The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-02-22

-: Ej4 III =. .-
Revelations Of a Lion Tanner.
AT first the tongue of the tanner was
pretty closely tied touching matters of
his profession, but in due time he ex-
panded into talk when he saw the genu-
inc enthusiasm Of the keepsr,fer all that
related to the ,spBject,yet naturally; pEac.
ticed strict reserve in everything concern.
ing his particular work. !. In nofd, pro.
fessional secrets remained entonabed. :.
He thought iueh were born TO his. vo.
cation, and there was no resisting it. He
had followed shows and hung around lion
cages when he was a boy. Toward mani
hood the business had exercised such 4
fascination that he at last obtained en-
ployment with tanner, whom he follow
ed until he was killed by hisbeasts DhB
sanguinary spectacle deferred him for the
time from tie idea Of entering a cage,
but he continued his work. i'"A ..''
There were two kinds Of lions in the
menageries-those born and. raised in the
cages and, those caught as whelps wild in
Asia and Africa. A few full grown we're
caught in pits. The first time he entered
cage was in small show ina preyinI
cial town. The two lions whom he then
encountered were old and sick, and bore
the scars of twenty years whipping on
their bald hides; besides, they were born
and ibrought up behind Ethe bafs G Whsy
growled from force of habit. but there,
was not much danger in them. The
posters, of course, announced the brutes
as two of thesmost' feneieusykings of the
forest. ;,.,sF y.ss :e rsnp2S 1%G3sTGsS
From these he passed to s'jagelbfed
lions in their prime, thence to the wild
animals, of which Brutus was one. Un-
til the tanner was able to work Win these
last, he was not considered to the rank OF
real tanners. The sensation he expert
enced the first time he entered the cage
of wild animals was difficult to describe
it was IAN appreciation Of emspent danger
coupled with courage. When he issued
from the cage his tights and spangled
cloth felt as If they had just come out of
the wash tub. Z. He was steeled up to the
point of bravery before the brutes, but
ten minutes afterward child could have
knocked him over. 81
The principal secret Of, managing the
brutes was not to be afraid of them.
When the man showed fear he was lost.
The mastery was not acquired so much
through violence Of treatment, as an alb
solute sense of security in their presence.
Audacity and self-possession were neces-
sarv. every minute, every second; a mos,
ment's loss+of equilibrium might prove
fatal.
The buttery mode of treatment about
which Bookmen wrote had no existence
in fact among showmen. No man man
ages his beasts with kindness. When.
his brutes licked his face in his perform
ance it looked affection, but it was not;
he was afraid; and when the animal
went through this occulatory business he
was obliged to keep his eye on him with
all the concentration of his will, for there
was something in the beasts eyes showed
that he would sooner use his teeth than
his tongue. :.
There was an impression that a lion
once tanned is tanned for good, IS horse
is broken to harness. This was an error;
the lion had to be tanned every day anew
in order to keep him in subsection.
Rounders asked him if he meant to say
that all lions were vicious. To which he
answered negatively. There were good
lions and bad lions, just as there were
good and bad men. The bad beasts,
however, were more numerous than the
Others. for it was their nature to kill to
provide for their hunger. The book talk
about their generosity was not trust
worthy; the instinct of the beast was to
kill when it was hungry, but when Its
stomach was full it was less dangerous.
He had captured Brutus there when the
animal was two years old; he was then
ten, but always retained something OF his
wild nature. He was secured in a pit
with his mother, the mother being shot.
In another menagerie in which he had
been employed his principal performance
was "the happy family" in which ne
brought together in the same cage two
lions, several wolves, a couple of bears, a
sheep, small elephant with a monkey
on his back. The crowning feature of
this was the introduction of the sleeps
head into the lions mouth, which he held
open by the upper hip with strong grip.
The sovereignty of the lions was acknowl-
edged by the other animals, who looked
at them with fear, getting as far away
from them as the cage would permit. He
had to pull each one into the cage by
force. he compelled the bear to stand
with his nose in close proximity to that
of the lion; he called this the kiss Of
friendship; the bear had to be kicked
and pushed into position, looking at the
lion with terror; the lion did not deign
to look at the bear, but kept his eye on
his master. whom he obeyed under pro-
test. When the sheep was brought for
ward, and its head was put between the
lions jaws, it was almost in swooning
condition, and excited general pity. He
had to get a new sheep every month, the
daily fear causing them; soon to decline
unto death. -. - 3n
The foregoing in substance, was a por-
ton of the talk with which Brinton graf
fled himself as we'll as his listener, the
appreciative Rounder.-AIbert Rhodes, in
the GaAary for February.
PROPORTION OF VOTERS TO PopULA-
TIoN.-A correspondent of the Washing
ton Union gives some very notable facts
and figures concerning the vote of several
States, cities and counties. 1.-THE popu-
lation of Ohio is estimated for, 1875 at
$500, 900; vote at the national election
659, 1000; one to every four and one
quarter of the population. Michigan,
estimated population 100000; vote
$4,000, one to every four and one