Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1890-04-02

brought to his knees. If H..
tion few minutes he will genel-
his side. If he does not do 30 he M.
rolled over by force. A short time In IT,
position will suffice to conquer him. Should
he, however, show signs Of Ill temper on be-
ing released, q second dose, with judtoious
application of moral suasion in the shape OF
| rawhide and steel hook will make him %
gentle as lamb. So great is an elephants
fear Of being 'quartered, as this process II
called, that for years after It has been ap-
Piled he will lie down of his own accord as
soon as ropes are attached to his feet, or he
| ia in any way reminded of his former lesson.
ssThe same treatment will work equally
we'll with a vicious horse, or even that Wild
est of all animals, a zebra. When properly
cast, or thrown, either of them will become
perfectly gentle, and will submit quietly to
further handling. The quickest and safest
way to cast or throw ia to tie up the near
fore foot, either by applying strap around
the pastern, drawing the foot up and max
ing fast at the surcingle, or by drawing the
foot up under the elbow and making fast to
the arm by turn of the strap: A long
rope, having been previously attached to the
halter, is passed through a ring on the off
side Of the supcingle, brought forward, and
held by the man standing in front of the
animal. A steady pull on this rope will
draw the horses head around to the off side
and throw his body out of balanca. This
will cause him to hop to one side, but his
bring him down to his left knee, and from
there, If the strain on the halter rope is con-
tinued, down on his near side. To insure
the horses permanent submission 1t may be
necessary to repeat the casting several times
until the animal allows himself to be ham
died all over while down, and even when re-
leased"
s'Have you ever trained any horse your
self, Mr.. Reiche"
"Oh, yes; and zebras to. In 1885 trained
four year old zebra that was 90 vicious that
he could not be touched by any one.
trained him in six lessons of about an hour
each, and when I was through with him he
| would follow me all over, lie down at the
word of command, and go in harness as
gently and kindly as pet pony"
"But cannot animals be trained solely
through kindness?" 25
"Not entirely. The public, as a rule, has
an erroneous idea of how birds and animals
are trained. Some believe that the desired
end may be attained only by petting and
kindness, while others 60 to the other ex-
treme, and claim that harsh measures, cruel
| ty and torture must be applied before one
| can succeed. Few know the extent to which
the art of the training of animals has been
developed, or of the study and practice that
| it requires to become an adept in the art.
There is nothing haphazard about it, the
whole system being founded upon old estab-
| lished universal rules. That which is the
most difficult to accomplish is very often the
least appreciated. A comparatively simple
bit of work. on the other hand, will excite
great wonder. A question often asked is
how the birds seen for sale on the street, sit
ting quite unrestrained on perch or the
peddler's finger, are trained. In ten min
utes' time the widest bird, the wilder the
haitian fropo aapl6- he
tanned, or rather subdued. A birds first i'm
pulse when brought into contact with man,
or with any strange object, is to fly away.
Rob it of this power and it is helpless. Take
any small bird, clip or tie securely the long
pinions of one wing, thus preventing 1t from
| flying. Hold it in your hand, fondle 1t, but
| do not restrain it from hopping off. Unac-
customed to this treatment, it will attempt
| to fly away, but instead of doing so 1t will
| simply tumble to the ground. To preclude
all possibility of injuring the bird and to
prevent it from hopping off too far, the
trainer should stand facing the corner OF q
room, SO that in leaving the hand the bird
strikes the angle of two walls and hutters
| gently down. Pick the bird up and repeat
| the treatment. In surprisingly short time
/ the bird will learn that it is best to remain
| on your finger. The experience of falling to
the ground is so vividly impressed upon Its
mind that it will cling to your finger and
| will not even allow itself to be driven off.
A bird properly and thoroughly treated In
this manner will continue to sit upon your
hand even after You have united Its wings
and it has regained the full power of flight.
| When forced to fly off it will only go a very
short distance and will come back and settle
on your finger again"
"How are fortune-telling birds to 60
| through their tricks"
| "There is always more or less cruelty in
their training, as the birds are kept on the
point of starvation continually during their
training and afterward, too. After having
been starved for long time they are put
in q big cage, and long tray or box Is
introduced, into which number OF slips
of paper on which fortunes are written
have been packed. A few grains of seed
are scattered over the slips. The birds ea-
gerly pick up these grains Of seed. Then
several slips upon which grains of seed
have been fastened introduced among
the others. The birds, seeing the protru-
ding seed, will peck at it and lift out the
slip, which is at once taken away from 1t,
and grain or two of seed is given the
bird from the hand. This is repeated
many times After while the bird un-
derstands that it will be rewarded for ex-
tracing the slips, and 1t will pull them
out as soon as it is placed near them.
"Another cruel trick practiced by un-
scrupulous persons is that of tanning cocka-
| CCOS ny uE6. n Wllu-CdoSne SooASooo AZ
most pugnacious bird and with its formita
/ Die oeak can give vesv bad bite. Bat there
is no demand for wild cockatoos, andso the
dealer must tame them before he can sell
them. These fellows will take wild bird
and tease it with stick of some soft wood
into which the bird will bite. A hot po.
ker is next substituted for the stick. The
ignorant bird will snap at the poker, and
give its mouth and tongue severe scorch
ing One experience of this terrible suf'
ferin is usually sufficient to conquer the
widest bird. Unless the bird dies, which
is often the case after this treatment, il
will have no desire to bite anything again.
"Do you bslieve that birds and animals
, are gifted with reasoning powerss"
s'To some extent 1 do, but those which
perform tricks in public are often given
credit for having almost human sense
, whereas their feats, no matter how lntri'
t cate are all due to the Intelligent and pa
tient teaching of their trainers. 1t is ver1
easy matter to teach any animal to PICK ul
\ | certain articles and 10 retrieve at the word O
command. This command may be in the
, form of q nod, a snsp of the fingers. wav
? of the hand, or q spoken word. Take tn
3 case of trained pig. A number of cards
\ each printed with word or figure, are 1ait
= in row across the stage. The trainer ther
; asks the pig a number of stock questions
0 each of which has an answer on one of tn
v cards. When he is opposite the right one b
K receives the cue to pick it up. The anima
? constantly watches its master, and the Gu
i is so slight that it is not noticed by the au
= dience Il is generally the light swapping of
+ finger or an almost imperceptible swaying o
9 the body. The natural instinct and the ex
= tent to which the faculties of birds an
. beasts may be developed is remarkable.
i they are not actually gifted with reasonin
r