The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-12-09
THE TRICKS OF 4 LION.
A Talk with Darling, the Tanner of
Wild Beasts Of the
Forest.
The King Of Them All is at
Best Very Stu
pid.
How He 10 Taught. How He Behaves and
What He Has to Eat Each
Day.

Darling, the lion tanner, is highly intel
ligent young man, who born in the United
States, went to Germany in his youth, says
Harper's Weekly. In Hamburg he asso-
ciated with leading firm, the Jamrach, OF
Germany. and 80. having animals in his
charge, became familiar with handling
them. Travelling for the business, he made
frequent visits to Africa and Asia, collecting
animals. In a commercial sense,
considering lions and tigers as cattle
to be bought and sold, he be-
came thoroughly acquainted with their
ways and instincts. Certainly it was the
only school where such quiet mastery over
savage animals could be acquired.
1T is very long business" said Darling,
call my animals have been two years in
training. Why, it takes all of two months
to make lion sit in chair and stay there.
cannot vaunt general intelligence 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. It was tendency to forget to-
morrow all that had been acquired for
months before. But l can't always tell.
Leo is my best pupil. He never was ugly,
but once gave him up and sent him OF, he
was SO dull; then took him to school again;
and know no lion second to him now lin
intelligence and docility. This is the
point. lion doesn't want to do things.
He just doesn't want to. Now you must
make him. PUNISH him, and you make him
your enemy: afraid of you, and he gets
worse, not better. I coax him and
talk to him in English. for English is
the best language for command. The
seesaw and the velocipede are difficult
&rso La No%o "A n fhono0nd ha
taught to keep his balance. They mostly
tumbled off. Perhaps in that performance
their highest intelligence Is called into
play. The velocipede requires careful
lion, and have just the right one. 1t is
nice work to get the exact pose and to keep
the chariot performance. lion must have
had an original contempt for that kind of
business You see am busy Harvesting ny
one lion while the others are perfectly free.
The art has been to make the rest of them
como up of their own accord. For months
rest scattered about. Now they all come
up to time. They don't want to, but they
ing them not afraid of me-for 1
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
cSAAAAAASS
intelligence. l feed them eight pounds of
beef day for the big ones and six for the
smaller ones, and they take their supper
after tie performance"
you cannot reward your lions for good
behavior, like you would horse, with
lump of sugar or carrot2"
mo; they despise sugar, but love beef
tea. But if they behave very we'll, give
them during the performance little tidbit
Of meat, and Nero, would think ! was not
il, he didn't get his morsel. Ny
whips indicate the position for the
animals. You could not hurt a lion
who has tough hide, with lash, but
whip acts as protection: You might be,
labor lion with a big stick, and he would
not feel it. But he does not fancy stick,
the point of which, like spear, is held in
could keep him off. An act had to give
up was where lion rose up and put his
fore paws on my shoulders. The claws
are very sharp, and any display of endear-
ment would cut through my coat, and
wound my shoulders, and a new coat every
night was too expensive. All the lions are
fond of me, and we respect one another"