The Portland daily press., 1894-05-12
A LION TAMER'S TALE.
The King of Beasts Managed by Superior
Cunning.


Cunning.
Mr.. Fred D'Osta, who recently exhibeted
in this city his wondeful trained lions, is
the nephew of the noted Sir Charles Womb
WE'LL who is known as ''the Barnum of
Europe" and who supplies the geological
| gardens in all parts of the world with ami
mails. During his stay here d representa-
tive OF The Star called upon Mr.. D. Osta. He
was found IN the cage with his three
babies" as he calls them Brutus,' ''Vic-
| toria" and 'Spitfire'' enjoying himself
| apparently as 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.. D Osta 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 go.'
| His wife, who is known as pauline Nana,''
does all the honors on the stage, while he
| does all the breaking i'm
| This plucky young Englishman gave a
! detailed account of his eventful life and of
| his methods of training all sorts of wild
| beasts, but especially outlined the course
| he claims, is entirely original, and he con-
| slders 1t the only honest method of manag-
| ing.the treacherous beasts. ''There lis no
| such thing" he said, ''as tanning a lion.
| You can raise them from cubs and be with
them every hour in the day, but :when they
attain certain age they are sure to be
| treacherous. l always import my beasts
| from their native countries after they have
| entirely matured, and / 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 strange lion would
soon devour a trained one if they came in
contact. Through an opening in the top of
the cage dummy figure of a man is low
cred with asrope. This is my time to watch.
If lion springs upon 1t instantly and
| tears it to pieces then know that he is to
be looked out for. but if he creeps up to it
| slowly and then. makes a grab for it l know
he can be resisted by constant lodging and
| moving about in the cage; and If he at once
backs off In a crowd / know he is my man,
| and that l can scare him into almost any
| kind of submission.
| ''This dummy he said, sis put into the
| cage every day for several weeks, or several
months, until .the beasts are thoroughly
| understood. One day we dance it around,
| lodging every attack of the animals, and
noticing every characteristic of their move
ments; another time we apparently walk
| the thing around, and see if it is closely
pursued, or whether the beasts can easily
overtake it while going around the cage.
| Still another time the figure is maze 10
pounce upon the beasts, ride them, and cut
up all sorts of shines in the cage, getting
| them used, day by day, to this sort of 1ol-
ment, which they finally see can't be resIs-
ted. Thus the brutes become more or las
| care less of this treatment, and then tic
| interesting part of the training begins''
'Interestlng?' said a copper" VINO VS.
standing on the stage, taking in the .nt.r-
view. ''By George! l always tnoaght l4y
life was a tough one, but yours beats the
| snakes.''
! The ''lion tamer,' however, smiled, as
| though his past had been all golden. his
| future was predestined to be one of glory,
| and as though he carried a million-aullar
| insurance policy in his inside poe ker, IN . as
| he went on with his talk, putting at IA cigar,
he occasionally emphasized his remarks by
! giving "Brutus'' a gentle bolt with d long
| pole, or otherwise creating melody from
| "Vic'' or sSpit''
| VIGILANCE is THE PRICE.
'When a man first enters cage filled
with strange hons,'' he continued, ''he
must be on the lookout of course, as this is
the most preacrious period. The beasts
| by no means take him for another dummy,
| as they can smell the very blood circulating
| in his body. Several men are stationed at
| the doors of the cage, which is held either
open OF shut with strong ropes, others are
put at almost every opening between the
bars, with rails, with which they can par
| tition off the man from the beasts, in case
| of great trouble. 9
| 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, have become thoroughly ac-
quainted with many of the widest lions,
| until.at last. after hard work and plenty of
| patience, 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'Usta said he had been raised among
wild animals, having inherited the love for
them from his father and his grandfather
| who have all been in the business, but none
of whom have ever been SO intimatelyassoci-
ated with them as had he. AT the age of
three, he says, he was first put into cage
of lions, and ever since that time he had
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
benumbed and scared as soon as the current
is turiied on, although they were ferocious
and making hideous noises before the so-call-
ed ''tarler'' enters the cage, and starts the
said ether is used to put the beasts to sleep
and they are. made to perform just after
they had awakened, before they have
covered the power of their limbs. In most
cases in these fake shows, he said, old,
worn-out lions are found which are SO
touch of a whip brings theminto Submission.