The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-03-27
TRUTH srRANGERTHAN FICTION.
The New York Herald Beaten Badly
Excitement at the Geological Gar
=den-An Enraged Li0ness AT Large
in the Park

From the Cincinnati Commercial.
The sensation on the northeastern hill
suburbs Yesterday afternoon and last even
Ing was the news that a captive animal of
the eonine description had broken from lt>
cage in the geological garden, and wa.
wildly roaming ut large. The story at
first sounded SO much ike the old men
agerie advertisement dodge that it was
Gcially from the police stations on the
hills. The particulars Of the excitement
are Us follows
A bout 3 o'clock in the afternoon a boy
was leading a donkey in front Of II cage
in the buffalo house in which WAS
confined two-year-old lioness, ine
specimen, recently purchased from the
Great Eastern menagerie collection ut
Lebanon. Ohio. The savage animal, in
fit of rage. bounded against the bars,
which yieldel and let it free. 1t inn
mcdiatcly bounded on the donkey which
in the onset was thrown to the ground.
The boy who was leading the beast was
scratched on the hand with the claws OF
tho honesS, but otherwise cscapedHnhur
and ran away. The poor donkey WAS
terribly lucrruted about the neck and
the hinder parts with the claws and teeth
of the lioness, but gaining It's feet turned
upon and seized whit tech its as>alIant
and shook it viciously. Atthis the lioncss
quilted the donkey and bounded away
| through the park. Soon the news OF tn"
/ Liberation spread, and crowd gathered,
! but soon dispersed when the lloncsS put III
an appearance Lieutenant Cody and
/ two three policemen from CorryvllIe dis
/ trjct station, happened to be IN the park
| AT the time, and a council OF war was
held. They debated the question wheth-
or they would shoot the animal on the
spot or capture it alive. They surround
cd it, but the circle was very wide. As
the circle grew less in diameter, the lioncss
| in the middle, growing aud snarIng and
| lcaping about, the officers concluded Meth
| or To- shoot nor capture alive. They got
/ out of that vIncinIty rs quick rs they
could. The panic spread, and tn
mutuOuS skedaddle from the park was
made.
Spectators state that the appearance OF
the escaped animal was most furious
Excited with its freedom, it would stand
for a few minutes with Glaring eyes and
open mouth, lashng It's sides with ITS
tail and uttcring wild, Kissing cries, and
| then spring into the air. In II short space
/ IF time the liumcsS had the whole park to
itself. Later in the evening n number OF
men and boys assembled from the neigh
| Lorhood, with pistols and guns, and with
the consent of the geological Garden
authorities, started III on II genuine lion
hunt, the object being to Kill the brute,
a. it WAS apparent that 1t could not h,
! taken alive. About O'Clock II was found
in an open space some distance from the
clge from which it escaped. With aSh"t-
gun. heavily LOADED with huckshot, Pat.
McAvoy acarpcntcr, fired two loads at
the animal. one sho: missed and the other
took effect in the animals side, from
which it soon fell upon its side and died.
In the closing fight two men were thrown
down and hurt, though not seriously.
Altogether the sensation was huge
success. though the geological Society has
To- mourn an eleven hundred dollar AMI
NAL.