The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-01-31
some Ancodots, About Lion Tanners.

l French lion tanners, even if they do not exceed in skill those of other na- 1 tions, have, at any rate, had more writ ten and said about them. A few years ago M, Pezon retired from business, ! having made a fortune by his great | power over animals, and gained the dis tinction of being possibly the greatest lion tanner in the world, with the excep- | ton, perhaps, of M. Bidel. at whose | menagerie in Paris some time ago there | was q wonderful meeting of giants. | dwarfs and monstrosities generally, for | the purpose of discussing the interests of their respective callings, so far as those interests were connected with the hiring of ground in Paris and its vicin- ity.
 M. Pe2on was one of the tanners who ignored the use of a heavy whip. Con- ciliation, and not coercion, was appar- entity his motto; and, acting on that principle, he attained prodigious suc- cess. Henri Martin too, another French performer, was quite in the front rank
 and he, unlike some others in the pro-
 ession, began really young. He was but | a small boy when he first embarked on circus life, and began with horses, grad ually making his way to the more dan gerous animals. dHe is said to have been one of the few who did not object i to tackle tigers, leopards or partners three animals which the majority of wild beast performers have a whole some, and not unnatural, dislike to-. Some of M. Martins methods appear | to have been curious. Having on one occasion to interview a hyena, Martin
 wrapped his arms and legs with cords, protecting his head with handkerchiefs and other things. and, walking into the cage, went to the hyena and offered it
 his arm. The hyena bit 1t, of course. but Martin looked on stolidly, as though nothing had happened. Next day he l substituted a leg. and so the training went on, till either the hyena got tired
 of biting or was so disgusted at seeing
 no results that he gave 1t up.
 M. Albert. of Havre, too, was another famous man in his calling, and distin- guished himself on one occastons when
 he found a quarrel going on among the bears, by walking straight in among them, and separating the fighters; but
 MT. George Sanger once did about as
 plucky a thing as ever was known The lions and a lioness were having a ter
 rife fight in their cage, and the battle
 ragged so furiously that neither Crockett
 nor the keepers cared about venturing in. MT. Sanger, however, was equal to the occasion, and, going in among the combatants, succeeded in restoring
 in restoring peace at last. But if Crockett, who was a very able trainer, showed a slight loss of nerve on that ] occasion, he made up for it on another, when a groom tempered with the fas- tenings of ltle Hons cage at Astley's, in
 the hope that the occupants would kill one or more of the horses, in order that
 he might be revenged on the manage
 ment for some fine inflicted. A night watchman, hearing a noise in the audi torium, soon discovered the cause, and
 a messenger was sent to Crockett at his lodgings hard by. The tanner arrived, and going into the auditorium with a small switch, succeeded in a very short time in recagtng his pupils.-London
 Field.