The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1882-05-05
LAUGHING HYENAS.
The Nan Who Amputafea the Lions Leg
TanRea Those Amiabie Brutes.
I'LL -. D.. l


philadelphia Press.l
A spare. peculiarly shaped man was the
beast tanner, with hmping gate and
heavy cash in his cheek. One ear is
missing from his head and three fingers
from his left hand. One thing was
noticeable, and that was the determined
commanding expression in his eyes.
They were wreathed IN the shagglest
Fyebrows and lashes Of reddish hue,
md peered from the mans oVerhanglng
rows like live GOALS
zone winter, a6out fifteen years ago,
/ seed an advertisement In the paper
itch said that man was wanted as
would take care of and tame hyenas, APP
ply to A. B., box "a, Herald Office. |
answers A. B., and says: I'll take that
job, yours truly, Y. r., box 49, That
brought me together with certain show
man as you knows as well as | do.
After arranging wot was to get for the
business he takes me to the den, and
sbere were two of the unpleasantest as [
had ever seen in q show or anywhere
else. They're little skittish,' says
the Snowman. You bet, says I how
they do larf. Well | got those hyenas
put into solitary confinement, and for
about two weeks | tried my hardest to
mash 'em. fed 'em, tickled 'em with
a six-foot pole in the ribs, got hot irons
and burned the ends of their shouts, I
woke EN- up with pals of ice water in
the middle of the night, just to show
'em my power, and the burned animals
larfed harder than ever. This aggra-
waited me awful. and I determined to try
conclusions with 'em, face to face, in the
cage; so I armed myself with thong
Of leather with loaded handle, and one
fine morning [ entered the lodging of
Hyena No. with pork chop for his
breakfast. He Immediately flew at me,
and hit him a crack over the head,
which would have killed bullock All
lie does is to cruch in a corner of the
cage for about two minutes, and larf as
if he'd break his sides, then he suddenly
jumps at me and got his fangs in my
arm just above my elbow. l hits away
at his carcass with all my force, and at
last he let go and SUNK away to his cor
ner, which gave me chance of getting
outside of the bars. was pretty badly
bitten, but | got the wound cauterized,
and the next day goes for my hyena
friend again, and with the same result
on both sides; he nearly got bis skull
broken, and got another bite, this time
on the leg. was thinking as I was eat
ing my dinner in front of the hyenas'
cages, q day or two after, that had bet
ter give up the business. / should like
to make you larf on the other side of your
Internal mouths just once, S US aloud,
and up comes the two animals to the
front Of their dens, and q stretching of
their jaws, they gave me q succession of
smiles which would have reused the
temper of an angel. happened to have
a caster of red pepper on the table and
an idea struck me, I empties handful
of the pepper in my hand, and walks up
|; to the burned skunk as bit my arm and
SHES it in his face and down his throat
Holy Moses, how he did Jump round
He rolled and wriggled and screwed
himself about like a bug on a needle,
but he never uttered sound. There
wasn't a larf left in him. 1t was three
days before he smiled again, and then
enters his cage once more. He made
ready to spring. gave him another
handful OF pepper. kept up that game
for over six weeks, and at the end Of that
time my two hyenas were as tame as
rabbits. for [ put the other one through
the same treatment. All had to do at
last was to enter their dens with red
bottle in my hands; that was enough
A motion from my hand and they would
crouch in their corners as quiet and as
peaceful like as baby elephants. I after
ward taught those two animals to do all
sorts of tricks, and became so accus-
toned to their larfng that quite en-
ioyed it. I travelled good deal with the
show to which these animals belonged;
they were called the only tame hyenas
in the world, and made the boss lot Of
money. After staying with 'em two
years I left for a place with another
Snowman as offered me more money"