The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-12-30
The TRAINING OF LIONS.
Darling Describes His Methods OF Ham
ling the Pierce Beasts.

Darling Describes His Methods of Hand
ling the Fierce Beasts.
The lion tanner is a highly intelligent
young man, who, born in the United
States, went to Germany in his youth. In
Hamburg he associated with leading
firm, the Jamrach, of Germany, and so,
having animals in his charge, became ia
miliar with handling them. Travelling for
the business, he made frequent visits to
Africa and Asia collecting animals. In
commercial sense. considering lions and
tigers as cattle 10 be bought and sold, he
became thoroughly acquainted with their
ways and instincts. Certainly it was the
only school where such quiet mastery over
savage animals could be acquired.
at is very long business" said Mr..
Darling "All my animals have been two
years in training. Why, it takes all of two
months to make a lion sit in chair and
stay there. / cannot vaunt general intel
ligence in lions; it IS rather individual.
have had some fine Young lions, superb in
body, that had no brains. Not wicked or
cross, but simply stupid. 1t was a ten
dency to forget tomorrow all that had
been acquired for months before.
But / can't always tell. Leo is my best
pupil. He never was ugly, but once gave
him up and sent him off, he was so dull;
then took him to school again, and | know
no lion second TO him now in intelligence
and docility. This is the point. A lion
doesn't want to do things He just doesn't
want to. Now, YOU must make him. Pun
ish him and you make him your enemy;
afraid of you, and he gets worse, not bet
ter. / coax him and talk to him in En-
glish. for English is the best language for
command.
1.-THE seesaw and the velocipede are diff
cult tricks. Not one lion in thousand
can be taught to keep his balance. They
mostly tumble off Perhaps in that per-
formanoe their observation-disclosures is called
into play. The velooipede requires a care
full lion, and have just the right one. It
is nice work to get the exact pose and TO
keep it, but what gave me the most trouble
is the chariot performance. A lion must
have had an original contempt for that
kind of business. You see / am busy har-
Messing up one lion while the others are
perfectly free. The art has been to make
the rest of them come up OF their own &C
| cord.
For months l had one lion tearing
round alone, and the rest scattered about.
Now they all come up to time. They don't
want to- but they must. 1t is patience,
kindness, making them not afraid of me
! for / am not afraid of them-that has done
the business. / have rehearsals all the
! time, for the animals must be constantly
at work so as not to forget. The whelps
are coming on fast; one. / think, shows
great intelligence. Ifeed them eight pounds
of beef day for the big ones and six for
the smaller ones, and they take their sup
/ per after the performance"
you cannot reward your lions for good
behavior like you would a horse, with a
4 lump of sugar or a carrotS"
mo; they despise sugar. but love beef
( tea. But if they behave very we'll give
them during the performance little It'd
! bit Of meat, and Nero would think / was
not doing the right thing with him if he
didn't get his morsel. Nv whips indicate
the positions for the animals. You could
not hurt a lion who has a tough hide with
lash, but a whip acts as a protection
! You might belabor a hon with big stick,
and he would not feel il. But he does not
/ fancy stick, the point of which, like a
spear, is held in his direction; so If one
| threatened me / could keep him off. An
act had 70 give up was where a lion rose
and put his forepsws on my shoulders.
/ The claws are very sharp, and any display
I of endearment would cut through my
coat, and wound my shoulders. and new
coat was very expensive. All the lions
are fond Of me, and we respect one an
ther.n-Harper's Weekly.