The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-03-14
Ways Of Animal Trainers.

NHtH MdCDtln III uOnpS Oh HpTCcSJ OeIl-
ance, proclaimed his willingness to en-
counter "ruggcd Russian bear, an armed
rhinoceros or n Hyrcan tiger" all that
was ever learned of the habits of these
harmless pets makes it safe TO assume that
1t was greatly to the advantage of that
| murderous ScOtchman that his request was
| not complied with. Strong as he was and
| fearless as he is admitted to have been,
| with his armor on and sword in his good
| right hand, common sense people will still
| feel inclined to doubt his ability to stand
up successfully against such tremendous
odds. Was it "A "blulf," or was it that he
had at his command other methods, until
then unknown, by which he hoped to car
| ry the day in such n dreadful combatS Had
| he red pepper in his mind? Pshawi The
| thought is unworthy of n moments con
sideraton. Had he undertaken TO tackle
,, the business end of n Hyrcan tiger, all the
red pepper in Caledonia would not have
Kept the life in his body or the armor on
his back. Hyrcan tigers have inherited
the habit gross and unreasonable though
it be, of getting on the outside" of any
man who tries to make fun of them at
close quarters.
Compare then and now. In this city in
as Tattersalls' you find not one man, but
many men, performing more wonderful
feats with wild animals than ever Mac
beth even dreamed of performing when
the ghost was worrying the life out of him.
And they make no "bones about it" eli
ther. They handle Hagenbecks trained
animals as easily as you would handle a
kitten Is it easy, thought Was the dis.
covery of the law of gravitation, or of the
circulation of the blood, or of any other
difficult problem which you can recall,
easy? Each took lifetime of study So did
the work which, for instance, Professor
Darling the lion tanner, does, or Miss Berg
who was very near to furnishing a luscious
mouthful for the big tiger when exhibit
ing in Chicago. Even in this age when
the wonder at anything extraordinary lasts
no more than day, the wonder at wi at
you can see the animal tanners do at la.
gen beck s will last at least for a year, il
indeed it does not cling to you for all time
as permanent memory.
None of these animal tanners has armol
on his back, or n sword in his hand, or
even red pepper in his pocket. Then how
does he manage to control all these ami
mails and play with them and caress them
and make them howl with fear in a big
group of different species at a time? The
tanner has nothing in his hand but whip,
which he never uses save to the extent of
giving it an occasional crack. Surround.
ing him are lions, tigers, boarhounds.
bears, leopards, panthers and a crowded
house. Between them and the house are
big iron bars, but between them and him
there is nothing. There is nothing that
you can see at least But it is there fOI
all that. What is it? What can it be:
Don't play the part of the scofiins sur
geon, who justified his unbelicf in immor
tally by saying that he had examined even
to the minutest fibers all hooks and Gran.
MES of the human system and never found
any trace of a soul. There are things which
you cannot see, and the power which ena
bles Professor Darling to do what he likes
In this huge menagerie is one of these
things. Look at that unarmed man with
Death threatening him upon every side
How placidly he smiles To employ the
Old time figure and say that he is as cool
as cucumber would not be inapt
But mark how stealthy he is, and how
cautiously he moves around withal, Never
was leopard more lynx eyed when prepar.
ing to spring upon his prey. To the ordi.
nary observer these precautions may not
air of the utmost unconcern. But there is
not one moment from the time that Oar
ling or Mehrman or any one Of the Other
trainers goes into that ring that he is not
on the alert. 1t Is this element of danger
more perhaps than anything else which is
lnseparable from every performance in this
unique show that draws spectators day
and night. Nobody can tell what any one
or these monarchs of the jungle may do in
a given contingency. You can only guess
at it. 1t may be ''muggy" day Some
one of them may not have had enough to
eat. Down below where they sleep NAV
have been damp. All this tells The white
bear in his playful moods may scratch the
boarhound a little too hard; the horse,
frightened beyond endurance, may take
1t into his head some day to kick back at
the lion; the panther, biting at the tail
OF the tiger, may not be aware that he is
"monkeying with buzzsaw" All this
tells too. Yet the brave man in the ring
takes his chances, and although the con.
slderatlon of personal profit is behind most
or what people do in this workaday world
IL must be fact that he at least feels
certain quality of pride-even if he should
never get penny-of being able to per-
form what one in millions of his fellow |
could never hope to accom-
plish.
While the trainer is in the ring showing |
what the bear can do the big tiger washes |
his face like cat and anon looks off to-
ward the east as if longing to spring once
more into the primeval forest. The boar
hound yawns listlessly, and you know he
Is merely dog. The lion in an attitude
OF disdainful repose, sits upon his haunch-
es awaiting the summons of his master.
The horsep Well you see horse every
nay, but you don see him locked up with
Wild animals as you do here. Az near as
human intelligence can form an estimate,
each one of these animals resembles the
Iunatic to this extent, that he is concerned
only with what interests himself He will
come, though, when called upon and never
attempts to do more than he is asked.
an overzealous member of the
generally n lion or tiger, will
essay role of that kind; but, promptly
brought to book by crack of the whip,