St. Paul daily globe., 1893-04-19
A Mountain Lion the Sole Com
panion Of a Trapper in
His Cabin.
The Many Very Wonderful
Feats Accomplished by
the Beast.
How 1t Once Allowed a Dog
to Shake 1t Severely by :
the Neck.
The Nature Of the Ferocio US
Animal Is Cowed by It's
Master.

MASTER.
X, Biedler, few weeks before he
died, was sitting i'll one OF the card
rooms of the Silver Bow club, Butte
City, Mont. talking about mountain
lions. He said it was true you couldn't
tame them. L said there was man
down in the Yellowstone country. near
Livingston, who trapped good deal in
the mountains. and he had what he
called tame lion, says writer in the
New York Tribune.
''How tame was it?" asked X, du-
biousiy, and l had to admit that there
was question of degree in the case.
The beast was about two and half
years old.
The trapper, whose name was Skit,
caught mother lion and two cubs, and
this creature was one of the cubs. He
had killed the mother for her skin, and
also because she wasn't an agreeable
thing O have around. The other cub
had died OH his hands, and this one,
lust for the fun of the thing, he had
undertaken to educate. When anybody
dropped in to see him, Skit would bring
out the lion and Put her through
course of exercises. They were inter
esting enough, but they made you feel
queer at times, and you found the
rafter that ran across Skit's cabin de-
cidedly the best place from which to
view the performance.
Skit would bring the beast IN from a
dug-out, where ne kept her chained.
With the lion he would bring an enor-
nous Siberian dog, between whom and
the lion there appeared 10 be sort of
mutually fearful friendship. The dog
was magnificent creature, and as ell
tirely under Skit's control as If he were
piece of machinery and Skit a
master mechanic. In his hand Skit
would hold whip with a
long and startling cracker, and
he would manipulate the whip during
the performance, producing constant
succession of noises for all the world
like the reports of rifle. The lion
growled constantly and seemed under
an intense excitement. She was afraid
of Skit, afraid of the whip, and to some
extent afraid of the dog, but it seemed
to me as | watched the show that she
was also in kind of trance.
Her eyes glowed with steady flame,
but without particle of expression. 1t
was her reckless walk, her dreadful
growl that never ceased a moment, an
occasional savage bark, a long, low
moan, and now and then a wild, 'shrill
outcry, and, most of all. the motion of
her tail that revealed her intensely
fierce and malignant disposition. She
stood about as high as Newfoundland
dog, and was about as long as horse.
She kept her tail, which was at least
three feet long, extended i'll the shape
of the letter S, Stiffiy out from her body,
and the only motion she impaired to 1t
was just at the tufted end.
This seemed to have personality of
its own, and it would move in short para
bulas, making the figure of an hour
glass. Every nerve i'll her body through
out the performance was in a constant
culver. Skit insisted that she was not
dangerous, and that lie had ner under
perfect control, but within three min
utes after the show began | had scarcely
the remOteSt hope of getting out OF the
room alive. | expected every minute
to see the beast make spring at Sklt'S
throat, and tear the man into shreds.
and what hope L had resided in the
thought that she might turn her atten-
ton to the dog next, and get tired out
before she came to me. had good
sized gun in my pocket, and l kept it
where | could use 1t at a seconds notice.
But Skit did not seem in the least
afraid. To be sure, he kept his eyes
fixed directly on the beasts without
ever once removing them, and he made
that whip sound out at intervals of only
a few seconds. The dog did his part in
perfectly fr0licsome way, as if he
thought it huge joke and relished it
accordingly.
"Sit down. Kitty" yelled Skit. crack
ing the whip. Kitty sat down.
''Shake handsw Kitty held out her
paw and Skit took it and gave it a vigor-
Gus shake, which wouldn't have done
for all the gold in the Rocky mountains,
for the beast was growing like tiend.
Now, let's take walkn' Skit held
out his arm, she put her paw upon it.,
and walking on her hind legs, they
moved together twice around the room.
Then Skt sent her off into a corner
and made her lie down, and told the dog
| to go and shake her. Duke-that was
| the dogs name-bounded bllthely across
| the room, grabbed the snarling lion by
| the back of the neck, and shook her
| vigorously for fully minute. Once
| she gave a nasty little bark, and then L
| knew the end was coming-but it didn't.
| Duke paid no attention to her, and gave
| up shaking only when his master called
him off. Then he wagged his tail ami
ably, and sat down.
| Skit brought the lion into the center
of the room and made her stand still
while Duke got upon her back. This
| process was attended with some diff
Guilty, for the dog rolled off three times,
ana on each occasion she whlSked her
| head around at him and made one of
the most upearthly noises mortal ears
| have ever heard. But at last he fixed
| himself firmly on her back, catching her
| about the neck with his teeth, and then
| Skit sent her trotting around the room.
| This part Of the show was concluded by
series of springs. each clearing the
| entire space across the room. At last
| Duke fell and ran to his corner. Ap-
parently he had had enough.
Then came the most wonderful thing
of all. Sklt produced from corner a
huge chunk of bloody meat, at the sight
| of which she gave series OF terrlhc
cries. He sent her to her corner and set
the meat down in the center of the room.
| There he proceeded to cut it into half a
dozen strips. When this had been done
he told her to come on, and with one
bound she was at it, but before she had
quite touched the meat he gave say
age order, 'Stop!' and cracked the
whip loudly. She did stop, but with
what tremendous Excitement! Skit
made her stand up. He called the dog
and bade him take piece of meat and
put it on her nose. Duke did exactly a:
he was bid. He took the meat in his
mouth, ard as she held up her head ht
laid 1t directly on her nose. 1t STAYED
there a full minute, she growing
wildly. Skit watching her intently ant
cracking his whip, and the dog sitting