New-York tribune., 1902-12-14
HE TRAINS WS.
TRICKS WHICH ARE NOT BEYOND BO-
VINE INTELLIGENCE-A
RIDDEN AND DRIVEN.

New-Bedford, Mass. Dec. 13--Trainlns cows
is the hobby OF Edward Q. Spooner' OF TINS ci's'
and he has succeeded in educating his bovine
pets so that they would be a consideraoie al
traction for circus But Mr.. Spooher say
that he "ain't got no cheek, and so the eA
hibitions of bovine wisdom are likely to be coh-
tinued within the walls Of his barn in hefhPloli-
St He thinks that If he had cheek ne "ou'u
have been with circus long ago
Mr. Spooner has educated the animals prli-
cipally for his amusement ana 10 'iiai>' ms
work of caring for them easier i Simply can
tell YOU how 1 do it," he says, All kho" 10
that IL people would Sit down and try TO se'
acquainted with bovine ways they "oulo 'iiii'N
ton times as much of as they no" 40
bepan to watch them, and soon we came TO uil-
derstand each other. We got together grauu"'
Iv and / taught them a few tricks. anu "''
turned out to be mighty good scholars
Maud the cleverest cow. is a mixture OF -iSi
shire and Holstein, seven years olu' anu "
She arrived at Mr.. Spooners barn. three Sehi'
aqo she was as wild as a hawk. 1t took four
men to get her into this barn then. ana 'HeH ~
n lively tusse at that. Look at her now, he
s.ia - he ralaased her from the stall. and sh"
hacked out on the floor meek ana tame AS
the best natured that ever lived caH'
TO the conclusion that one OF US had Eo' !" -
boss, and 1 reckoned that II would De hie' N'1
not begin by beating her. but by S'"HS' '"6
and after while, she came 10 kno" mt anu
understood her. One day she began 10 p'N,
something with her nose. and coi'oluu'N go
she would roll cheese box After ''"
practice she did it as nicely as any "u
ing could"
When Mr.. Spooner placed the box on lts e"Be
on the floor Maud walked up to it piayiu!ly anu
pushed 1t along toward her master. ne MIN
It back and the returned 1t as often do -
came her way. Placing n plank on p''VN "
wood the COW trainer looked at the amman i"i
a minute and she started TO walk CAUTIOUSLY Wy
the incline 1t did not require any coaAlhg 10
start her. and she seemed to appreciate 'ha' '"'
plank was secure as the barn nooi' 40
she reached the centre she stopped and stood
perfectly STILL with both ends OF the boafu OH
the floor Then. moving one foot lor"alu anu
back again, the tilted as successfully as
any circus horse, and she seemed to enjoy IL
The smile "As awkward as a COW is mean
ingless when Maud is the cow.
Belle and Kate, two other cows, twins, or Jer-
sey-IIolstein stock. four -year-olds. and they
have not acquired the proficiency in some tricks
that Maud has. But either one will place her
forefeet on box and describe a circle with her
hind feet, going in either direction That does
not look very hard" said Mr. Spooner. the
animals went through this performance, but
just you try to get some other COWS to do it
You VIII be G. long time getting theil u put
their feet a box like that and keep them there
very long" With Maud with all four feet on the
box and the other two at the sides with
their front feet elevated and their heads across
Mauds back Mr.. Spooner poses the animals
They march to their places without any urging,
and during the whole performance Mr.. Spooner
hardly uttered q word except to speak their
names and when he did the called always
responded. Maud walked around with her head
the trainers shoulder until he reached the
barn door. when she stretched her neck to its
full length, extended her head high it
would go. and remained in that position until
She received permission to resume her nat
ural pose. The COWS will lie down when Mr.
Spooner indicates that he would like to have
them do SO by tapping his whip on the floor
and while kneeling lying there he walks
around their backs sits on them. and they
do not seem to mind It Although many cows
are kickers. these three Of Mr.. Spooner's pull