The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-10-19
WITH STR0LLERS
ANIMAL TRAINER AT w SHOW
EXPLAINS HIS BUSINESS.
Dan Canary Rode Down Capitol steps
at NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Acrobat
with Chicago Dialect.

tust look at those arms" And the trainer
with the animal show at the fall festival
rolled up his sleeves and disclosed TO his
interested interviewer some big patches Of
blue that stood out boldly from the white
skin. "You may think that the good-na-
tuTed bear that permits me to do pretty
much as I please with him is a boon COM
panion Of mine, but L assure you he is
nothing Of the sort. Familiarity breeds con-
tempt. you know, and this fellow really
considers me a good deal beneath him, for
all his pretended friendship. / used TO think
that he was coming round to a sort OF Tx
ing for me. but he took all Of those con-
ceited notions out of my mind recently. L
started 10 caress him one day after feeding
time. and IL CHANGED that he wasn't in the
proper mood TO accept my overtures. He
seized me by my arms just above the ell
bowsHyou can see the marks yet-and
shook me as a dog shakes a rat, and when
he felt that he had enjoyed himself enough
for one day he threw me down with all his
might. and then gave me the laugh. Oh,
yes, I'm not exaggerating; a bear can
laugh as well as a human being.
i've had a good deal OF experience in the
training OF wild animals, especially bears. L
am always on the lookout for a bear that
has never been handled before, and the
younger the animal is the better for me. A
young bear can be educated just as you
educate a child, but If you are not very
firm. he will soon get the upper hand of
you and then It's all off. The best time to
begin the training of a bear Is when he
IS about sixteen months old, and the length
OF time required to educate the animal so
that he can be called a performer depends
entirely upon your pupils disposition. Some
bears are awfully slow. while others are
quick TO grasp your meaning. And then,
too. there are others that are a little bit too
smart altogether, and you had better look
out for such chaps as these.
There is one thing about which the gen.
eral public seem TO be under a mistaken inn
preston. Most people think that bears are
carnivorous animals; on the contrary, they
are herbivorous, and they will attack
neither animal nor man unless they are ex-
tremely hungry. There is really no neces-
sity for feeding meat of any kind to bears.
i once had some large bears that kept me
busy supplying them with bread and car
rots. which was about all they cared for in
the way of solid food. But when it came to
liquid refreshment they were the rowdiest
set that ever happened For awhile L al
lowed them to have beer for luncheon and
beer for dinner-just a little of it all around
at first. They liked the liquor so well and
begged so hard In their own way for more
OF IL that. after humoring them for a time,
! found that 1 couldn't stand the expense
of the thing. and so began looking about
for some effective substitute. L finally hit
upon sugar water, and discovered that my
bears liked 1t immensely Ever since then
I've given my bears sugar water with
which to wash down their food. and they
nave always seemed satisfied with this soft
drink"
'sThi cycle act Of mine Is a pretty risky
business" said Dan Canary. in his dressing
tent. as he carefully folded up his tights,
but I don't know that it's any more of a
risk than riding down the Capitol steps at
Washington. The attempt to ride down
that tremendous stairway has been made
by many cycle riders, but only three of us
nave accomplished the job-William Shields,
w. T. Robertson and myself. Those steep
terrace steps are seventy-four in number,
broken at intervals by three landings, the
miG~.e landing being twenty feet wide
and the other two ten feet wide each. In
order 10 get some good practice before at
tempting the feat 1 went TO some other
government buildings and rode down their
steep flights. finding the task easy enough
on account of the absence OF the landings.
1t was the landings at the Capitol that gave
ne temporary heart trouble. But 1 turned
the trick all right in the end and succeeded
I'm doing what many other daring riders
had failed TO accomplish
This sort OF performance demands a
steady brain, expert knowledge of the
wheel and a modicum OF carelessness as TO
the consequences. When Shields rode
down the Capitol steps he lost his pedals
on the topmost flight and was unable to
recover them. 1t looked as If death was
surely staring him In the face. He gripped
his handle bars fast and kept his eyes
Fixed immovably on the steps before him.
He came down like a gust of wind, and
when he reached the last landing his wheel
had acquired such momentum that il
ieaped over the final sixteen steps at one
bound without touching one of them. Both
rider and wheel fell in a heap at the foot
OF the stairway and everybody present
thought that Shields was killed. But he
had escaped with scarcely a bruise. and
the or.y injury done the wheel was a badly
twisted handle bar.
This is certainly the day of foolhardy
performances. If you wish to give them
that name. Athletes, gymnasts and aerial
performers are accomplishing feats now
adays that were considered utterly impos-
sible only ten or twelve years ago. For
my part I would rather stick to my present
hazardous feats on my wheel thar 10 tackle
some OF the acts performed by the bal
loonaffCQ eunp0Ga fffG all a rnaffar %
taste. I don't know whether it's due TO
the fact that cyclists are cooler than the
~aeronauts. but statistics show that nine
out OF ten ~aeronauts meet with accidents,
and I'm one week. during this last summer
seven parachute leapers were injured IA
tally. There isn't a doubt that the feats
performed by the daring cyclists are Just
as dangerous 10 life and limb as the aerial
acts, but somehow or other you seldom
hear OF a bicycle performer getting killed
while going through his work"
Ben Mohar, the agile Arabian acrobat
who can turn a series OF "criss-cross SOM
ersaults" ten times a day and still retain
optimistic views OF life. surveyed his news
paper visitor with a critical eye. sent q
stream OF black tobacco juice on a swift
journey TO the other side OF the tent, gave
q sailor-Iike hitch TO his short. loose trou-
sers. and, I'm that kind OF Arabic that Is
epoken on South State street Chicago