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

a week or more. They are fed ut the
some time, and no cause OF Jealousy
is given them. All the animals are en-
tremely jealous. and It is one OF the
most trying duties OF a trainer to keep
the beasts on friendly terms.
After a while the strangers are taken
into the family cage and the trainer
goes in with them; then the animals
all show signs of uneasiness. A lion
may snarl, a tiger snafl, or goat may
show fear. All of these impolite signs
are at once suppressed by gesture ana
a word. The trainer sits or stands IN
the cage for hours, putting down re-
beliions and riots as soon as signs OF
such appear He must not turn his
back on any of the brutes. for 18th his
owr and his pets safety. 1t is trying
work for all concerned. and must be
kept up for weeks. day after day. Some
times newcomers get on friendly terms
with the others unexplainably. MT.
Winner tells of a curious case in which
| n monkey and tiger became fast
| friends, and many like incidents are re-
counted of cows and geese, dogs ana
horses. cats and dogs. etc. 1t Is es-
pecially hard for dogs, wolves or hyenas
| to be friendly with animals of the cat
tribe, and free for-all-fghts sometimes
occur In spite of the utmost care.
| when the trainer goes into any cage
| of the big cats or wolf-like animals, he
sees to it that assistants are near by
with weapons to prod the animals OF
should they attack him. Winner has
been in the business thirty years, has
been in many close quarters. The little
finger of his right hand was bitten OFT
| h,- 1innacc hrnl.n hig nose.
lion knocked a hole in his skull: 4
panther chewed his neck: monkey tore
his hand. His back is creased with
panther-claw marks, received by indis-
creetly turning his back to a male
panther, whose sweetheart was near
by.
TRAINING ELEPHANTS.
Ranked by intelligence. bears go
from the highest grade, the Russian
down through grizzly. cinnamon black
and polar bears. Black bears are the
most docile. ranging up from the Gin
namon, grizzly. Russian. and polar
bears. The bear is a fine boxer nat
urally, and it was not long before 1t
the trainer. One of the trick leopards
will do anything any of the other ami
mails will, which Is remarkable. consid-
ering that leopards are not very bright,
not one in a hundred being capable OF
achieving the eminence trainable
tiger attains as circus performer.
George Conklin is the elephant spe-
cialist this year. He considers ele-
phants as intelligent as any animal.
and says, to prove 1t, that while tigers,
lions, and horses are far easier 10
train when young than when old. the
old elephant learns with but little more
difficulty than the young ones expert
ence. There is a choice of elephants,
but the coed one remembers its train
ing for q long while, and is not slow to
take revenge, even years afterward, Tor
injury. Il is remembered that ele-
phants have seized cruel drivers after
years of separation and thrown them
to their death. 1t Is never safe to play
a cruel joke on one.
THE first thing young elephant Is
taught is not to bolt out of the ring.
1t is taught when to go and when to
stop, when to turn around and go back
again. The baby trick elephant has a
will of its own, and X takes great pleas
ure in doing some of the tricks One
thing 1t l!E-ss to do is to fan itself. The
cooling waves Of air are delightful to IT.
and sometimes considerable trouble Is
experienced in getting it to cease fan
ming No boy ever liked to ride wheel
better than the elephants who have
that accomplishment They would ride
for longer than Is required OF them II
they were allowed to do so The ele-
phants are so fond Of turning the crank
OF hand organ after they have been
taught how to do it that there is a dunn
my organ kept for their pleasure. They
are also fond of the see-saw. Once the
elephants get an idea of what Is wanted
they set out to do 1t. If the trainer
wants an elephant to stand on its head
Ire goes about that job with tackle
and block. The same method Is used tt
get it onto its launches In a chair
when it gets down to supper with the
clown.
SMART BEASTS.
"Often. so often as to be almost regu'
lar, the elephants originate ways of do
! ing things. and the trainer let's then
have their way as much as possible
consistently with the picturesquenes!
of the performances. So thoroughly dc
elephants enjoy their tricks that the!
go through them for their own amuse
ment. Ruth likes standing on bottle!
so well that she tries II on stakes where
ever she finds them; moreover, for he
regular standing position she keeps al
. four of her feet together. But 1t doe.
, not do to make the elephants work tOt
, much. AS with human beings, thing!
| which they have to DO are liked far les
r than those things which they do o
r their own accord. They take delight IL
standing on their heads when in quar-
ters of sufficient size. The dancers. al
well as the others, dream Of their work
and of other things. too, judging from
their whistling and actions. They ar
/ nervous animals, and all are given t,
swaying their heads up or down, o
from right to left besides the swayin:
of the whole body. They prefer to III
down and sleep, but on the road sleel
, while standing. probably because o
,, lack of room. They are fond of music
. and may be trained to play tunes OF
| various instruments.
Mr.. Conklin's motto is: Take tim
. and have patience. He has trained al
sorts of beasts and some birds He ca
probably keep cassowarys and Othe
! die-easy animals alive longer than an
l one else in the business. He has ais
bred animals In captivity which ha
4 never before borne young. The theor
he worked on was that each specie
e should have quarters especially adapt
/. ed to its use. The trick hippopotamu
4 Is one OF his training, and pelicar
, not now shown, is also one of his pet.
!, TRICK MONKIES.
Herr Conrad makes q speciality G
monkeys and dogs. He Is a fatherl
sort Of German, who speaks frequent
of children when talking of his mon
a keys That he Is fond of the monkey.
!. J of dogs, and Of children no one VIII
: knows him doubts for moment. Som
|. monkeys he begins to train when the
;. are year old, others when two yeal
!, old. He finds that individual monkey
;. are rs varying as human beings. an
I ! hp Ia Inc ho h.