The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-09-27

} | Several medical students had oeeu nutuitIeo
! to watch the feat, and they at once cauter-
lze. the wound with hot iron, ana the
: days business proceeded as usual. cooper
only mentions this incident as contradlctlng
the notion often expressed that the taste OF
, blood infurintes an animal and rouses his
passion for more.
A FIGHT WITH A NEW LION.
His most serious mishap occurred at
Brussels while Myers circus was performs
Ing there. 1t was winter and Coopers
lions worry dying from the effects OF the
severe weather. On the day of the acci-
dent two new lions, perfectly wild, had
arrived from Hamburg. Now. it was al
ways one Of Cooper's boasts that all his
training went on openly before the eyes
of the public. and that he could go among
untraiued animals equally well before
the public or in private. So the new
beasts were turned in among the others
in the evening and Cooper went into the
cage. The theater was full to OVERLOOKING,
and the audience certainly witnessed SEN
sstional performance. Scarcely had the
trainer entered than one OF the new lions
and one of the old ones began desperate
fight Cooper took his whip and started in
to quell the disturbance. In striking at the
old lion, however, he managed to give the
new one a smart cut and the savage beast
Immediately few upon him, and, plant
! ing its claws on his left shoulder,
tore down all the flesh from the
shoulder and breast. Raising his right
arm to drive the lion off, the hand and arm
were seized by the brutes teeth, ard the
bone laid bare from elbow to wrist. The
other animals, as, of course, is their won't,
were not slow to take advantage of the
position of affairs, and soon the tamer's leg
was bitten through aud other injuries in
hicted. IL seems scarcely credible that
during all this time the man never for an
instant lost his presence Of mind, and, with
all his fearful injuries, continued to whip
the brutes into subsection, and actually
succeeded in doing so before making good
his exit from the cage.
From this terrible adventure some idea
may possibly be gained not only of Cooper's
extraordinary courage aud GOODNESS, but
also Of his immense bodily strength and
vitality-lionlike IN itself. All hope Of saw
ing the injured arm was at first given up
indeed, the mutations might have killed a
weaker man-but an eminent surgeon from
Paris was called in, and in three months
from his lively evenings work in Brussels
John Cooper was actually In the cage
again, performing as we'll as ever. The
lion which first attacked him, he is fond of
relating, by way of vindication Of the
brute's disposition, turned out afterward
one Of the most intelligent and faithful
animals he had ever had to do with, IL not
quite the most so.
THE SECRET OF HIS GREAT SUCCESS.
Ask Mr.. Cooper to tell you all about the
tanning secrets" which have been talked Of
from time to time, and be will smile pleas
antlv. The only secrets be ever had, he
will say, are confidence, GOODNESS and COM
mon sense. Many trainers make first ac-
quaintauce with an animal by approaching
it from outside the bars and feeding it. Mr..
Cooper simply walks into the cage at once.
There is not an animal which you might
| put before bin, whether a stranger or an
old friend, that Cooper cannot label, classify
and tell you all about at glance. He will
| say at once: This lion is a good-tempered
| fellow, but he ia in a BIRD humor Just for q
| time, )" or THAT tiger is a dangerous beast,
but quite safe just at present" He is sort
Of animal physiognomist and knows what
passes through brute's brain almost as
well as the brute itself. He seems to know
what an animal will allow and when it will
object to by instinct.
FEIGNED SLEEP AMONG THE LIONS.
Cooper's performances have always been
Of the quiet and superior" order--really a
more difficult thing than the snowy, senti-
mental, tear-and fury sort of thing which
goes down with many vulgar sight-seers. It
has been maxim with trainers who favor
the latter sort OF performance that the man
should never take his eyes from the animals
and should avoid any position but the
erect, as involving an almost certain
attack, and for ordinary trainers the
rule is doubtless good one. But Cooper,
in his perfect control of his charges was
able to disregard it most completely. He
would lie at full length in the middle of u
cage containing seven lions and close his
eyes as II asleep, whereupon his great hon
Victor Emmanuel, without any word of
command, would walk up to his
master and, gently lifting his head
with paw, would lie down beneath
it, 80 as to form soft pillow. Cooper
would then. still as II asleep, move his hand
within reach Of the lions mouth, and the
faithful brute would continue licking Il
until the tanner arose. Now, this was a
quiet, unostentatious performance COM
pared with the sham "lion hunts" and ter
rible struggles with tiger" which one is
familiar with, but as an exhibition of per-
feet training and confidence in its result it
| beats them all.