St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-11-21
LION HUNT IN A SEWER.
Two Kings Of the Forest Escape From
an English Menagerie,
IN A B BIRMINGHAM SUBURB.
Both Took Refuge, and Were Caught
Only After Desperate
Chase.

Chase.
London Times.
The Eastern suburb of Birmingham
was on Friday the scene of protracted
and exciting lion hunt, which resulted
happily without serious casualty in the
reLapture of the runaway animal. In
connection with the celebration of the
Mchaelmas fair, Messrs. WombWell
had established their well-known men
agerie on a piece of waste ground known
as tile Old Peck at Aston, where the
caravans were drawn up in hollow
square. One of the cages contained
young black-maned Nubian lion about
four years old, which arrived in Biz
mingham from Liverpool only that
morning about midday. The keep
er entered the den to clean
it. and while engaged in his duty his at
tention was momentarily diverted by
fight between an ostrich and deer.
When he looked around he found the
cage empty, the lion apparently having
Slipped out through an opening in the
side OF the den caused by the displace-
ment of movable wooden shutter.
The fastening of the latter, it seems,
had been withdrawn by an elephant in
the adjoining den. The lion having
passed unobser Ied under the caravans,
presently found itself on the fair
ground. At first the animal seemed
quite bewildered with the noise Of the
people. the blare of the steam trumpets,
the clashing of the cymbals and the bel
lowing of the organs, and it remained
for some time rooted the spot. The
people were too busy to observe it until
the alarm was given by WombwelPs
men. who hurried to the spot armed
with ropes and iron bars, when scene
of wild confusion ensued.
DISAPPEARED IN A SEWER.
Men, women and children scampered
off in all direction as the lion dashed
across the ground, holly pursued by the
men from Wombwell's. A group of
children were in its path, but it cleared
them at bound and made straight for :
the neighboring brook. After wading
up the stream for about fifty yards the
panic-stricken animal, seeing its pur-
suers close at hand, appears to have
crept into an open sewer. where 1t tenn
porarily disappeared from view.
The drains to the right of the brook
had been explored for several hundred
yards in every direction without any
success, when Marcus OrenZo, the chief
lion tanner, heard the fugitive lion roar.
He traced the sound with difficulty to
the channel leading from the manhole
at the junction of the road to the out
let in the brook where the lion first
entered, and he at once arranged to
crawl through the drain in pursuit OF
the beast. A transfer cage was OBJ
tanned and taken to the brook, when
the drop door was lifted and the mouth
of the cage placed against the opening
of the drain.
A LIoN-TAMER's DARING.
By this time Orenzo had changed his
clothes, and, armed with heavy Fevol-
yer and accompanied by boar-h0und,
he descended through the manhole into
the sewer. Twice in quick succession
revolver shots echoed through under.
ground passages, and to the daring eX-
plorer the animals roar showed that he
was on the right track. Crawling along,
Orenzo at length caught sight of the ami
NAL, which at first turned to bay, but
quickly fed at the discharge OF the re-
volver. and made toward the cage at
the other end of the sewer.
The liOn-tamer crawled after it with
all haste, and the faithful board-hound
of tine cage came in view the dog was
sent to the front, and at the word OF
command gave vent to a deafening
bark: almost simultaneously there was
a scrambling noise in the underground
channels, and in another instant the
lion bounded into the trap set for him.
and was promptly Gagged and carted
back to the menagerie.
A SECOND DESPERATE HUNT.
In the small hours OF Sunday morning
a second desperate lion hunt was con-
Quoted through the sewers of Aston, but
this time without the knowledge or
presence of the general public. 1t seems
that the Nubian lion which was cap
tured On Friday afternoon was not the
only one that escaped that day from
Wombwell's menagerie, but the propri-
etors of the show thought it inadvisable
to take the public into their confidence
on this subject. and they took measures
privately to intercept and recapture the
runaway animal. Beyond placing a
watch at the sewer outlet, however,
nothing was done until late hour on
Saturday night, when, the assistance of
the police having been obtained, active
operations were begun for recovering
the lost animal.
In the first place, the fair ground near
shortly after midnight, and trap cage
was placed over the outlet. The mana
ger of the expedition then proceeded to
the nearest manhole. As the negro lion
tanner Orenzo did not care to repeat his
daring exploit of the previous Friday,
two young men belonging to the work
ing staff of the menagerie volunteered
to descend into the sewer, which they
did, each of them armed with siX-bar-
rel revolver and policeman's lantern.
Traces of the lion were soon fOurd.
and his roar was distinctly heard, but at
a distance further up the sewer. The
young men then reascended. and the
party proceeded to manhOle further
inland: but here again they were on the
wrong side of the lion, and it was not
until they came to the junction of the
sewers in Bracebridge street that they
got fairly OH its track.
TRAPPED WITH A MOOSE.
1t was then determined to trap it on
the spot, instead of driving 1t to the out
let, and with this object the manager of
the party lowered a stout Topped rope
with a slip-knot in such manner that
the lion IN issuing from the nelghboring
sewer would inevitably run into it.
Then the two young men descended the
next manhole and proceeded to drive
the lion through the narrow pipe toward
the Topped rope. This was not accom-
plished until they had discharged all
their ammunition, and had been CON-
PEELED to take off boot with which to
strike the sides of the sewer and
brighten the animal in the direction re-
quired.
Presently prolonged howl informed
them of the success of their tactics. The
lion had stepped into the moose. which
fairly eneircled his lOinS. In the mean
time the people at the top of the open
ing pulled desperately at the rope until |
this animal was raised nearly to the |
level of the road, when a trap cage was |
placed over the manhole, and the hon, |
more dead than alive, was dragged body |