The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1894-03-04
lert by iion's fangs or

/ Venus.
OF dozen scars. lert by lion's fangs or
| in. may DO an inch or two.
Now ANA tlrcn a roar from within the
deserted building announces that the lions
are there u no one else Is.
| / pass Fnsde Needless OF the advice OF
| an 1rls'fnan on guard at the door, who
assures me there is nothing worth seeing
| now.
1t e. the hour Tor feeding wild beasts
have but one meal every twenty four
! hours. and when the hour comes for that
| they viii brook no delay. In the cages
! ranged on esther side. Ave tigers and ff-
! teen Hons, all fun grown, lcopards bears
| ana other amin ais, are turning back and
! forth, with heads low against the bars.
| switching thNlr tails and pcorlng out im-
! patiently FOR the big pieces OF raw ment
| which thc men are laying ON long hopIds.
| Six hundred pounds q day Is their stipend.
and meat OF the best quaalty, too; GOOD
! enough Cor flllcts at n Fifth avenue res
| Hauiunt. The animals make little noiEe.
only a crowd or a snar now and than:
| but they pace their cages ceaselessly.
Three men are moving about among the
| cages They pay no attention to me. I
| pass down tho lAne to the fur ciN and stop
before the largest cage of all, which COM
| tuins what 81 Cailed the dangerous
| rroup" lIere nIc three royal BENGAL tigers.
| three lcopards of unusual size. and a bad
| lion cn1lcd yellow Ptdnce. At least three
| Of this group have murder IN their hearts:
shc tiger charlie. who nearly KILLED pale
| faced, soft-eycd Miss Berg the very first
day she tried TO show the group In Cha
cago; the big leopard Nelly fierce brutc
| that has scared her keeper moro than
once; and finally, most formidable OF all.
! the lion yellow Prince, who, during the eS-
| 1tltion In Chicago, bounced upon keep
| or. a young EngliHhman, bore him 10 the
| floor and buried his fnngs IN the young
mans thigh A rescue was effected with
lad
weeks The young fellow lay In the hos
pital. He returned to his old post. though,
as soon as he was healed. For some little
time now tlSis group of animals has not
been shown IN public.
While 1 stand before them there comes
sharp rap at the little wooden door set in
the back OF the cage, accompanied by
clnnlgiug OF chains At the sound the eN-
element of the animals reaches Its high
est. They know II marks the approach OF
food. The 1eopardg hurl themselves
against the sides of the cage, sprinRing ten
feet In the air and landing against tho
wooden partitions with almost force
enough to crush them. The tigers lie still.
purring aud switching their tails. The Hon
Yellow Prince bounds across the cage and
bncls again and then crouches In his cor
ner. The door opens. Fritz enters, one
arm hung with chains. and holding In ono
hand n short wooden club. He fastens the
doing 30 one OF the lcopafdR has sprung
Down, Peter" lie aays, throwing of
the one, and then turns upon tho other
two. who are leaplng about him. The
biggest Nelly. he rnps smnrtly on her
fiat notified forehead over the burning.
greenish eyes, and she crawls away. suarl-
inE wlckedly,-~
FRITZ let's tho chains fail ON the floor
with great jnnglIng, and then. picking
them mp one by one, proceeds TO attack
the tigers.
no. Kittyl Here, Charleyl Lie sim.
Ladyr So speaking with pat ON tho
head for each he has fastened tho snap
hooks 60 Iron rings in the side OF the cage.
Thcnhe secured the ieopards In the same
way, talSng Nelly last. and dragging her
to the far corner of the cage, where tho
lion, Yellow Prince. IL Hllklng. But as
soon as Fritz draws near. yellow Prince
springs AWAY frightened, and. jumping In
turn over the three tigers MS IL they were
hurdles, makes the round Of tho cage
twice before Fritz can catch him. Then
as he feels the groom's strong hold on his
necl-chan he turns his big head quickly.
showing his fangs II ready TO fasten
them in the arm that holds him. Down
comes the short club on his black muEZlo.
md MS he throws back his head 10 avoid
the blow Tritg's quick fingers have snapped
away out OF danger. Now the big fellow
plungcs ana strains at his bonds. throwing
his 800 pounds OF weight against the taut
chain until the whole cage shakes. He is
excited and angry, and should the chain
part now It might fare badly with Fritz
Twice since the show has been I'm New
York Yellow Prince has broken his chain
in the violence OF his bounds.
Win all IL ready Fritz opens the door
again and passes out, The seven wild
beasts focus thelr eyes on that open door
way and hurl their bodies from the re-
strainng bonds. The leopards make moro
noise than the tigers. which Keep up n deep
purrlng. The lion, braclnB himself ut his
fullest length with hind legs well apart.
sweeps his huge forelegs again and again
backwards along thu floor or tho cage.
covering a distance OF tire, or four feet
at each movement. He suggests some gi-
ganuc football player swapping back the
bnll. He is wasting strength enough 10
KIN an elephant
Presently something red comes dying
through the door and falls with swish
near the leopard Nelly IT IL q piece OF
raw meat weighing seven pounds Two
pieces OF the same size follow instantly
for Dick and Peter; and then three chunks
Of ten pounds each are thrown 70 the
tigers Finally the lion gets his share,
two pieces. making twelve pounds In an
ana none TOO much for his hunger. Long
practice has taught Fritz TO throw the
meat az quickly as conJurer would zeal
out cards and with equal precision,
There Is stified snarl OF satisfaction as
each of the seven brutes shuts his jaws
on tho norsel, and then there is sudden
silence broken only by the rasplng OF the
rough tongues against the meat ana the
grinding OF the bones under the DIG mo-
lars. II Is a perfect picture OF absolute
brutal gluttony 80.
Fritz looks on from the outside ana iells
me about the hunger day. when - sun
days, when the animals get nothins 10
nor,icuiarlv fieree after this day OF fast
ing. and behave when fed ON Monday
afternoon much as when fed on other DAYS.
All keepers agree that Gagged animals must
be deprived OF all food one uay IA ths
week. otherwise they grow 200 tat anu
lazy for the work and suffer besides IN
health Lions and tigers never ear PORK