The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1895-02-09
LIONS PROUD OF WHISPERS.

q Tiger Died OF n Broken Heart Be-
cause He Had Lost Them
"It IL all well enough" said Prof.
Darling, ito oblige many young women
who are anxious to have a lions wills"
ker as a SORT of a talisman, but l do
cot propose to render the five animals
which l possess positively useless"
Prof, Darling stood in front of his
cage at Hagenbeck's with his big brutes
huddled up closely to the iron bars
waiting to be caressed. For some
time he has been pestered to death
by personal applications and by letters
asking for lust one lions WhlSker'
until his mail has become a burden to
him, and, as he pulled the long bristle-
like appendages fl ON the mouths OF his
lie MS, he said: Once a lion loses his
whiskers he is practically ruined, not
only so far as his appearance goes, but
for his usefulness as well. l knew n
little instance Of this" added the pro-
fessor. 1T was in the Imperial Zoo
logical Garden at Schonbrunn, in Ger
many. Carl Hagenbeck had purchased
ut the command of the Imperial Gov
eminent n of the handSOmest tigers
l ever saw in all my life. He was most
beautifully marked and had long tiow-
ing whiskers. The beast was very
ferocious and had to be handled with
the utmost care. At Mr.. Hagenbeck's
request, 1 went with him to help put
the tiger in the permanent cage in the
200.
1.-The tiger travelled in a box with
bars in front, and when the destina-
tiCn was reached the box was backed
up against the permanent cage and the
door opened to allow the tiger to enter,
but bulge he would not. We worked
at him for hours and nc hing would
induce the animal to move out OF his
travelling cage. TO make a long story
short, we starved that animal for three
days, with great pieces Of meat lying
just outside of his cage, but it did no
good. We then tried that remedy
which is often tried on wild beasts,
although few people know of it, tile
hose-pipe,' and we drenched that tiger,
but this did not have any more effect
on a woman's hair.
Things were getting in j very desper'
ate state, for with the starvation and
Cll1ll Nl1- SalS tlhtS -
would lose his tiger. so he determined
to try the last resort-fire. A newspa-
per was lighted end thrown into the
cage. The tiger turned with a spring
and grabbed the fire right in his mouth,
and as he did so singed off all his
vLiskers. The fire proved remedial,
and the animal darted INTO the cage in.
tended for him, and you may believe
me or not, but that animal with the
loss of his whiskers lost all of his pride
The Imperial Governments paid AZ
eno1 price for him, but fror1 the
day that he lost his whiskers he never
would face the crowd of people who
came to see him, but VIC uld hide his
face in actual shame, and finally died
Mr.. Hagenbcck, than whom there is III
greater authority on such subjects, de
clared that he died of a broken heart
caused by the humiliation of his pride
"A lions or tigers whiskers when
cnce taken off never grow out again
These beasts shed their hair once a
year ordinarily, all except the whisker:
Their shedding depends entirely upor
the climate, and there is a very peculiar
fact connected with the shedding OF
this hair, and that is that l never knew
o. lion or tiger, or any other animal Of
the cat species, to so through he Rec
Sea without shedding. | have SeeI
animals shed at Suakim and come on
with hair as fresh and glossy as silk
and yet going through the Red Sc;
they will shed again. No one a &C
count for it, but it Is a fact, neverthe
teSSo