New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-04-02
THE ANIMALS OF CIRCUSES.
JAMES A. BAILEY TELLS ABOUT THEN
SOME or THEM LIVE FOR MANY YEARS IN
CAGES; OTHERS ARE DELICATE AND



fortunate as 10 have It's lot cas-, with travelling
mcnagerie must be- doomed 10 short life. Many
must be- OF necessity confined IN small cages. and this
from one years end 10 the other without relief.
They must be badly shaken mp In constantly travel.
ling around from place 10 another The cages
being almost daily loaded and unoaccd upon the
circus trains. In addition TO this they must suffer
the worry and Fostering daily Of having Il crowd OF
curious siglltscers around the cages
Yet there are animals In the big Parnum b
Bailey mcnagerie now-and Gagged animals. too-which
have been going around the country for many years.
and probably will continue To do 10 until they die
from old age or are shot of their feeheness
ID must not be believed. however that all wild AMI
mails will stand the strain of show life Men who sup
ply crcuses with menagcres know those beasts which
will accnsom themselves to IL and Withstand It's
hardshps and showmen will buy only such ~ These
rs others poor investments. This Is why nearly
all circus mcnageries much alike. their c'nef
difference being In the number OF specimens common
to all that exhibited.
We could not get along though without
menaeere," said James A. Bailey. the Caesar OF
showmen discussing tlis subject In the Madison
square Garden. al know that here In Ncw-fork our
menagerc does not attract the same amount OF at
ientlon from the public that the rest OF the circus
does. but that is because you have your own pnbio
menagerlc in Central Park. The same Is true In
other cities that have their In the smaller
cities and towns though. circus without menageris
would stand about much snow as Il comic opera
without an orchestra.
at Is the menagcre that the grown folk bring
the children To see. Why. ] remember In tire
DAYS when crcuses not all that they should
| have been from Il moral point OF view. principally
because Of the gangs OF swindlers ana pckpGKets
which followed them around that Ii was very conf
mon thing for people. especially In the country, TO
| come and the geric. VINO would have thought
themselves under a ban Of sin If they had seen the
rest Of the show. All that old prejudice against tho
cirrus-and IL hardly prejudice, eiiher-has
about disappeared. owing To the Improvement In the
circus itself bu the mrnngerl" IT must have Just tho
same
81 wish II were moi 50. for T. costs about $4,000
a year To purchase animals 10 keep our m"nacerte up
! To the mark besides the great cost 81 E,cD!ng TIE
animals and transporting them. II we 20 ont with
ont Il specimen one year. however, that we had me
previous yeaI. V" ore to iri That 'he public
vii mis-, II ara ak for IL From the deaths Il
animals lose about $4,000 year. and the an
nual depreciation through and sickness Is about
81 600. Animals that become spiriilesS and poor
looking we generally sal to snall show,
"The lions and the animals OF the eat species. such
as gers. lcoparis and panhers. are the best stock
TO handle. Considering that most Of them come rom
the tropics they stand the changes OF climate re-
mnrkaldy we'll As n rule they will live dozen
| years In captivity. aud often much longer have
known Of lions to live In the cages for twenty five or
thirty Years. Tigers leOparis and panhcrs are not
|
| tigers In n sound condition are worth from 800 TO
~ 200 each If Won can buy lions tigers I'm pairs
they are a good Investment. they reproduce so ire
ou.n,ly A good tigress will produce two Filters OK
four In u year, and generally onehalf OF them can
be- successfully raised and sold at good prices.
Le0pards and panthers are given TO eating ther
young. at least to killing them
| You have To De mighty careful with your Hons.
tigers panthers and leopards. though, for
While they are hardy, disease makes short
wcik with them II il once gets hold
n them. Pneumonia is their greatest enemy.
Colds developing into lung troubles, kill by far the
most OF them. During our London engagement we
lost five leoparis In three weeks Post-mortem exc
aminaiions showed that they all died Of cold which
had settled on the lungs.
1T Is necessary to keep close watch on the ap.
petitcs of these animals. too. for II they get OF on
their feed you likely TO lose them. Zoos gem
orally feed their animals on horse meat. but both at
the winter quarters and on the road We give them
good beef. 1t pays to do II. If they begin To snow
/, dlstast, for their food give them little hot.
fresh blood 10 drink. If that does not stimulate them
We drop few live chickens, turkeys or rabbits into
their cages and let them slaughter them. That gen.
orally brings them around all right.
50 far as hardness and longevity co. elephants
are better stock than the lions and cat animals.
They are not much good an Investment. though,
for they seldom reproduce In captivity. 80 lar as
positively know, the that was born with our
though much OF baby in size Is the only
one born and successfully raised In captivity.
They are an exceedingly useful animal and are not
much trouble They will stand almost anything and
seldom get sick. Up In our winter quarters ana on
the road they are very useful for in pushing cars
around and hauling heavy loads. II was not many
years ago when the elephant considered the chief
attraction Of the show. and the worth Of show was
reckoned by the number Of elephants 1t had In us
herd. Now they drug on the market have
lent them to and have been glad TO get rid OF
Them sold ten and sent them to Europe few
years ago.
| a good elephant here IS worth from Sl.5OO 10
s3, 900. according to his age, size, temper ana lii
telgence. In Europe prices run II little higher nc
present. \ finely trained elephant Will bring o
much higher price. but those who own such generally
do not want to part with them There Is no telling
how long an elephant will live circus attraction.
| never knew one to die natural death. III they
do not get killed in an accident or In fire they
| eventually become savage and dangerous ana have 10
be killed.
Monkeys are mighty poor stock to handle but
they are so cheap that we hardly Keep any account
of Them A dozen OF them likely TO drop over
from pneumonia any day II drnught happens 10
| blow through their cage. They do well enough In
winter quarters where tile temperature Is even, but
We seldom bring back half as many rs we start out
on the road WITH They are subject to all sorts OF
digestive disorders, too. and people feed them with
| all sorts OF stuff calculated TO produce these dis
orders. In spite OF the vigilance OF keepers
Often We have 10 replcnish orr stock OF monkeys
| I'm the middle OF "a season. There are plenty OF
dealers In New-York from whom We can get them.
| They buy them OF sailors generally. As for chin.
panzecs would not have one In the menagens,
for although they great attractions, they arr far 100
delicate 10 make II profitable 10 invest In them.
No. monkeys hard TO keep alive that the wise
| Snowman contents himself with letting rare species
| alone.
An animal the people like to see and that u
good stock for the Snowman is the kangaroo. They
are cheap In Australia there are stll huge droves
NJ them, and the natives capture them very easily
with dogs trained seize them by their long taus:
! The kangaroOs TAIL yOu know. Is his rudder ana
| balancing pole Without IL his huge hnd legs are
likely To carry him anywhere except where he wants
10 90. so when halfdozen Of these Australian dop
pletey ut the mercy Of his captors. They i've many
1 have to sell of the stock occasionally.