The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-07-01
ALL ARE RULED BY MAN.
TRAINERS TELL HOW THEY TEACH
DUMB ANIMALS.

/
ton as Well as Men.
(Copyrighted)
NEW YORK, June 29.-Charley White,
! the veteran animal trainer, entered the
! lions cage at the tender age of -, and
| handled the king Of beasts az he would a
tame kitten. For forty-tive years he has done
nothing else but train amin ais for the arena.
! His right shoulder is shrunk on account of
an attempt by big African lion to make
an early breakfast off him. He has theory
that any animal can be trained, if more or
less time is expended in the work ''Some
animals are ruled by fear and others by af-
| lection.
1 once trained a laughing hyena, but it
was a dangerous undertaking. The roper
/ toire of these beases is necessarily limited
and the result is not worth the trouble it
gives. But of all contrary and thick headed
animals, the Zebra takes the provender.
THE mule IS wise aud docile compared
t&the Zebra. | can teach mule and
obtain Perfect mastery over it, but the
zebra has an indomitable spirit that is in
open revolt all the time. IL would require
the assistance Of strong derreck to get one
of these black striped quadrupeds to do
| half the tricks of u horse. Besides it is
lazer than the mule, and capriciOus as the
wind. They are not intelligent enough to
| be taught many tricks, and their stubborn
| fits make them too uncertain for everyday
| performances. A mule has a very good
memory but zebra is incapable of remem-
| boring anyt ing. The horse Is the most in
| telligent of all animals of the equine breed,
yetst takes from six to eight months to
train one thoroughly in what we call the
high school of Spanish trotters. Some
horses are naturally more intelligent than
others, and on That their progress depends
more or less. 1t is Often difficult to train a
horse to perform with an animal of a diff
| ferent species. A little pony and a baby
elephant are often taught to perform to-
| gether, but no one has ever seen grown
| horse and large elephant trained 10 do
tricks together. | have been training a
horse and elephant together for many
months and intend to bring them out
next season. One Of the most difficult
| things for me to get the horse to do is to
lie down and let the elephant walk over
him. The elephant does not mind it but
the horse is frignented and has no conf
dence in the mastOdon 1t will take month
of constant practice to make the
horse feel secure wheLevever the elephant
walks over him.
NEARLY every species of the animal
creation has been tried By experienced
trainers and educated as much as pos
sible in the art of doing tricks. In Ger
many especially there are men who de-
vote there lives to teaching and exper-
menting with animals. The big gorilla
monkey, supposed to be Darwins missing
link, although ferocious and uncertain in
temper, has been taught to perform.
There are some animals, and amphibians,
that are never taught, such as the giraffe, the
hippopOtamus and others that are too I'M
calmly and awkward in their movements.
The antelope and chamOis have been cap
tured and put through a curriculum of
study that would educate a dozen horses
or elephants without having any effect
upon them whatever IL is the absence of
intelligence and not stubborneSs that makes
it almost impossible to train them. There
are few training schools for animals in
America, the very place where they ought
to be ,ught."
SIS there any secret in the art of training
animalsn
"None whatever. Every TRAINER has his
method and natural aptitude for hand
ling animals. Persey erance and patience
can accomplish more in training dumb
creatures than anything else. Hogs are
very intelligent compared to other animals,
but, dear me! 1t requires patience to train
then. There are certain cues by which
they are taught. These cues are a series of
can be understood l remember that when
| first saw hog pick out cards, work sums
in ari hmetic by selecting the answer on a
card, was astonished. Very soon [ saw
tn It the hog was guided in everything it
did by Its masters movements. Now the
hog has become an acrobat, jumps hurdles,
rides, and tumbleS in most approved style.
The steer is not so easy to teach. | have two
Devons now that are highly educated, but
months
are defective. Once taught a fine steer to
90 over a ladder one way and come back
another. For two hours one day l tried to
get him to do the ladder act, but it was i'm
possible. l did everything. | got pullevs
and hoisted him over, but it did no good;
the bovine's mind could not grasp the situa-
ton, and | failed. Then | gave it up, sat
down on the ring curbstone and gazed in
despair upon the stupid steer. All at once,
like flash, he mounted the stairs, went
over and came back. At present | am
waltzng daily in the ring with a bear and
a performing goat. The bear is a nervous
animal and cannot be tempered with too
much. They have enough intelligence to
know their master and to remember the
tricks they have to do, Bruin is not to be
trus ed though any III re than monkey
and for that reason have to keep a chain
about his neck while he is performing. The
cerebral action of monkey is as quick as
that of man and bear. | think comes
next
do you think any animal can be trained
if properly handledW
mo. There are some dogs and horses
that can never be taught anything. Some
men can learn easily, while others are utter
ly stupid, and so it is with animals. l nave
had fine 10 king lions and tigers that could
not lie taught single trick. They could not
learn, for it was not IN them, hen have
selec ed a SC awny, waterey eyed, fierce-look-
ing lion and taught him without any trou-
BILE. l have long held that no species
of animal is harder to teach than an
other.
Now the goat is obstreperous and SEEM
ingly hard to train. but constant practice
will make him a file performer Goats
have excellent ideas Of how to do thing
when once taught Often they attempt to
s4irk their tricks by pretending to forget,
and l daresay they do frequently forget.
But where the trick is performed with tae
trainer well educated goat will seldom
forget his part. For iutauce, the moment
| stoop over, as if | were gettIng ready for
some one to jump leap frog fashion over me
the goat knows tnat he has to Jump on
my back aud he does not hesitate. Then
when begin to stand up the animal knows
that he is required to climb upon my head
and in a twinkling his four feet are planted
securely on the top of my Uranium. When
| begin to lower my head that is a signal
for him to leap to the floor You might