The Worthington advance., 1900-07-13
: Romance Of a'Lion's Den

u Marble Falls, Tex, few days ago
the fortunes of two lovers were
united by matrimonial ties in den
of lions.
The ceremony which made Ramon
Angle and NADIA Dore man and wife
was performed in the presence of many
friends of the high contracting parties
and numerous patrons of travelling
menageric.
The bride, who is beautiful, entered
the den of the lions with stout whip
in her hands and drove the savage
beasts to the further end from the
door, and then held one delicate little
palm invitingly towards Mr.. Ramon
Angle, an ex-cowboy, who has recent
ly developed into prosperous and
popular cattle man of southern Texas.
Looking little nervous, the man
sprang lightly through the door, that
was barely swung ajar, while the ami
mails showed their white teeth and
quickly entered growing protest
against the intrusion.
A minister, who was standing on the
ground at safe distance, made assur-
ance doubly sure by stepping back a
little further from the cage.
"Are you not coming inside?" said
the smiling bride.
1T is not at all necessary" replied
the preacher as he opened the Bible.
"You see, my dear young lady," he
added, manifesting surprising dis
position to be facetious, ''lions don't
seem to take kindly to me. Can't you
see that old king of the desert licking
his lips every time he looks over this
way? Thank you. I am we'll off out
here. The iron bars of the den will
in no wise affect the legality of the
ceremony. Please join your hands. "
The bride laughed and the old lion
roared. The lioness looked knowing
and sat up in her corner-a model of
propriety-as if she had witnessed
hundreds of weddings and was fully
impressed with the Importance of the
occasion and the honor conferred upon
her and her companion as witnesses of
the ceremony.
!, The minister did not detain them
long, and when he had finished the lions
set up a roar. The bridegroom walked
slowly backwards over the floor of the
den to the door, which was quickly
opened by an attendant.
"Somehow," said he, "the air is rath-
er oppressive in there. I should not
mind being in a corral with those
brutes if were mounted on a good
mustang and had my irons and rope.
but l did not feel as comfortable as
you might suppose with the door
locked and my guns as good as 40 miles
away"
The little bride played and romped
with the two old monsters for several
moments, smacking their jaws and
pulling their tails after the manner of
child engaged in teasing kittens.
When she retired from the den and
joined her happy husband and friends
the romance which led to the strange
wedding was told.
-Four years ago this same menagerie
made a tour of western Texas. An
attractive feature of the street parade
consisted of an open den of lions drawn
by four white horses. Old Joe Craw-
ford, an accomplished animal trainer,
always occupied the den with the saw
age kings of the desert during the
grand march through the streets of a
town. When the show reached the lit.
tie city of Marble Falls Mr.. Crawford
found himself full Of southern malaria,
which incapacitated him for service.
In this emergency Miss NADIA Dore, a
Texas girl, who was eager to master
some profession to make living, Of
fered to take his place. The position
was not entirely new to the young
lady, for she had formed the acquaint-
ance of the lions on a previous occa-
sion and they had regarded her with
manifestations of friendliness. Miss
Dore was raised on ranch in the west
ern part of the state, and she is de-
voted lover of animals. In her girlhood
she had collected little menagerie
OF her own, composed of pet coons,
wildcats. squirrels, prairie dogs and
deer. 1t was her ambition to become
an animal trainer, and she never lost
an opportunity to pet and caress the
animals in the menagerie. The young
lady was great favorite with the show
people aspwell as the general public.
Mr.. Crawford thought the daring
girl would incur little danger from the
lions, for they were old denizens of the
menagerie and docile, but he rather
reluctantly granted her permission to
take his place, prophetically remark.
ing: 1T is always the unexpected that
happens in affairs. of this kind" No
one would have ever guessed what real.
ly did happen.
Miss Dore had no fears. Dressed in
the brilliant costume of a Spanish shep.
herdess, with whip in her hand, she
sprang lightly into the den and took
her seat between two lions. The cage
was drawn by four white stations of
great beauty and apparently docile.
The first little tremor of nervous emo
tion had passed as the caravan began to
move through the crowded streets to
the music of the circus band, and the
amateur lion tanner, more interested
in the novelty of her position than the
applause of the multitude, was about
to try the effect of a kindly menace
upon one of her pets, when she heard