The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1892-07-29

sand dollars, and sometimes more. 1t
takes several years To train lions per
fcctly. The first step is To show them
that / am the master. Next | teach
them that l do not intend to hurt them
unless they disobey me. ! begin ca
ressing them with the end of my whip,
and ! do 1t gently. 1t is not safe TO
venture with your hand at first. After
this. which takes weeks and even
months sometimes, / teach them to
take food from my hands When lion
disobeys ! punish him, but | do 1t with
Judgment. There is Il point beyond
which ii iS dangerous to 90. Ny 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 / would not bc
alive to&lay.
When a 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 rattlcs on a rat
tier, look ont. / stop then and give him
a chance to quiet down. Sometimes /
call assistance or do anything that /
can to distract his attention from me,
and then I escape"
''What Is the easiest trick to teach a
licn?r
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 n dog in training it. After
this, mounting chair or pedestal Is the
easiest. But all this takes months of
daily worll-patient work. Never give
up: that i the lion trainers motto.
In making lion mount a chair I
generally put his meat on the seat and
accuNtOm him to eat it from there.
Then 10y degrees ! coax him to put one
paw on the chair. When he has done
this pet him. In the course Of time
induce him 10 put both fore paws on the
chair Now comes the struggle. lie
does not want To put up his hind feet.
/ force him 10 do this by tapping them
with my whip until he hops up to avoid
punishment. When ne has once learned
what | want him to do / have little
trouble with him. But all this takes
time
Il suppose the hardest trick is put
ting your head in the lions month";
''On 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-
EtllltE " llli my Hil1tIN- lll~ gives me
a chance to Withdraw my head in time
II i wen. however, to know your beast
pretty thoroughly before trying it. Al
ter have once taught lion trick he
never forgcts IL, and each time he does
II easier than before. The hardest
trick Is Ia drive 4 lion in a chariot |
have sometimes worked for years to
teach that. Ahcr | have the harness
ads a,l xx-h r.l-a H. I
into the chariot and trust to Provi-
demo The lion dashcs away like the
wind, and never stops until he is wind
ed. It's Il lively race, tell YOU. and
must DE repeated hundreds of times he
fore | can rely on the steed to submit
10 a public exhibition.
Another hard trick is the see-saw
] worked for wear before / taught
Parncll To crawl backward up the plank
and allow himself to be joltcd mp and
down. When the plank, which rests in
the center on Il 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 mp the plank without leaving il
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 Parncn 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 ParnclL This
brought the board to a level again. |
tcctcr-tottcrcd 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 10y looking
into his cyes?-'
''Nou might aS well tame him bv fix
ing your eyes ON his tail. | look into
my lions eyes t. see what the express
sion may be. There : where | find
the danger signal If the signal SAYS
go ahead then | can turn my back on
Mr.. Lion and go ahead safely.
l never turn my back on him,
however, within reach of his
paws outside OF the bars. Inside the
cage am master. but if turn my back
when ! am outside and am within reach
1 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
they are harder to train and make less
spirited performers. N. Y. sun.