The sun., 1890-05-18

The Life OF Superintendent Stephnns Saved
by hi. UnwnverinE Nerve.
From the Onetnndn Enquire.


From the Cnctnndu Enquire.
There Was n thrilling incident at the ZoGlog
Zeal Garden late saturday afternoon. In ro
moving tle lnrge African lion Paul from one
cage to another the boast broke from his hOl
aud ESCAPED. The animal was loose. untram
mellcd. aud alone with its master. 1t was
trying scene, and resulted in u triumnhant vic
tory Of man over beast, Illustrating the power
OF the human eye over the lercest deniIens o
tho animal kingdom.
dent of tho loo. and peculiar, combination o.
circumstances arose 10y which he was placed N
never S ' i5Fec to the end y 'f his lO S The incl
dent occurred after tho visitors had all lett the
% ana usc DUr9 10 S"1ng ve st Eaos OF bs
carnivora is occupied by the large African lion-.
Paul aud his. mate. Flora, He is a nc-looking,
ma, one blow from whose, right paw; when
backed by his tuIl strength, Is snlieient to TO
/ crush n horse, while tho thwny-colored Flora
| has no name, and. with her snort ears! might
! be taken for an immense cat The temale.
| during the past several days. has, worried her
mate with her rough cnresses. lie has been
! surly, cross, and vicious and unusually spite
| ful ut his keepers, as Al animals OF Wild ma
| ;ure are during tho mating season. ~
Nextthe ions cage is an old cougar or laRuar,
so Iicious that he caPno look @ y0p u gor the ts GGS
Els eanS 10 u Sp XII lis OWN chdron kesper
would think of, entering his cage without being
heavily armed The partition ns between o, oH6s his
strong, and lately the Jnguar has developed a
wondetiui facility OF srringns against It with
lions. who until yesterday resented the on
sIaughts by loud roars and low, muttering
srS2S%Is, SS1n. r o,.,oct vs.,urdov at,orroon how.
ever while Billy Hostctter had gone to look
after some OF the animals about the elephant
which is on Vine street. neur tho Power House.
as he passed. the carniyu he heard heavy
crash. and. knowing that something unusual
had happened. rushed into the building only
TO discover that the PARTITION had given way;
hpth mr. Il 10 Nlta nrn
the iaguar's toe, frequent crashing against
their bedroom wall. had decided o give him
taneousv lea. ed with all their force against
the partition, whose upper iastenings TO- the
pletely corralled the now thoroughly terrified
benst in II space under the partition.
prompt acton was needed. Mr Stephans
rushed 70 the tiger cage, which Is Is az the west
door into the fresh air Of the, outer cage, the
two tigers bounded out. This gave him
strong empty cage into which he proposed TO
which is used for moving the larger wild ami
and camcls can be led and prodded along, yet
animals OF TIE cat tribe are always moved IN
whip or prod them along. Paul Jumped into
the box rs soon as IL was placed at the door OF
his cage and the si dc was closed. Stephans
Tor it is on rollers, toward the tigers empty
cage When about midway in the carnivora
hal! Paul became obstrepefous, and. thrash
ing about in the box vii h all his might and
main. managed to knock of the cover and
vault out. He took his stand by the side OF
the box. and gradually bent his back until his |
belly nearly touched the floor His long. |
black tail moved cat-ike back and forth like |
the slow. steady swinging OF clock pendulum. |
Stephaus recognized his peril and stood look |
ing nt the flashing eyes OF the enragGd beast. |
lie was making every preparation to spring. |
nnd StUpha : knew that the moment he took !
his eyes OF the monster he was gone. Every |
second seemed an nour, he said atierward. Il |
could almost feel my hair turning white. Great
cold waves oi chilIiness ran up and down my |
back. anu beads OF porspiration stood out on
my face. | was thoroughly frightened. but
ilew that the Luman eve would Ii could look !
1t the animal long enough, eventually calm
he lon"
SO Stephans stood as though rooted TO the
Would the animal lumpG
Slowly the tail moved back and forth. but the
superintendent never took his eyes from those
" the lion, whose head almost brushed the
loor Of the building ami whose eyes almost
pierced him through Gradually they lost their
,erceness and began to blink. Then the battle
vas over.
" Paul move ont" in stern tones. was all tho
superintendent said.
The animal turned. and. walking into cor
Ter. the box was pushed against him and he
uttered 1t. He was soon safely in the tigers
age. where his mate was also placed and the
his was being done box was showed into tha
aguar's cage and that vicious specimen se-
urely kept there until the carpenters had fin
shed their lob.