The St. Johns herald., 1891-04-16
TALK WITH A LIoN-TAmER.
How lie Acquires Complete Mastery Over
 His Savage Pets.


 ITis Savage Pets.
 The lion-taner was a highly intelli- gent young man, who, born in the United States, went to Germany in his youth. In Hamburg he associated with a leading firm, the Jamrach of Ger many, and so 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 commercial sense, coa5ileri-lg lions and tigers as cattlc b bo bought and scld, he became thoroughly acquainted git,2 their ways a2d iaati1cts. Certainly it was tho only school where such quiet mastery over savage animals could Dc acquired.
 1t is C very long business" said Mr. Daring to q writer in IIarper's Weekly; ''all my animals have been two years in training. Why, it takes two months to make lion sit in chair and stay there. I can not vaunt general intelli- gence in lions; it is rather individual. 1 have had some five young lions, superb in body, that had no brains. Not wicked or cross, but simply stupid. It was a tendency to forget tomorrow all that had been acquired for months before. But I can't always tell Leo is my best pupil He never was ugly, but once I gave him up and sent him off, he was so dllIl; then took him to school again; and 1 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 mako him. Punish him and you make him your enemy; afraid of you, and he gets worse, no better. I coax him, and talk to him in English, for English is the best language for command. The see-saw and the velocipede are difficult tricks. Not one lion in Q thousand can be taught to keep his balance. They mostly tumble off. Perhaps in that performance their highest intclli- gence i3 called into play. The velocipedc requires q careful lion, and 1 have just the right enc. It is nice work to get the exact pose and to keep it; but wh2t gave ne tlzo most trouble is the chariot performance. 4 lion must have had an original con- tempt for that Lind Of b;-,si-lc5G. You see I am busy harncssing up ono lion while the others arc perfectly free. The art has been to nol1c tic rest of them come up Of their own accord. For months 1 had enc lion tearing round alone and the rest scattered about Now they all come u2 to time. Thcydon't want to, but they must. It is patience, kindness, making them not afraid Of mc-for an net afraid of them, that has dorc the business. l have rcheara- als all the time, for the animals must be constantly ct work, 50 as not to for get The whcl3s are coming on fast; one, think, shows great intelligence. I feed eight pounds Of beef day for the biz ones and six for the smaller ones, and they take their supper after the performance"
 "You can not reward your lions fer good behavior like you would Q horse, with lump of sugar or a carrots
 No; they dcspi3o sugar, but love beef tca. But if they behave very well I give them during the performance @ little tidbit of meat, and Moro would think ! vyas not doing tac right thing with hin if he didn't get his 1aorscl. My whips indicate the petitions for the animals. Yol could not hurt q lion who has a tough hide, with q lash, but q whip acts as 2 protection. You might bclabor 9 lion with 9 big stick and he would not feel it. But he does not fancy a stick, the point of which, like Q spear, is held in his direction; 90 if enc threat encd TIC I could keep him eff. An act I had to give Ep was where a lion rose and put his forcPaws 0n my shoulders. The claws are very sharp, and any dis play of erdcGrmcnt would cut through my coat and wound my shoulders, and a new coat every night was too cxpen- sive. All the lions are fond Cf me and we respect ere GnctEcr."