The Wichita daily eagle., 1895-02-20
TO EDUCATE LEO
THINGS WORTH KNOWING BEFORE
TRYING TO TRAIN HIM.

= why Dogs Are So Often Seen With Trained
LIons-Edward Darling, the Trainer,
Tells All About the Processes OF Train
ing and Teaching Them.
"You have often heard it remarked OF
some person or other that he could not be
driven. but must be led, said Edward
Darling, the famous lion tanner. IF you
have ever tried to accomplish anything
with d person so disposed, you will appra-
ciate that a great amount of discretion
and discr1 mination must be exercised If
YOU desire 80 be successful. Keeping in
mind the difficulties that present them
selves in a human individual who cannot
be driven, you will at once concede that c
lion tanners task is not an easy one whaa
I tell yop. that the king Of beasts can
neither be led nor driven. / mean this
literally Il you succeed in having lion
permit you to lead him-and l tell you
that it requires 10 little patience and
.ayork to accomplish this apparently sim
Dle trick-you can rest assured that the
balance of his training will come easy.
MANY people have wondered why dogs
ALWAYS accompanied lions while perform
;ipg on the stage. / have heard some offer
The explanation that they were there for
the protection of the tanner. Others
claimed that there was psychological
connection between the dogs and the Ions
hy which the former had the latter byp.
Noticed. so that the least bark or move
ment from the dog would bring the lion
to a realizsition of what he was then TO do.
While these theories may sound very well.
they are all wrong. The dogs are simply
there for example. They are of course the
most domestic of all animals, and thelr
associa tion with the lions makes the lat
ter take on some of their habits.
Fro m the time lion is first placed in
the trail 1er's hands, which is at about the
age of months, young dogs are placed in
fits cage At first there is some antagonism
shown, but after they have been together
for awhile, they begin to ronlp and play
with each other like kittens. Lions are
usually ira ined in pairs-that is, two in
pne cage This is done to make them
holder If IIley have company, they do
not have the same fear of the trainer as
they would if alone. And il may seem
strange to you to know that trainer
breads fear in a lion more than boidness-
Jf when you enter cage lion sneaks
away from you and commences TO jump
about, striking its head against the bars
rs if it would dash its brains out, seeking
TO escape in every possible way, then look
put TO protect yourself, for as sure as
death that lion, after having exhausted
every way he supposed he could gain his
liberty, will turn his attention to you and
deal with you in a manner not the most
polite. A timid lion is to be dreaded, but
a bold one you can always tell how to deal
with The only protection the trainer
takes with him when he first enters cage
Is board about four feet long. This is
to hold up in front of him in case the
beast makes a plunge at him. The tanner
usually enters the cage as if he had some
business there such as sweeping or clean
ing, doing his work, apparently not paying
the slightest attention to the lions. He
keeps this up for q long time, and gradu-
ally the lions become accustomed TO his
presence Then he offers them food out
of his hand, cautiously, for the lion usual
ly makes a grab for his food with his paw
first, and there is dangerof having an arm
taken off, After this is accomplished he
begins to stroke the beasts with his stick,
which shows them it is not for beating
them, then with his hand rewarding each
advance with meat
7 after lion has permitted his trainer
10 StIOhe ulS DtCA "ibHoQb o
the is considered to know the difference be-
tween right and wrong, and from that
time on is punished for bad behavior. Be
fore this no punishment has been admin
lstered, as the prime object is to first get
the confidence of the beasts and let them
know what you want them to do. But
after the trainer has petted and rewarded
him for it, should the lion show any de-
.sr 10 h,n 10 hiS priroauaI NxiI6npSc
and make any attempt to claw or bite his
master, then the whip is applied and not
sparingly either He is whipped and
whipped until his will is broken and he
permits renewal of the familiarity. L
have seen lions almost beaten to death be-
fore they would give in, but at last they
were conquered. The trainer has become
che master, and, strangely, the punish
,nents inflicted are never remembered
against him by the lion.
1.-The first and most difficult step, as /
have said before, is teaching them TO be
led. The idea of being led seems TO be
contrary 10 the lions nature. And DO
wonder, for what king would not revolt
at such treatment? But the king of beasts
can be taught, although it requires many
long and severe lessons before he will
bring himself down to it. Even after a
lion has been fully trained you can never
be absolutely sure OF him. They are very
peculiar animals. Sometimes they will
not get out of sorts for years, yet in a day
will develop nasty traits that make them
decidedly dangerous. These spells only
last, luckily, for two or three days, when
they return co the former condition. We
work upon the jealous feelings of lion
with great success while training one.
have seen some animals that could never
have been conquered had it not been for
the jealousy that was created in them.
They became so jealous Of dogs and other
lions that were having great deal of at
tention paid TO them by the trainer that
they absolutely forgot themselves and
came up to him as the other beasts had
done. Naturally we get very much at
tached 10 our own animals, hut you can
not develop the same affection for a lion
as you can for dog, | suppose because
you cannot have the lion always with you.
My lions know no one but myself / at
tend 70 them exclusively, with the excep-
tion Of cleaning out the cages. feed them
every morning and let them exercise, SO
that they are almost part Of my family"
-Pittsburg Dispatch.
Russian lgnorance