The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1892-06-24

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sneak lion.
Another thing. The lion must be
not over two years old and he must be
straightforward 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 / teach
them that do not intend to hurt them
unless they disobey me. ! begin ca
ressing them with the end of my whip,
and do it gently. 1t is not safe to
venture with your hand at first. After
this, which takas weeks and even
months sometimes, | teach them to
i take food from my hands When a lion
disobeys 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
~. been worn with age would not be
alive to-day.
when n 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
a chance to quiet down. Sometimes
call assistance or do anything that
/ ~ n CT Of
and then ! escape"
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
easiest But all this takes months of
daily work-patient work Never give
up; that is the lion trainers motto.
I'm making a lion mount a chair
generally put his meat on the seat and
accustom him to eat it from there
Then by degrees coax him to put one
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.
force him to do this by tapping them
with my whip until he hops up to avoid
punishment. Whom he has once learned
what | want him to do have little
trouble with him. But all this takes
time"
II suppose the hardest trick is put
ting your head in the lions mouth?"
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.
II is well, however, to know your beast
pretty thoroughly before trying it. At
ter have once taught lion n trick he
never forgets it, and each time he does
IL easier than before. The hardest
trick is to drive a lion in a chariot
have sometimes worked for years to
teach that After have the harness
adjusted, which takes months, | lump
into the chariot and trust to Provi-
dence. The lion dashes away 1il1e the
wind, and never stops until he is wind
ed. It's n 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.
| l worked for year before | taught
Parnell to crawl backward up the plank
and allow himself to be iolted up and
down When the plank. which rests in
the center on low pedestal, is at rest,
one end touches the floor. | first
forced the lion to turn his back to the
/ plank. Then tapped him on the nose
and on the fore paws until he backed
away from me to escape. To get him
to go up the plank without leaving it
and running away required almost end
less patience. When he had backed as
far as the center of the plank the board
was of course level, and parallel with
the floor As Parnell kept on backing,
the further end of the board slowly
came down TO the floor, and he found
himself going down hill. He didn't
like this. When he reached the end
his part of the work was done. Then
had to teach his mate to jump up on
the raised end facing Parnen. This
brought the board to level again. |
teeter-tostered them up and down by
having my trained dog step from one
side to the other of the center of the
plank"
How about tanning lion By looking
into his eyes2"
You might as well tame him by fix
ing your eyes on his tail look into
my lions eyes t. see what the expires
sion may be. There IS where I find
the danger signal II the signal saws
go ahead then ! can turn my back on
Mr. Lion and 90 ahead safely.
never turn my back on him.
however, within reach 81 his
paws outside Of the bars. Inside the
cage am master. but if turn my back
when am outside and am within reach
court instant death. Female and
male lions should not be kept together.
The lions are more tractable when
they are alone. The average lion
lives fourteen years in captivity. but
performing lions sometimes die
younger. Tigers are more manage
able than lions when once trained. but