The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-25
Hitherto Unpublished Facts Com
corning the Supposed PcriIs That
Confront Animal! Trniners.

/
ed to be vicious with the greed for blood?
However, time and labor is expended in
the effort to eradicate 10 some extent the
inherent taste for gore which all wild an
imals exhibit when in a hungry state. To
properly train the lion when a cub. ne
gets for his companions a couple of large
hounds who have no great regard for his
Ionic majesty while in youth. The hounds
virtually hound" the young lion The
cub becomes filled with fear and tremb-
| ling. AS he grows to manhood he remem-
| bers the sharp cut fangs of the hound. As
a companion and a guard over the trainer,
The great dog becomes invaluable.
The majority of lions are fed so well that
| the natural taste for blood becomes a
! memory only to the animals. Regularly
| the food is placed before them. Where
| some special exhibition takes place the
| trainer employs the raw meat as an extra
| inducement for the four-footed perform
| ers.
launching with Wild Beasts.
Miss Heliot perhaps, has carried animal
| subsection to its highest degree of perfec-
| ton. To lunch carelessiy in the company
of nine monarchs of the desert. to hand out
| the lions dainty, a piece of horse flesh,
to each, TO take it calmly, as if a tea party
| is in progress, such are the feats which
| lulS bedulllul woman frequently performs.
| Miss Heliots fame as a lion tanner is world
| wide.
Combined with her mastery of the ami
mails, she possesses a charm which quite
| likely aids her in controlling the company
| she keeps. Her choice for lions has made
her devote the greater part of her time TO
| this noble brute.
more withdrawing party certainly
could not be asked for than the company
| at table. AS quietly as if a
omthers warning hand kept them
in restraint. the lions await the
moment when the repast shall have come
to an end. For Miss Heliot has other pur-
poses in view for her strange fellows than
simply eating lunch with them In what
she terms 1.-The nursery" certain division
of the larger cage. she plays with the
| lions as if they were merely patterns. APP
| parently her companions enjoy the frolic
| as much as she does. They purr with de-
| light as she strokes the saffron coats, and
when she passes her delicate fingers
| through the silken name the King of
| Beasts looks pleased.
The lions belonging to Miss Heliot new
| ertheless, are not the old, decrepit animals
sometimes exhibited. Father Time plays
| havoc with the lion and the tiger, no less
| than with other living things. The teeth
| fall out, the muscles lose their elasticity,
| the paw no longer comes out like a spring
| in order to REACH the daily food. Such
| lions are harmless beyond expression.
| When the trainer enters the cage to
show the 'ferocious beast of the forests
! to an expectant audience the bulky fell
| lows trembles in his skin of yellow at the
| very sight of the man with his prong; for
the forked instrument which he carries is
not for self-protectlon alone. 1t is the
implement of life, so to speak, which,
| when placed against the lions side, will
| make him howl and snarl. But it is
snarl of fear rather than an expression of
| natural viciousness.
| The close student of animals will soon
| observe that the wobegone expression on
| the face of a 'played-out lion' is self-ex-
| planatory as to the strength which has
departed Confinement naturally works it's
ruin to the beasts. But as regards Miss
| Ieiot and her friends, no one could ask
| for more sprightly company. Her mag
netic influence has worked a charm which
reflects Itself in the very attitude of the
beasts around her.
Why They Fear Man.
This may be because she is almost con-
| stant1y in their midst. In ordinary cases
| the trainer enters the cage at stated in
| tervals TO make his charges go through
routine work Miss Heot may spend
hours in the company of her animal
| friends The picture of her huge compan-
| ion nesting his head close to the charm
| ing face which is Miss Heliot S poss session.
|
| than whom no greater animal painter ever
lived The attitude of the pair, brute
| force in all its outspoken characteristics
and feminity with eyes which know no
fear, strange commingling this couple
| make indeed.
The more lions learn of man the great
er becomes their fear. In the desert
where humanity is rarity, the lion and
| his lioness believe themselves the sole ar
biters. The other beasts live in fear and
trembling at the very sound of a lions
| growl. But once man has gained possess
| sion of the desert king, when the iron
| bars stand between the beast and his
! former freedom, careful watching, with
| much beating at times, will transform the
! royal fellow into a meek nonentity. He
has found his master and knows it.
Aside from his forest or desert home
| the lion is found in his most natural state
! in the great geological gardens of the
world. Here fresh assignments of beasts
are received frequently. Not for the pur
| pose of money making especially, the 20
! logical garden attempts to show the ami
NAL with the natural characteristics in
| tact. 1t is a foregone conclusion that no
| keeper viii enter a cage where new ar
rival holds forth His daring might not
| repay him; still when the lion and the
| tiger have been in confinement for some
time. a gradual transformation takes
place. But the familiarity between the
| keepers and the animals is not permitted
| to take too serious a form, or the very
| purpose of the geological garden, to show
the wild condition of the beast, would be
| defeated
Man and Beast Frightened.
That the general public is mistaken as
| to the relationship between man and beast
was strikingly illustrated during the re-
cent National Export Exposition. a great
| animal aggregation and the Cairo Theater
were side to side attractions on the
| Midway. One evening the owner of the
| Cairo invited half a hundred newspaper
men to a feast of reason and flow of
soul" AIirth and good fellowship were at
their nights. The cup that cheers" was
passed frequently and often. Supreme
happiness possessed all the guests.
Suddenly a revolver shot rang through
| the banquet hall, the theater, which had
| been converted into dining room for
| the purpose of the event.
THE lion is out!' came shout from the