Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-04-30


From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Jennie, the African lioness ct the
Zoo, gave birth, some twenty days
ago at midday, to three cubs, one male9
and two females. 1t was IN q cage
darkened SO that every praticle Of
light was shut OF. One Sof The doors
was taken down by Superintendent
Stevens and q fine view Of the mother
and children presented to the Enquirer
man. She was lying motionless on a
hay bed at the rear of the cage, Her
large eyes staring fercely at The in
truders. The little shavers were eat
ing their dinner. She looked dignitied
and calm. In the adjoining cage lay
Paul, the father, and he seemed to fully
realize the new responsibility that rest
ed upon him. He would walk to the
door Of the cage containing the cubs,
look in and back out, then quietly lie
! down by himself On the day Of their
arrival he slowly crawled into the
| cage to see his mate, but he came out
! with bound and q yell, for Jennie
gave him 'twallop" side OF the head
that was hint enough that his in
| trusion was unnecessary. In few
days she picked the boy-lion cub up
| in her mouth and carried it out and
laid it before her liege lord and mas
ter. He condescended to look at it
| and backed to the further end of the
cage.
s'Would you like to take them up?"
! said Mr.. Stevens.
'Not if it's necessary to so in there
with the old folks"
"I'll let them out in the outdoor
cage" and, pulling up the door, the
male lion bounded out, closely fol-
! lowed by Jennie, the mother. Down
! slammed the door, and the artist
and reporter entered the cage and
| picked up the cubs. The boy cub
felt as soft as ball Of but
| ter, his ears were not over quarter
OF an inch long, and his fat body COW
cred with spotted yellow, fine, soft
hair, as soft as wool. His eyes had
no lion ferceness. His body seemed
too big for his legs, and he seemed lub-
berly. He had four little teeth--milk
teeth-no bigger than a Kittens, and
about as sharp. He waddled along
the floor of the cage, and is his moth
er's favorite, as it is the only one OF
the litter that she carries around in
her mouth, holding it by the nape Of
the neck as g. cat carries her kittens.
Lionesses carry their young from thir-
teen to fourteen months, and they are
not weaned for four or FIVE months,
when they are old enough to polish
bone. Her diet is now quart of
fresh milk from one COW, nine pounds
OF good chopped beet and some soft
bones, such as neck bones of mutton
and chicken bones. Jennie is years
old, and this is her fourth litter. The
others she ate up, or they died from
her carrying them around too much,
though Minnie, one Of her cubs, in an
opposite cage, is nearly eight months
old, was raised by Bill Halsted On the
bottle, and is a hail fellow we'll met
with a coon that climbs up the bars
and drops on Minnie's back, and rides
around the cage in fine style. She is
as large as a Newfoundland dog.
The most noticeable feature about
the lion family was the devotion of
the mother. Every few minutes she
turned and licked them. Her eyes
never left the visitors, whose every
motion she noticed, and when she
came in from the outdoor cage after
the cubs had been handled, she bound
ed in, and, standing in the open door,
paused moment, as if to say some
thing is coming, and knew it. She
went to the cubs and smelt them all,
and appeared satisfied. Feeding time
soon came, but she did not appear
ravenous, but, coming slowly to the
front, kept looking back at the cubs,
and taking her meat, backed to the
rear OF the cage, lying down with the
cubs. When they sleep she goes out
and lies with the lion.