The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1898-01-12
THE KING OF BEASTS.
THINGS WORTH KNOWING BEFORE
TRYING TO TRAIN HIM.


Lions-Edward Darling. the Trainer.
Tells All About the Processes of Train
Ing and Teaching Them.
You have often heard ii remarked of
como person or other that he could not be
driven, but must be led" said Edward
Darling, the famous lion tamor. IF you
have ever tried to accomplish anything
with person so disposed, you will appre-
slate that a great amount of discretion
and discrimination must be exercised IL
you desire to be successful. Keeping i'm
mind the difficulties that present them
selves i'm n human individual who cannot
be driven, you will at once concede that
lion tanners task is not an easy one when
tell you that the king of beasts can
neither be led nor driven. / mean this
literally IL you succeed in having a lion
permit you Co lead hin-and / tell you
that it requires no little patience and
work to accomplish this apparently sim
pie trlck-you can rest assured that the
balance Of his training will come easy.
Many people have wondered why dogs
always accompanied lions while perform
ing on the stage. / have heard some offer
the explanation that they were there for
the protection of the tanner. Others
claimed that there was a psychological
connection between the dogs and the lions,
| by which tho former had the latter hyp-
DotiZed, SO that the least bark or move
| ment from the dog would bring the lion
to a realization of what he was then TO do.
While these theories may sound very well,
| they are all wrong. The dogs are simply
| there for example. They are of course tho
most domestic of all animals, and their
association with the lions makes tho lat
| ter take on some of their habits.
From the time lion is first placed in
| the trainers hands, which is at about the
| age of months, young dogs are placed in
| its cage. At first there is some antagonism
shown, but after they have been together
for awhile they begin to romp and play
with each other like kittens. Lions are
usually trained In pairs-that Is, two In
| one cage. This is done to make them
holder. If they have company, they do
not have tho same fear of the trainer as
| they would if alone And 1t may seem
| strange to you to know that trainer
breads fear in lion more than boldness.
IL when you enter a cage No lion sneaks
away from you and commences to jump
| about, striking its head against the bars
as if it would dash its brains out, seeking
=
out to protect yourself, for as sure as
death that lion, after having exhausted
every way he supposed he could gain his
| liberty will turn his attention to you and
deal with you in manner not the most
polite. A timid lion is to DO dreaded, but
a bold one you can always tell how to deal
with. The only protection the trainer
| takes with him when he first enters cage
| is a board about four feet long. This is
| to hold up i'm front of him in case the
beast makes plunge at him. The tanner
| usually enters the cage as If he had some
| business there, such as sweeping or clean
ing, doing his work, apparently not paying
| the slightest attention to the lions He
keeps this UP for long time, and gradu-
| ally the lions become accustomed to his
presence. Then he offers them food out
of his hand, cautiously for the lion usual
J ly makes grab for his food with his paw
first, and there Is danger of having an arm
| taken off, After this is accomplished he
| begins to stroke the beasts with his stick,
which shows them ii Is not for beating
them, then with his hand rcwarding each
advance with meat
After lion has permitted his trainer
to stroke his back without a remonstrance
| he is considered To know the difference be-
! tween right and wrong, and from that
time on is punished for bad behavior. Be-
| fore this no punishment has been admin
istercd, as the prime object is to first get
the confidence of the beasts and let them
know what you want them to do But
after the trainer has pettcd and rewarded
him for it, should the lion show any de-
sire to go back to his primeval wildness
and make any attempt to claw or bite his
master, then tho whip is applied and not
sparingly either He is whipped and
whipped until his will is broken and he
| permits renewal of the familiarity. l
have seen lions almost beaten TO death be-
fore they would give in, hut at last they
were conquered. The trainer has become
the master, and, strangely, the punish
ments inflicted are never remembered
against him by the lion.
1.-THE first and most difficult step, as /
have said before, is teaching them to be
led. The idea of being led seems to be
contrary to the lions nature. And no
wonder, for what king would not revolt
at such treatment? But the king of beasts
can DO taught, although it requires many
long and severe lessons before he will
bring himself down to it. Even after a
lion has been fully trained you can never
he absolutely sure of him. They are very
peculiar animals Sometimes they will
not got out of sorts for years, yet in day
will develop nasty traits that make them
decidedly dangerous These spells only
last luckily, for two or three days, when
they return to tho former condition. We
work upon the jealous feelings of a lion
with great success while training one
/ have seen some animals that could never
have been conquered had it not been for
the jealousy that was created in them.
They became so jealous of dogs and other
lions that were having great deal of at
tention paid TO them by the trainer that
they absolutely forgot themselves and
came up to him as the other beasts had
done. Naturally we get very much at.
tached to our own animals but you can
not develop the same affection for a lion
rs you can for dog, / suppose because
you cannot have the lion always with you.
My lions know no one but myself. l at
tend to them exclusively, with the oxcep-
ton of cleaning out the cages. feed them
every morning and let them exercise, so
tA.xV fat,