The Ravalli Republican., 1898-08-10
TWO NARROW ESCAPES.
Colonel I:ices Experience With an sngr,


Colonel Eice's Experience With an angry
| @u Elephant and Il Lion.
Speaking Of escapes from death
recalls my experience with the muir
derous elephant Romeo. Had I been
a little slower in my movements
would have been his eighth VICTIM"
said Colonel Rice ref1ectively. Zone
J day was directing the arrangement
Of some canvas men and unwittingly
venturcd a couple Of steps backward
I and within range Of the death deal
| ing elephant, which at once raised
his trunk slowly With the purpose Of
giving me settler. He would have
succeeded in killing me had not
/ young elephant near by trumpeted
an alarm, and, like lightning, at
once sprang forward and out of dan
ger from the murderous blow Of the
trunk by such q small distance that
Oh the back of my head I felt the
wind occasioned by it's descent. Aft
er that experience Romeo was al
ways kept chained by all four legs
The young elephant which had
saved me was rewarded with candy
It is not surprising that eventu-
ally I essayed the role of lion
tanner" continued the speaker, "and
under the able tutelage of Franco
nelli, the best lion tanner | ever saw,
and who, by the way, subsequently
met his death in a lions den in the
city of Havana After having twice
accompanied the fearless Franco
nelli into the den Of Richard III, the
largest and hercest African lion
ever exhibited in this country, it
was at Vincennes, Ind, that I at
length determined to enter the den
Of tho beast alone Clad in tinsel
and spangles, at tho afternoon per
fornance, amid an outburst Of music
by the band, 7 boldly approached
the lions cage, opened the barred
door and entered unha1med. The
great brute, which was lying upon
the floor at the farther end Of the
cage, seemed to not heed my pros
ence otlor than by q glance Of sullen
Indifference, SO that deemed my
first attempt at entering a lions
f: den success.
But my assurance of success was
q Httlo premature, and fortunate
was it for me that beneath the cage
was q furnace in which glowed red
hot iron rods and that trusty attend
ants were at hand to effectively WELD
them upon the lion if necessity de-
manded, else another page would
have been added to the bloody his
tory Of the king Of the forest and
another name to his list of victims.
After q three minutes stay in the
lions den made 4 parting salute to
the Ereathless audience and prepared
to leave the cage. AS backed to-
ward the door ! observed, 10 my
horror, that the lion had almost i'm
perceptibly risen from the floor, pre-
paratory to splinging upon me. AL
most overcome by the grave danger
of my situation, | contrived to sig
nal the attendants to thrust the
heated rods in between me and the
bloodthirsty brute. Scarcely had [
done SO when the great tawny croa-
ture hurled itself uponme and, bury
ing it's claws in my shoulders, bore
me to the floor
II felt tho hot breath of the lion
in my face as he opened his huge
jaws preparatory to sinking his
fangs in my throat, and Il horrible
death was but a brief second distant
when tho redhot irons were brought
into play and used SO effectively
that the brute was forced to retreat
to the far end of the cage without
intlicting further injury upon me. I
was hrrrie.l]y drawn from the cage,
none the worse for my thrilling ex-
perience save badly shaken nerves,
lacerated shoulders and a tattered
tinsel jacket. AS hurried behind
the curtain the band triumphantly
played See, the Conquering Hero
Comes' and I noticed that a panic in
the audience had been narrowly
averted And what became Of
Richard III? Oh, he lived to kill
Franconelli a few months ]ater!'-
Los Angeles Times.
Catarrh Cured. A clear head and
sweet breath secured with Shiloh's
Caturrh Remedy: sold on a guaran-