The Bossier banner., 1892-08-25

Will run away from him and come to
him, but they would not act for him.
A man must have a peculiar lknack
which cannot explain to make him
trainer. Only one lion out of three can
be trained. You can't make an acrobat
out OF every boy who goes into a gym
nasium, can you? ] have caught some
lions In Algeria, but all that have
how l bought. Most of them came
from the show that went to pieces in
Cincinnati None of the brutes were
tanned, even, short time to make my
selection, but l. didn't require all of
that. 1t is easier to pick out lion that
can be tanned than u man who can be
taught q trade"
How so?"
"Simply by knowing lions nature
and putting it to a test. l walk up to
the cage where Mr.. Lion sits. hit the
bars with my whip and make pretense
OF putting my hands between them. If
the lion throws himself against the
irons with a great spring and a roar l
know that he is all right. If he sulks
in one corner or comes up to the bars
mouse, l do not want him. The noisy
lion is buffer. He makes his bluff
when he makes his spring. The quiet
lion is treacherous. All lions are cow
ards. When / go into the cage where my
noisy lion Is and fire off few blank
cartridges from my revolver and beat
him a 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? l thought
that had that man scared to death. l
guess that amt so frightening as 1
thought I was The buffer can be
tanned sufficiently to let me go into the
cage without danger in a week S time,
but there is never any safety with a
sneak lion.
Another thing. The lion must be
not over two years old and he must be
| straight-backed and strong. A weak
lion breaks down very quickly during
training. Such brute is worth from
one thousand to fifteen hundred dollars
| unframed. When he is trained he is
| worth from three thousand to five thou
| sand dollars, and sometimes more. 1t
| takes several years to train lions per-
fectly. The first step is to show them
that am the master. Next l teach
them that do not intend to hurt them
unless they disobey me. l begin ca
ressing them with the end of my whip,
and I do it gently. 1t Is not safe to
venture with your hand at first. After
this, which takes weeks and even
months sometimes, 1 teach them to
take food from my hands. When lion
disobegs punish him, but do it with
judgment There is a point beyond
which it is dangerous to go. My left
arm has no muscles from the elbow
up. whipped lion one blow too
many In Quito, Chilli If his teeth had
not been worn with age 1 would not be
alive to-day. .-s
"When lion crouches down, and his
eyes turn green, and his tail stops wav-
| ing from side to side and merely wig
| giles at the end like the rattles on a rat
tier, look out. / stop then and give him
chance to quiet down. Sometimes l
call assistance or do anything that
can to distract his attention from me,
and then / escape" sEt
"What is the easiest. trick to teach a
lion?"
after getting him to come to me at
command, to make him lie down.
| You can't throw lion on his
side with your hands as you would
throw dog in training it. After
this, mounting chair or pedestal is the
| DIT, %n1y he r>f
daily work-patient work. Never give
up; that is the lion trainers motto.
| In making lion mount chair
generally put his meat on the seat and
accustom him to eat it from there.
Then by degrees coax him to put oRe
paw on the chair When he has done
this pet him. In the course Of time |
induce him to put both fore paws 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 l want him to do have little
trouble with him. ! But all this takes
time"
"I suppose the hardest trick is put
ting your head in the lions mouth?"
1 ION the contrary, it is one of the cas-
lest and safest. hold the mouth open
with both hands, and | can feel the
least attempt to bring the jaws to-
gether with my fingers. This gives me
a chance to withdraw my head in time.
It is well, however, to know your beast
pretty thoroughly before trying it. AT
ter have once taught lion trick he
never forgets it, and each time he does
it easier than before. The hardest
trick is to drive lion in chariot.
have sometimes worked for years to
teach that. After 1 have the harness
| adjusted, which takes months, jump
into the chariot and trust to sProvi-
dence. The lion dashes away like the
wind, and never stops until he is wind
ed. It's a lively race, tell you, and
must be repeated hundreds of times be-
fore can rely on the steed to submit
to public exhibition.
another hard trick is the see-saw.
/ worked for year before | taught
Parnen to crawl backward up the plank
and allow himself to be jolted up and
Il Vx,hi OF in