Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1897-02-25
LION TANNERS.

fhey Must BE Men Of Sober Habits -
Well as Fearless.
The tanning of lions has been prao-
ticed for centuries. Hanno, a Car
thaginian, is said to have been the
first lion tanner, and he had a lion
which followed him about like a
dog. His skill was not appreciated,
however, for he was banished by
the republic, because it was deemed
that a man who could subdue so
much ferocity must needs be dan
gerous to the state. Ptolemy Phil
adelphus, king of Egypt B. c. 2s5,
had IL cha,iots drawn by lions.
Mark Antony rode about Rome in a
chariot drawn by q pair Of lions.
Domitian had a lion that c
panied him out hunting.
Bernice, queen Of Egypt, had a
tame lion which sat at table with
her and licked her cheeks. These
stories must, of course, be taken for
what they are worth, but at least
they show that lion tanning was not
unknown in those bygone days. In
u own country the art has been
practiced with considerable c
Early In this century Ducrow, the
famous equestrian, introduced into
his exhibition a lion and a tigress
with some hybrid cubs belonging to
n Atkins. The novelty was very
popular, and pucrow was summon
ed to Windsor castle to exhibit his
animals. The keeper used to lie
down in the cage with the lion on
one side Of him and the tigress on
the other, while the cubs played
and gamboled at his feet.
One Of the most celebrated lion
tanners Of the century was Van Am
burgh, a Dutchman who came to
this country before the queen began
her reign. He has been immortal
lied by Sir Edwin Landseer, who
painted a picture of him in the midst
of his lions. Van Amburgh once
told the Duke of Wellington, who
had asked if he was never afraid Of
his lions, that he had never felt any
fear of them, but if he ever suspect
ed that they had ceased to fear him
he would at once give up the bust
ness. Besides f~earlessness the trainer
requires infinite patience. He usual
ly begins by feeding the beasts from
outside the bars, and then, at length,
ventures into the cage. Lions, it is
said, like to be stroked and may be
hckled into submission. Another
requisite quality of a trainer is that
of absolute sobriety. The resort to
Dutch courage has been the cause
Of death of numbers Of lion tanners.
An Irishman named Mccartney,
who was exhibiting in Manders' me-
nagerie in the sixties, was a sad ex-
ample Of this fact. While exhibiting
at Bolton Mccartney went into the
lions cage when he was not quite
sober. He began chasing the lions
round their large den. One of them
sprang at him, seized him by the
hip and dragged him to the ground.
Then the other beasts joined in, and
the unfortunate man was soon torn
to pieces.
After Wombwell's death his me-
nagerie split up into two or three
shows. One Of these had a Lion
king named Lorenzo, who used
with a lion to perform the classical
story Of Androcles. This was, it
will be remembered, a tale of a
Greek slave, who, flying from the
cruelty and barbarity Of his Roman
master, plunged into a forest, where
he encountered a lion with a thorn
in his foot. Androcles extracted the
thorn and won the beasts gratitude.
Being recaptured, he was condemned
to be thrown to a lion. The verita-
BILE beast which he had befriended
happened to be the one caught and
brought to the amphitheater. The
lion recognized Androcles and licked
his hand, refusing to hurt him. Lo-
renzo, in this little play, used to de-
light crowded audiences for years.
No mention of lion tanners would be
complete if reference were not made
John Cooper, who rivals Van
:burgh for the first place in his
tt. Mr.. Cooper is, we believe,
alive. He began his experience
nimals at a very early age, join
Batty's circus at the age Of 10.
'a was still a mere boy,
:ing at Leeds.