The record-union., 1894-02-24

Lion tanning and training in the extent
to which they are worked depend entirely
upon the public. Like nearly all other
classes of amusement, lion tanning is
spasmodic. There is really some cause
for this, and so expensive and risky is
the occupation that few people enter 1t.
Just now all over the world there is de-
mand for trained animals. says the New
ork Tribune. This, Mr.. Darling, the
lion tanner, thinks comes from the Juror
which was created by the five lions which
he controlled while in Paris. and by the
collection of Carl Hagenbeck's animals at
the Worlds Fair.
"During the last two years." said Pro-
fessor Darling, there has been a constant
increase in lion showing. 1t has been
taken up in London, Paris and now in
New York, until to-day / feel convinced
that it is the most popular sort Of enter
talnment. The training OF wild animals
Is q science as well az an art, the one eX-
tremely difficult to attain and the other
very rare. To be successful lion tanner
one must have certain characteristics en-
tirely different from those in the other
professions. In the first place, it is abso-
lutely necessary 10 have a love for ami
mails. a lion tanner cannot be made to
order. He must be born. One of the
chief requisites of successful lion tanner
is absolute stability of character. In a
mans dealings with any savage brute and
teaching him to do certain things, the
brute, whose reasoning powers are not so
great as that of man, must always find
the man with whom he becomes assocl-
ated in an even temperament. There are
times, of course, when this is an eXcep-
ton, but in nine cases out of ten it is safe
TO say that no successful lion tanner
changes his moods to tit those of his lion.
THE STRONG DEMAND FOR LIONS.
There is great scarcity Of lions, and
the demand in Europe for them is some
thing at present unprecedented. This
growing desire to train these animals is
such that it makes one of the beasts capa-
bic of being trained a very expensive
article. Singular as it may sound, there
are few animals tit to be trained. They
require certain special characteristics, and
to get the group of five which l now have
had fifty TO select from. The art of Sc
lecting proper animals is part of the pro-
fesSion. One must see that they have
those characteristics which are necessary
to perform. They must be healthy and
young. Once having selected them, it
requires often month of time before
trainer can place his hand upon one of
them, and even then sometimes trainer
will find that an animal which he has Sc
lected with the utmost care proves
thoroughly unavailable.
There are, of course, exceptions even
to this. l remember In one instance |
had lion on which l worked for four
months, and was not able even to touch
it, and yet it subsequently, proved to be
one of the best working animal l ever
had. As rule, [ do not try TO keep an
animal after month Is up, but l liked
this fellow, and was very glad did. AT
ter l have obtained the animals and found
they are tractable, there is only one
thing to do: punish them for disobedi-
ence, be kind to them when they obey,
but in the punishment show kindness.
That is, perhaps, the greatest secret OF all
animal training, and that is why it re-
Quires man Of even temperament,
man who is not moody, and man who
can always be the same when in his cage.
The result Of this is only too apparent,
and one little instance will show it.
'If you will notice when the lions are
in the ring with me they jump quickly
at a word Of command and move away
from me as If in fear. This is not fear,
but obedience. Ii, on the other hand
you could see me go into the living cage
with these animals you would find that
their moods are entirely changed and
that they come and play around me just
like so many kittens. They have been
taught well-that III the performing cage
they must act in one way, but in the liv-
ing cage it IS like home to US, and there
we drop the habits and actions that one
sees il the ring.
'"Phe career of a trained lion is very
short. AS rule, it is usually limited to
four years. Taken as cub he is of no
practical use in the ring until he is two
years old, and when he becomes six and
half or seven he in many cases becomes
Il Fho fo,- I,Te
simply that he reaches his majority at
that time and cannot be kept tractable
any longer. l knew of an instance where
one lion worked until he was nine years
OF age before he attacked his owner.
PEOPLE WHO THINK THEY WOULD LIKE IT
1.-THE desire to become an animal
trainer is more prevalent than one not in
the business would imagine. During my
years Of travelling from one end of the
world to the other have had many aD-
plicatiops and some of them very singu-
lar ones. Hardly week passes without
some adventurous person, and 1t is often
q young lady, coming to me or writing
to me, and asking to be allowed TO go in
with my lions. OF course I always re-
fuse, for the beasts would make meal of
anyone who would dare to do such
thing. | have had noblemen and wealthy
men ask me TO teach them the art OF lion
tanning, and when l show them that il
takes years of time and patience and Pc
cQliar characteristics, they abandon the
idea. Anyone desiring to do such thing
for pastinle would have to purchase the
animals, because brutes of this sort are
invariably spoiled by experiments. and
once lion is spoiled he never again re-
mains of any use TO trainer
''The future of lion-taming will, in my
estimation, be very great, and 1t viii be
much more extensively INDUCED in than
at present. Carl Hagenbeck, IN his
famous place IN Hamburg, has the best
facilities in the world for training ami
mails. He has agents now travelling from
one end of the earth to the other looking
up suitable beasts, capturing them ana
shipping them to Hamburg, where they
will be trained. Hagenbeck's place in
Hamburg is OF great assistance to lion
tanners, for be always has numerous AMI
mails from which we can select. There is
a forty -two-foot ring built for the pur-
pose of training, and it was here that L
first got the idea of going into large
cage with wild animals. His place is
perfect Mecca TO lion tanners.
"At the same time, do not think that
anything greater can be done with wild
animals than is at present accomplished
by Carl Hagenbeclk's wonderful collec-
tion in this country. There is limit to
what lion can be made to do, and my
experience tells me that those now IN
this collection have already reached their
limit. The only thing that can possibly
be done TO improve this is the hope that
science may find some way of robbing
this king OF animals of his power with
out hurting his stature. TO make him do
more than he already does, his dangerous
weapons must be taken away from him.
else it never can be accomplished, and
even then it is doubtful if the degree of
danger would be Iessened because OF the
power he has in blow.