Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1884-08-11

Does he wnIsk his tail, bliAa AAc -
said to have asked the keeper while IN
this horrible situation. Yes, replied
bill.
Then l am a dead man, /" groaned
,ack.
A moment afterward the swapping of
the lions jaws fulfilled his prophecy.
But this thrilling story is contradicted
by the fact that Manchester Jack lett the
menagerie with a whole skin. and for
number of years afterward kept an inn
at Taunton. where he died in 1865.
With reference to this feat of putting
the head in the mouth of lion or tiger,
it must be said that, fool-hardy as 1t
seems, we have been unable to flnd a
single authentic instance in which the
heast has improved the opportunity to
remove such a foolish head from It's
shoulders. 1t is possible such instances
may have occurred, but in comparison
to the many hundred times the feat has
been performed. they seem to show that
it is not really more perilous than many
simpler performances. 1t is an utterly
obiectless feat. only introduced because
of the fascination which terrible peril
has to most audiences. When Van Am
burgh was in England a certain gentle
man went to see him for hundred or
more consecutive nights, following HIM
from place to place, solely, he sad, be-
cause he was convinced that the per
formers head would one day be bitten
off, and he did not want TO miss the
sight.
In the daring and triumphs of Van
Amburgh this country has taken special
interest, since he was generally known
as an American, and it was here that he
won his first laurels He was a native
of Holland, however, but coming TO this
country as a young man, always regarded
himself as an American citizen. He was
very handsome man, tall and well
formed, and when some years after his
appearance in England with his trained
lions and tigers, Sir Edwin Landseer
painted him in the midst of his tanned
beasts, the picture attracted a great deal
of attention, and made Van Amburgh's
show the fashion with the very highest
circles, even royalty itself. The Duke
of Wellington was an ardent admirer OF
his performances, and cultivated his
acquaintance with interest.
''Were you ever afraid?" once asked
the duke, when the lion king was a
guest at his house.
''The first time that | am afraid, your
grace" replied the lion-tamer, "or |
fancy that my pupils are no longer afraid
of ne, shall retire from the wild-beast
line
Though he had been killed in the
newspapers half dozen times or more.
had his back broken twice and his head
once bitten off by tiger, Van Amburgh
at last retired undevoured from the
arena, and died quietly in his bed in
1870.
Carter was a llon-t tanner who came into
prominence several years after Van Am
burgh's first appearance in England.
This man had been general utility :"
man in Saunders circus, when the neces-
sity for a lion king induced him to at
tempt the dangerous but well-paid task.
He was very successful, and soon APP
peared at Astley's, in a drama written
especially for him, as Afghan, a lion
tanner in which part he drove a lion in
harness and carried on a mimic fight with
tiger Whether this Carter was the
same lion-king that was attacked by his
animals and so badly torn that he died in
1888, we cannot say; but we think, from
the lapse of time, these were probably
two different individuals
A lion-king well known to two hemis-
pheres was Crockett, whose mother had
been formerly known as Miss Cross, the
Nottinghamshire giantess. She was six
feet nine inches in height and proper
tionately large, but very handsome and
prepossessing. Crockett was musician
in Sanger's circus, but was suffering from
weakness of the chest, which his per-
Torrance on the instrument increased.
He was offered the position of lion-king
principally because of his handsome and
imposing appearance. He accepted it
and displayed rare courage and GOODNESS,
only one instance being given where his
nerve seemed to fail him.
One of the tame lions at Sanger's used
to be taken out to personate the British
lion, lying at the feet of Britannia dur
ing the show parades. One morning,
the tents having been pitched just out
side the town of Weymouth, when the
keepers went to take out Britannias
dociie attendant, they found all the five
lions fighting furiously, their names up,
their eyes flashing and their shoulders
all scratched and bloody. Not one of
the keepers, even Crockett, would dare
to 60 into the cage. But Mr.. George
Sanger the proprietor, Selling whip,
sDrang in among the beasts. drove the
lions on one side, and the ioness, who
was the object of their contention on
the other, and separated them by boards
quickly passed into the cage for the pur-
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