The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-07-10

1
| find it in the Dalmatian. 1t may hav1
been that the spotted coat of the coacI
| dog first suggested the idea of making
q clown of him; but, at any rate. thu
selection was happy one, and thu
Dalmatian is certainly the funniest dos
that ever went on the stage or entered
the ring. The best local examples Of
what the Dalmatian is capable of ART
Prince and Pinto. The first, the prop
erty of Captain Harris. the well-knowr
horseman, is professional. anC
the second was a ring dog and was
trained by Tom Samwells. Pinto dieC
a short time ago, and was humoris
| to the end, his last act before he died
being to pull hoop off barrel in the
yard and jump through it. Prince is
still alive and can do everything except
talk. and his owner has very grave
! doubts sometimes if he does not even
do that. Whether they do ever acquire
, that art is. perhaps, debatabie ques-
ton, but it is positive that they sing,
and it is not so very long ago that there
was in a troupe exhibited at the Bush
Street Theater King Charles spaniel
which not only sang, but which also
played its own accompaniment on a
piano. With dogs. too. the rule Of
kindness is very well, as far as it goes.
but strict obedience has to be inculcated
and master doggie has to understand
that while he is sure of being patted
and praised when doing well, he is
equally sure of feeling the whip when
he is fractions or stupid.
Opinion is about equally divided as
to the rank in intelligence he'd by
the horse, some claiming that he stands
ahead of the dog and others that his
position is after that held by the
'.friend of man." This much is GER
tain, it is far easier to train dog than
a horse to be public performer. The
horses timid and nervous nature has
much to do with this. He is very i'm
pressionable, highly susceptible to APP
plause, and old ring masters say that
when a horse comes on after his 'act, !"
or "turn," it is not at all unusual to
find him bathed in perspiration. al
though the work which he had gone
through would not have been sufiicier
to turn hair. There are two sorts of
trained horses-menage and trick. The
menage horse is nearly always brought
into the ring with a rider on his back.
Under the light touch of the whip. a
pull of the rein, touch of the spur. or
a peculiar strain of music, the horse
will exhibit his pace, waltz and polka,
kneel, rest. halt and show generally
how admirably he is under control and
what magniricent-looking animal he
is. The trick horse comes. in I'M
alone or in the company of
band, and does everything from pick
ing up pocket-handkerchief to walk
ing a tight-rope. This last trick may
read as one OF the Imagination, but it
is nevertheless true that one of the
great attractions of the Paris Cirque
to-day is horse that emulates Blondin.
Of late years it has become the fashion
to introduce trained horses in bands.
1t used to be thought wonderful to see
a horse act as flying battery, gallop
ing around the ring, wheeling and
firing at the word of command small
howitzer strapped to its back by pulling
a tasse' attached to the fuse. Now
has an army of seven
teen horses which lombard a fort,
carry it by assault in the face of a
- whitening fire." and tear down the
garrison s flag in triumph. They also
20 through a military drill with the
precision of crack corps. The first
and one of the finest menage horses
brought to this country was the grand
bay Mayiiy, which was imported by
Richard Sands in 1915, while the finest
native horse that has appeared in the
ring was the stallion Tammany, trained
by the veteran Levi j. North.
That which the horse, dog and ele-
plant do is the result of hard training
upon the basis of instinct, but there is
an animal that surpasses them all in the
trick line and that is the monkey. Circus
men say so great is the initiative power
Of the monkey, and so unusual his
strength and activity, that what man
hoes he can do and do it better every
time.
After monkeys there is great drop
in the trainable material. The learned
pig is fraud. 1t is true he has BEEN
taught to walk gravely up to watch
and hold his snout over the dial-plate
and then root out the cards that bear
the time, but the sad truth is that the
pig does not know the Roman capitals
and that the cards which he selects are
hose indicated by the masters cue.
it be hard or light touch of
he whip, or some emphasis in the
question, rs this it?" So, too, the
'elector of the boy who stole the sugar,
or the girl who kissed her sweetheart,
s altogether indiscriminate and unin-
;elligent Goats have been taught to
cap. ride on horseback and draw a
small carriage, and that is about the
extent of their amenability to education.
There was a time when the dancing
Dear held a foremost place among
srained beasts, but the Society for the |
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has
stepped in and suppressed that source
If popular amusement. 1t was very |
clumsy and uncouth dance that poor
3ruin used to be led to at the hands of his |
Swiss or Savoya-d master, and when he |
lad been taught to wrestle with his |
master or GO through the manua.-at-
arms his limit as performer was !
The cage of performing lions |
las been an almost necessary adjunct |
o circus since the DAYS of Van |
Amberg. but there is always more
LANCER than amusement to be obtained |
rom the performance, although the
'renchman who followed Van all over
europe to see his head nipped off had |
o return home with his cheerful curos-
ty unsatisfied. Besides teaching his |
ions to leap over whip. through a
'oop. to pose. form pyramids and |
.rowl, Van Amberg was in the habit of |
eizing the ..boss" lion by the Jaws,
vrenching them open and then putting
lis head into the red cavern. with its
x-r,r,- ctal nfitos and rtala rrr,,it..- and