The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-08


is done when the lion strikes and fears
the flesh with his hooked claws which
hang on and often pull the flesh from the
bone.
1t is also a mistaken idea that a train
er never leaves his back turned to the
lion. No attention is paid to this, al
though from long practice the man in
tently listens to every movement of the
beast when he Is passing in his rear. and
is able to distinguish the slightest varia-
ton in the footsteps of his dangerous
pets. The whole matter hinges on the
experience of the trainer and the conf
dence with which he regards the animals
under his care.
'rhe position Of trainer is by no means
a sinecure, whether it be a lion, tiger or
elephant which may be the object of at
tention, and during my long carer /
have trained many of the beasts.
1.-THE first time l had any serious trouble
was when 1 was with Kleckner x Nel-
ley's circus in 1874, while the show was az
Masses Crossroads. Pa. I was in the cage
with tull-grown lion which 1 had train
ed several years eprevious and which two
years before had killed Joe White, his
Keeper, and having been working the
brute for fully three weeks, had not the
slightest idea that there would be any
trouble, but at the same time / remember
ed thedate OF White and kept my wealth
er eve open for squalls. The day men
toned ! was putting the lion through
his PAGES when he turned on me, and
springing, knocked me TO the floor with
his paw, at the same time burying his
teeth In my knee. l was armed with a
stout club. and when the attendants out
side of the cage succeeded in forcing the
brute to leave me / struggled to my feet
Just as the brute leaped again and clawed
my side, leaving several of the ribs bare
Of flesh. / knocked him down. however.
and when he tried to get on his feet
struck him again in the neck and to my
surprise killed him, breaking his neck
As a result of this encounter 1 was laid
up in bed ten weeks and walked four
weeks with aid of a crutch.
In Louisville, a year or two later. i had
my second struggle with a lion named
Duke, which became angered al me during
performance and came very nearly do
ing me up for good. He knocked me to
the floor Of the cage and before we could
be separated the beast had succeeded in
crushing the bones in one of my hands,
tearing the flesh from the side of my neck
tearing the flesh from the calf of the
leg and splitting my lips with his paw.
From this contact retired to my bed
and was laid up for over month.
Tigers, as a rule. DO not breed well in
captivity, and the specimens exhibited In
the menageries are captured while young
in India or the Malay peninsula the finest
coming from Bengal. The supply OF both
lions and tigers is becoming more scarce
every year, but the ease with which the
lions are reared In the cage precludes the
possibility of the species becoming ex-
tinct. With tigers, however, it is rarely
ever that a fine specimen Is captured This
applies to the greater portion Of the ami
mails which are desirable in the mena-
geries Of the country, and owing to the
rapidly decreasing number IN the wild
state and impossibility Of inducing the
beasts to breed in captivity, the price for
fairly good specimens is increasing All
the time"
According to the estimate placed by Mr.
Mcdonald, the cost Of the following named
beasts, delivered in New York, would be.
Elephant $3.50, lion $1,000 to 81 800 tiger
$780, leopard $780, jnguar $3.50, camel $3.50
/ to $500. hyena S200 Polar bear 5000, sloth
bear $500, kangaroo $50 to $500 per pair.
/ hippopotamus 5000, giraffe, scarce at
| $780, rhinocerous 5000, monkeys, from SO
/ fO S600