The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-01-21
A Woman Lion Tanner

A Woman Lion Tanner
It is not often that the taraIag end
/ training OF ferocious beasts Is adopted IS
4 a pastine. Least OF all does :. sem liSe-
/ ly hat such an ocCupatioa would eppea1
( To d woman as means ef diversion.
Yet one Of the most successful I'on am
/ ers in Germany Is Miss Cora sn,it.
/ Of Leipzig. who adopted this unique &C
/ cupation as a source Of entertainment
rather than OF income
Miss Benoit Is handsome young We
man Of twenty live or thsrSa21u's She
is OF German-ERglish extraction, and Ie-
/ ing the daughter Of wel-to-S0 9arer Is.
she was carefully and thoroughly eiucs +
ed Her parents died While she vas IN
her early teens, and after their deaths
she resided in the family OF one Of her
fathers friends, the director % the LeiP-
zig geological gardens.
In this situation she had many cppor-
tunities to study the animals in he | tip-
zig collection. which IS a very large one
Being a young woman of ndspen3Cnt
mind as well as ample means, she at
length took the notion that she wCul1 IKE
10 Try her hand AZ training a oair Of
young lions which had just arrived al
the zoo. At first her friends ,etISei 70
take the project seriously. WAsa hey
were convinced that she vas T. earnest
they tried by every possible means 10 dis
suade her, pointing CUT the djIfic airy aaj
danger OF such an undertaking.. which
requires the strength and nerve OF the
bravest men TO be carried out succes
fully. Fraulein Benoit was convinced
however, that she had as much courage
as any man. moreover. that she uGdsr-
stood the nature OF lions as well as most
persons.
She succeeded IN having her own wSy
and was permitted u take charge OF The
two young lions that had never been
handled by any person.
Il can not say truthfully that I was n
the least nervous when / entered the
lions cage for the first time, SAID Miss
Benoit in relating her experience. 4 had
studied the habits and natures II such
animals and had Fven the methods Ct
other trainers. / had theories Of l1y Cwn
on the subject also, and l knew taat The
one thing necessary was to gain and keep
the mastery from the start. In this /
found that my sex aided rather than hin-
dered me
The lions had never been handled az
all except 70 the extent necessary N
feeding and transporting them, which
was, OF course, an advantage. No wO-
man had been near them. When I en-
tered the cage they retreated 20 the op-
posite corner and crouched there in fear
and trembling. / found that This as
due 10 the Tustiing OF my long skirts
which seemed 10 inspire in them a sort Of
fascinated fear. My task was therefore
to reassUre and not 20 COW them From
the first l treated them with Kindness,
seldom using force or even the display OF
force except to the extent Of inspiring
them with a wholesome respect. / have
found this plan to succeed admirably and
with the right material 10 begin with IL
is possible 10 train lions TO do almost
anything.
Il have noticed that the sight ard
sound Of my skirts has had the same
effect on other lions that 81 did on this
first pair. I think that the reason IS this.
lions that are captured in a wild state 10
not see or come in contact with women
until long after they have come into cap
tivity. Therefore a woman is anew and
unknown being TO them. and Ike al an
imaIs they are fimid In the presence of
anything that is unfamiliag have
found it inadvisable to adopt the costume
of most professional women lion
tanners, preferring the ordinary attire, and
finding that it answers even better than
the other. The animals always manif st
q great interest in my gowns They like
to sniff about them. and nave torn them
some times in trying TO inspect them with
their claws. But discourage any such
familiarity.
Il have never had an accident or an
injury from the lions beyond few
scratches on my arms and legs inflicted
usually by accident; never anything seri-
Gus. That is because ! an always care
full. take my time in teaching my sub
jects. and always know them thoroughly
before I attempt TO make them perfo m
ana tricks.
The best subjects for lion tanner are
those that are captured when they are
young. Animals that are born in CAP
tivity are not 50 very satisfactory. A. 3
rule they have been spoiled by petl1g
and have been handled by TOO many SIR
fcrent persons. They are sluggish. urra- {
liable and deceitful and are likely u
turn on one at the most gncxDcctei mo- 4
ment. OF course. there are Erets differ /
ences between individual animals ~ b.
tween individual perosns. Some are much :
more intelligent and more honest than /
others. The best lions for training our +
roses come from East Africa. They arc /.
more intelligent. and can hs handled /.
much better than the Asiatic lions
Il enjoy my work. That is aby I took .
II VI. To succeed in It relu5r-s hard .
work and careful study. and shove a1I (
infinite patience. But in The nature n .
hhRs. 1 see no reason wny a woman +
who has strong nerves and g. ta4r1uzhls /
self-rcliant should not become SO sue
ceYsful IN lion tanning as any man"