gold plate; not now! At present they have not only my sympathy but my preference. They are the last representatives of our native industries.”
—Edith Wharton (1862–1937)
“The siren south is well enough, but New York, at the beginning of March, is a hoyden we would not care to miss—a drafty wench, her temperature up and down, full of bold promises and dust in the eye.”
—E.B. (Elwyn Brooks)