Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-01-22
THE KING OF BEASTS.
,ru,Ncs WORTH KNOWING BEFORE
TRYING TO TRAIN HIM.

why Dogs Are So Often Seen With frame"
! 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 De
driven. but must be led" said Edward
Darling. the famous lion tanner. III you
have ever tried to accomplish anything
with a person SO disposed, you Will appre-
ciate that a great amount of discretion
and discrimination must be exercised II
Won desire to 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
lion tanners task is not an easy one when
l tell you that the king of beasts can
neither be led nor driven. I mean this
literally. If you succeed in having lion
hermit YOU to lead him-and I tell you
that it requires no little patience and
work to accomplish this apparently SIM
nile 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
ing on the stage 1 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 lions,
by which the former had the latter hyp-
Noticed, so that the least bark or move
ment from the dog would bring the lion
to a realization of what he was then to do.
While these theories may sound very well,
they are all wrong The dogs arc simply
there for example. They are OF course the
most domestic of all animals, and their
association with the lions makes the lat
ter take on some of their habits.
From the time lion is first placed In
the trainers hands, which is at about the
age of 9 months, young dogs are placed IN
its cage At first there is some antagonism
shown, but after thy have been together
for awhile they begin to romp and play
with each other like kittens. Lions are
usually trained in pairs-that is, two IN
one cage. This is done to make them
holder. If they have company, they do
not have the same fear of the trainer as
they would if alone And it may seem
strange to you to know that trainer
breads fear in lion more than holiness.
If when Won enter cage a lion sneaks
away from you and commences to jump
about, striking its head against the bars
as if it would dash its brains out, seeking
to escape in every possible way, then look
out 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 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 a board about fonr feet long. This is
to hold up in front of him in case the
beast makes 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. lie
keeps this up for a long time and gradu-
ally the lions become accustomed to his
presence. Then be offers them food cut
Of his hand, cautiously, for the lion usual
ly makes grab for his food with his paw
first, and there is danger of 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.
after n lion has permitted his trainer
to stroke his back without a remonstrance
he is considered to know the difference be-
tween right and wrong, and from that
time Oh is punished for bad behavior. Be-
fore this no punishment has been admin
istered, 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-
sire to go back to his primeval wildnoss
and make any attempt 10 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 he
fore they would give in, but at last they
the MASTER and, strangely, the punish
ments 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 DO
contrary to the lions nature. And no
NOHuST, lCT Nbdb Mig NOulu HOb IcNbI6
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 to the former condition. We
work upon the jealous feelings of lion
with great success while training one.
l have seen some animals that could never
have been conquered had it not been fos
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 to our own animals, but you can
not develop the same affection for lion
MS yon can for a dog, suppose because
you cannot have the lion always with you.
My lions know no one but myself. az
fond RI thpr,, .ayely siv ply with tho oycap-