The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-05-23

fondly. They greet his coming with
cries Of delight. and when he goes away
they reach out from the cage. pressing
against the bars. trying vainly to fol-
low him.
1T Is easy to teach them. an COM
pared with other animals. for they have
good memories. and do not easily forget
what they have learned. A stranger
does not succeed with them. Herr Con-
rad tells how a friend OF his took
monkey Of unusual intelligence, but he
could do nothing with 1t. although Herr
Conrad put 1t through its PAGES with no
difficulty. When the friend saw the
trainer at work he understood instantly
why he had failed. At the word of COM
mand, say, somersault, the trainer
would step forward slightly, bend his
knee. and duck his head. The word
alone was not enough for the monkey;
il must see the corresponding motion.
which in this case the friend had failed
to make. 1t Is so in all animal train
ing. Mere words are not enough.
Speaking of this. George Conklin said
that he had no doubt that various ami
mails communicate to one another, but
he does not believe that their language
is vocal. Their cries are simply atten-
ton attractors. a sort of Hey there,
look.' while the real communication Is
done by the motions of the limbs and by
facial expression.
Sometimes the monkeys forget their
parts. They know what the cue means,
but there will be position or move
ment dropped out of the animals mind,
and then the monkey shows embarrass-
ment as 'Ditiful as that of child that
forgets its piece while on a stage Here
is where the genuine trainer comes In
to the best advantage. He speaks some
well-known word Of encoura cement, he
smiles kindly. and. above all. he let's
no shadow of anger. or even of disap-
pointment. come into his eyes. He gives
the cue motion again, and the chances
are that the monkey will understand
then, and will be all right.
'The monkeys are an appreciative
lot, and no class of performers, human
or otherwise, are more pleased when
the spectators show their liking of some
particular act. Herr Conrad tells Of
one Of his monkeys who was most en-
thusiastic at the applause Of spectators.
He used to hop up and down and wave
his cap In the air above his head. bow
! ing as though he was mad, while his
chattering was that Of a most oyful
| being.
DOGS AND BULLS.
Herr Conrads dogs are trained with
the same care that lie gives to his
monkeys. Being less fearful than wild
animals the dogs are better able to un-
derstand what Is wanted. 1t is easy to
teach dog to walk on its hind legs,
and many mongrel has been taught to
do so. A still harder trick Is to get
them to walk on their fore legs alone.
But this trainer taught one of the dogs
to climb up stairs, seventy-eight steps,
| on its hind legs, and on the return it
came down on its fore legs, not touching
the stairs with its hind legs at any part
! of the down trip, nor the fore legs ON the
up one.
Harvey Watkins has black and tan
which has learned the trick of walking
on its hind legs. One dog Herr Conrad
owned seemed very stupid. discourag-
ingly so; but the man had studied 1t,
and knew 1t must be all right for some-
thing. One day he was watching it.
The dog held its head to the ground
The trainer thereupon taught 1t to
stand on Its head. He never had dog
that could stand on it's head SO we'll as
that one did.
For tricks not every dog will do. The
full-blooded dogs used by srortsmen are
too nervous. although so intelligent
Good mongrels are sometimes met with
but the best dog is about two thirds
blue blood-the rest just plain, every
day dog.
"Mr. Collier is now training the trick
bull. Cows are no good. he says; they
are altogether too stupid, but the bulls
are intelligent. They dream of wha,
they do. The animal that learns
slower is surest in the end. Their learn.
ing endures. The calf Is taken wher
twelve months old, vicious one pre-.
ferably, because vicious brutes appear
to he most intelligent. A new trick now
being taught is to sit on its launches
As cattle rise the hips first from the
ground. this Is directly against nature
The hind legs are tied down and ther
the animal is told to get up. He gets
up on to his fore legs and there he |.
on his launches. 1t will take six week.
In all to teach this trick to the bull. l,
Is fed on crushed food. which Is easily
digested, and after each performance
1t Is rewarded with some soft bread
one man only feeds and trains the bull.
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