Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-08

my noisy lion is and fire off q few blank
cartridges from my revolver and beat him
few times over his nose with my whip he
growls, dances and then sinks away saying
to himself:
"'What on earth does all this mean? I
thought that I had that man scared to death.
I guess that I amt so frightening as 1
thought was.
'The buffer can be tanned sufficiently to
let me go into the cage without danger in
weeks time, but there Is never any safety
with O sneak-lion. Another thing. The
lion must be not over two wears old and he
must be STRAIGHTFORWARD and strong. A
weak lion breaks down very quickly dur
ing training. Such q brute is worth from
81, 900 to 81, 500 unframed. When he is
trained he is worth from So, 900 to S., 900, and
sometimes more. 1t takes several years to
train lions perfectly. The first step is to
show them that am the master. Next
teach them that do not intend to hurt
them unless they disobey me. begin
caressing them with the end of my whip
and 1 do it gently. 1t is not safe to VEN
ture with your hand at first. After this,
which takes weeks, and even months some
times, teach them to take food from my
hands.
When a Lions Eyes Get Green.
"When lion disobeys punish him, but
do it with judgment. There is point be-
yond which it is dangerous to 60. My left
arm has no muscles from the elbow up. L
whipped lion one bow too many in Quito,
Chill. If his teeth had not been worn with
age 1 would not be alive to-day. When
lion crouches down, and his eyes turn green,
and his tail stops waving from side to side
and merely wiggles at the end like the
rattles on rattler, look oat. stop then
and give him a chance to quiet down. Some
times call assistance or do anything that
l can do to distract his attention from me,
and then escape"
"Wbat is the easiest trick to teach
lion?" asked.
"After getting him to come to me at
command, to make him lie down. You
can't throw a lion on his side with your
hands as you would throw a dog in training
it. After this, mounting chair or pedestal
is the easiest. But all this takes months of
daily work-patient work. Never give up;
that is the lions trainers motto. In
making lion mount a chair 1 generally
put his meat on the seat and accustom him
Co eat it from there. Then by degrees I
coax him torrput one paw on the chair
When he has done this / pet him. In the
course OF time 1 induce him to put both
forepaws on the chair. Now comes the
struggle. He does not want to put up his
hind feet. I force him to do this by tapping
them with my whip until he hops up to
avoid punishment. When he has once
learned what want him TO do have little
trouble with him. But all this takes time"
"I suppose the hardest trick is putting
your head in the lions mouth?"
Your Head in a Lions Mouth.
''On the contrary, it is one of the easiest
and safest 1 hold the mouth open with
both hands, and can feel tine least attempt
to bring the jaws together with my fingers.
This gives me a chance to withdraw nv
head in time. 1t is we'll, however, to know
your beast pretty thoroughly before trying
it.
"After I have once taught a lion trick
he never forgets it, and each time he does
it easier than before The hardest trick is
to drive lion in a chariot have some
times worked for years to teach that
After have the harness adjusted, which
takes months, jump into the chariot and
trust to Providence. The lion dashes
away like the wind and never stops until he
is winded. It's a lively race, tell you,
and must be repeated hundreds of times
before can rely on the steed to submit to
public exhibition. Another hard trick is
the see-saw. I worked for a year before 1
taught Parnell to crawl backward up the
plank and allow himself to be jolted up
and down."
Chow about tanning a lion by looking
into his eyes?"
"You might as well tame him BY fixing
your eyes on his tail. I look in my lions
ewes to see what the expression may be-
There is where find the danger signal If
the signal says go ahead then 1 can turn
my back on Mr.. Lion and go ahead safely.
never turn my back on him, however,
within reach Of his paws outside of the bars.
Inside the clge 1 am master, put if 1 turn
my back when am outside and am within
reach court instant death.
''Tigers are more manageable than lions |
when once they are trained, but they are |
harder to train and make less spirited per- |
formers. One of the most interesting tricks |
my lions do is to ride upon tricycle. which |
IS made expressly for the purpose After 1 |
have once trained q lion to stand on it in |
position to ride he cannot help going for
S ard very well. The tricyle is slowly pushed |
1t first and then one treadle goes up while |
he other goes down. The lion instinct |
vely pushes down on it and that sends the
,ther treadle up. He keeps on pushing on
he uppermost one and by thus doing keeps
he wheels Ill motion
BENJAMIN NoRTHRoP.