New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-10-27
LION LOOSE IN A STABLE.
,us ROARING FRIGHTENS THE THOUSANDS
GATHERED AROUND.


GALLONS OF AMMONIA DID NOT
AFFECT HIM-rEAR THAT
he WOULD GET INTO
ANYBODY who cared to enjoy some oi ''e
excitement Of Hon hunt without ge'''ns "u'
could have had the pleasure YESTERDAY a. ~"
,vo-story brick stable, No 129 East Eighteenth
:, , Hon was loose on the ground floor of the
s.ah,o and he killed and partly devoured a
.S,,a,,a borse His roaring could be heard
,oinl, IN the street at intervals. ana Il great
crowd Of men stood in the street 1or hours
rb,Ie policemen kept the doors OF the s'apie
closed. and circus employees ana non 'a'"e's
wore at work inside the stable u!ihs " eo'
the beast back into his cage
The lion is called Wallace, ana Is ABOUT
twenty years old. He is one Oh nVe ho''S
which belong to Womble's London circus anu
were brought to this city about month ago
IN charge of Frank C. Bostock Inc Mons anu
n wolf were placed in cages OH inc sio''0
Noor Of the stable, and on the second moor
were kept some boxing kangaroos oH INC
ground floor also was trottihs hoise "hio"
Eostock had bought BostocH sald 'ha' war
lace was valued at $1,000 Ihe roaiihs Vi '"e
,io,,s ., r,cbt led 10 complaints by residents OF
ha hOrhOON
tho removal of the animals. Arrangements
were made for the renloNdi vi '"V i''''' ~ '
Central Park Menagerie
frank liant and mis- wife Nina were attending
~ the work Of transferring Wallace from his
caoe IN a smaller cage, called a shifting den,
ycsterdav morning They were both in the
o,rn,ov of Rostock and their two children were
nlavinp with the kangaroos on the second floor
90 the stable Dostock was not in the neghbor-
hood a, the time and Broncho Boccacio. an
East Indian who is lion tanner and has mad
charge of Wallace. was away also, Roundsnan
Shea. Of the East Twenty y-second-st police, was
in the stable in the morning and watched liant
and his wife for time He told them 10 be
careful and not let the big brute loose ana
then he went away. Soon after lO:5o a. m. Mrs
liant ran out of the stable, crying that the non
was loose She closed the doors of the stable
Her husband appeared with the children at
the door opening at the second moor OF the
building, and also cried out that the lion was
loose No outside stairway LED to the secend
floor. crowd quickly gathered on the side
walk and liant swung the children down into
the arms of men who stood within reach.
FLIMSY BARRICADE
carpenter was called from the shop Of John
Spence. adjoining the stable and he set some
fimsy boards against the glass panels Of the
front doors Of the stable. The doors were
further secured by wooden braces. The boards
prevented people from looking into the stable,
but they appeared to be a slight barrier against
a lion who might wish to break ou, Of the
building A ladde- set up to the door Of
the second story and liant climted down after
securing that door. He said that the Hon had
attacked the horse in the stable. A commotion
{,1;n hat i'm
horse.
liant and his wife said that as they were
about 10 coax Wallace out Of his cage into the
shifting den he made a sudden spring, which
upset the latter cage. In an instant he was free.
and he sprang straight at the horse. The horse
neighed with fright the lion bounded upon
him. liant and his wife did not wait TO see
the horse killed. The woman ran to the street,
while her husband ran up the narrow fight Of
stairs at the rear of the stable to rescue his
children.
Bostock was called to the stable before noon.
and little later Boccacio the lion tanner. APP
peared. The two men went with liant up the
ladder TO the second floor and down the rear
stairs. The crowd in front Of tho stable had
swelled to thousand more persons and
when the employees of Huyler's big candy fac
tory, at Irving Place and Eighteenth-st. and
Of other factories in the neighborhood left off
work for the noon hour the number was nearly
5000. Roundsmal Shea and four other police
men ndN OlIllcuiN III k''iIHp tns clONO from
pressing too closely against the front doors of
the stable. The roaring Of the lion occasionally
caused cold chs to chase UP and down the
backs Of the people in the crowd but the ranks
were rot th.nncd until the employees had to re-
turn to work in the factories at p m.
CROWDS IN THE STREET.
The men who had gone into the stable re-
ported 70 the police that the lion had killed
the horse and was eating the carcass They
said they had not been able to drive Wallace
away from his prey. although they had gone
within a few feet Of the lion and had prodded
him with pitchforks. They placed the kanga-
roos in a cage. and removed them from the
second story Of the building. Several hun
dred waited in front OF the stable after
the police had cleared the north sidewalk but
there was nothing 70 and nothing to hear
except the occasional roaring Of the lion |
Bostock, Boccacio and several assistants We're
In the building trying experiments, II said |
All sorts OF advice came from the crowd on
form were suggested Every few minutes some
Dody would speak of the fear that the lion |
would break out Of the stable and go about |
the city killing people Occasionally there
breaking the doors down. and the crowd would |
pegin 10 scatter. Then there would be laugh
at the expense Of the more ,imid persons. AZ
ter one such scare one said loudly:
IF they keep foolng with that lion, and
permit him to escape into the street. somebody
Will be lynched FOR IT,"
D.
that he might be able 70 subdue the lion with
ammonia. and he procured three gallons Of the
strongest Kind 10 be found in a drug store in
Thrd-ave Boccacio carried the ammonia into
the stable and threw it over the carcass Of the
horse He was Obliged u run out of the place
70 avoid being sunocated by The fumes and
the stable left alone for time Later
when tke men were able to get back into tho
second story, they looked down through the
opening in the floor. and saw Wallace still
beside the carcass Of the horse He had stop,ed
eating. and he was bloated with the large
quantity OF raw meat that he had dc,.oured
but he did not seem TO have been hurt or
scared by the fumes Of ammonis
Bostock wanted to open one OF the doors on
the ground noor Of the stable far enough to
permit the carcass of the horse to be dragged
out. He said the lion could not be driven back
10 his cage while the carcass was there The |
police refused to let the doors be opened the
least little bit.
FIRING on THE BEAST
Then Bostock and Boccacio went down the |