Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-05

WN5SS with animals Dur
ing his stay here .
representative OF The
| Star called upon Mr.. D'osta- He was
found in the cage with his three babies"
as he calls them-"Brvtus" Victoria and
spithre"-enjoying himself apparently a.
well as though he were In company with
his most trusted friends. while the three
beasts were growing and gnashing their
teeth. as though they might make hot
sausage" OF him at any minute. Although
Mr.. Dosta does not appear IN the cage
during the shows, he is the owner OF the
animals. having trained them and reared
them up In the way they should CO." His
wife. who is known as Pauline Mana"
does ali the honors on the stage, while he
does all the breaking in"
This plucky young Englishman gave q
detailed account OF his eyentful life and of
his methods Of training all sorts OF wild
beasts but especially outlined the courss
or education OF his lions. HIS treatmsnt,
he claims. is entirely original and he con-
siders il the only honest method OF man
aging the treacherous beasts. There 10
no such thing" he said. las tanning a lion.
You can raise them from cubs and be with
them every hour in the day. but when they
| attain a certain age they are sure to be
| treacherous. / always import my beasts
from their native cour tries after they have
| entirely matured. and 1 know they are
healthy and that their faculties are fully
developed.
Toy With a Dummy Man.
My first tanning, or. rather. deceiving.
process Is TO put them In large cages in
| groups. just as they are TO work through
out their careers. for a strange lion would
| soon devour a trained one II they came I'm
| contact Through an opening in the top OF
the cage a dummy figure OF a man Is lower
| ed with a rope. This is my time 10 watch
IL a lion springs upon Il Instantly and tears
IL to pieces then I know that he is TO be
looked out Tor. but IL he creeps up 10 Il
SLOWLY ana then makes a grab for IL know
| ne can be resisted by constant lodging and
moving about in the cage: ana II he al
once backs off In a crowd know he is my
man, and that can scare him into almost
| any kind Of submission.
This dummy" he said. lis put into the
cage every day for several weeks or sew
erai months. until the beasts are thoroughly
understood. One day we dance IL around.
dodg1ng every attack OF the animals ana
noticing every characteristic OF their move
ments; another time we apparently walk
tne ming around, and see II il is closely.
pursued, or whether the beasts can easily
overtake IL while going around the cage
sun another time the figure is made 10
poehEe upon the beasts. ride them. and cut
| them used, day by day. 70 this sort OF tor
ment. which they finally see can't be resist
60. mus the brutes become more or less
careless OF this treatment and then The in
teresting part of the training begins
lnierestiagg said a copper" who was
standing On the stage, taking in the inter-
view. by George! 1 always thought my
1 snakes" Oe@'s sns
The lion tanner" however. smiled q.
though his past had been ali golden. hi,
Iuture was predestined 10 be one OF glory
| and as though he carried a mfiiion-dolIsr
insurance policy in his inside pocket. and
as he went on with his talk putting an a
c,gar. he occasionally emphasized his re-
with long pole. or otherwise creating
melody from Vie" or spit"
Vigilance Is the Price.
when a man first enters a cage nlled
with strange lions" he continued, he
| must be on the lookout. OF course as this
is the most precarious period. The beasts
| by no means take him for another dummy
| as they can smell the very blood circulate
| ing I'm his body. Several men are station
| ed at the doors OF the cage which Is held
/ either open or shut with strong ropes
others are put at almost every opening be-
tween the bars, with rails. with which they
can partition OF the man from the beasts.
in case of great trouble.
AT first the actions OF the brutes must
be studied again. but they are. almost with
| out exception, the same as they were in
| the first place. with the dummy. Thus.
from day TO day, 1 have become thoroughly
acquainted with many OF the widest lions.
| until at last after hard work and plenty
of patience. l have made them jump over
bars set on their hind legs. and perform
| all sorts of tricks. similar to those which
/, YOU have seen these fellows do"
Mr.. D'Osta said he had been raised
among wild animals. having Inherited the
| love for them from his father and his
| crandfathe-. who have all been In the
| business. but none OF whom have ever
been so intimately associated with them
| as had he AT the age of three, he says. he
| was first put into a cage of cub lions. and
| ever since that time he had not been salts
| fed unless he has been handling them
| continually.
| He also described the methods used by
| most show companies who have cages the
floors of which are metal, connected with
| an electric battery, keeping the beasts be-
| numbed and scared as soon as the current
| is turned on. although they were terocious
| and making hideous noises before the So
called tanner enters the cage. and starts
| the machinery going. In many instances,
he said ether is used TO put the beasts TO
| Sleep and they are made to perform just
| after they had awakened. before they have
| recovered the power OF their limbs In
| most cases in these fake" shows he
| said old worn-out lions are found, which
are so badly used up and crippled that the
| slightest touch OF a whip bring them into
| submission.
His Animals Arc Lively.
However, Il is apparent that his beasts
| are sound for their leaping up into the air
and tumbling over one another in their
play seemed to threaten the destruction OF
their cage at any minute. The two lion
| esses '-Spitare.'' who is a Kaffarian, and
| Victoria" a Senegal. their trainer said.
| are The most vicious of the three. as fe-
| males I'm the lion kingdom generally are.
| the former having recently torn one OF
| their keepers limb from Limb while he was
| cleaning out their cage. "Brutus," who Is
! the favorite, is q genuine black-maned
| Nubian only -four years old. and Is quite
| amiabIe. in that he generally gives good
| warning before he kills any one which Is
/ considered a strictly moral trait.
| Mr. DOsia was a member OF the Greedy
! expedition, Bringing from the north many
fine specimens of polar bears. which he