The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-12-30
AHAGENBECK CAMEL,
The Humpy Character in Ben Hur
Is . Much Travelled
Beast.
The Animal Man With the Company
Says Horses Enjoy the
Chariot Race.

Not the least important actors in the
great spectacle Of Ben Hur,' now being
produced at the Lyceum theater, are the
| eight horses driven by Ben Hur and Mes
sala In the sensational race, and the beau
tiful white Siberian camel, BEN, who is
one of the wise mems beasts of burden.
The two other beasts which bear such a
Eclose resemblance to Ben as to-. be mis-
| taken for creatures of flesh and blood
by.most of the audience, are really dunn
mics. = =
Ben's part in the performance is tame
compared to- that Of the horses. While
he. has proved himself to be marvelously
fleet Of foot on the burning sands Of the
desert, where camels have to lift their
feet rapidly to keep them cool, he has
no opportunity to go against his record
on the Lyceum stage. Nor does he have
tread-mill machines, where the spirited
horses hit up such lively clip as to pic
ture WILDLY Lew Wallace's stirring de-
scription of the chariot race in the book
from which the drarnatization was made.
The horses are members of the original
New York company and contributed large
~ to it's triumph when Ben Hur'' was
produced at the Drury Lane theater Lon
don; so, like the other members of the
company, they may be said to be the hit
of two continents. The camel is a later
acquisition. He was secured from Hagen
beck's trained animal show in Berlin and
played his part SO successfully that the
management signed for an unlimited en-
gagement upon the return to America.
One reason for taking the horses to
| London was that they were already
trained for their act, and because, as
Frank Engel, the trainer, explains, it
would have taken too long to school their
slow witted English cousins for a per-
Torrance which requires more than the
~
Quick Witted Yankee Horses.
For quick thinking and ready appre-
hension,'' says Engel,y give me the Amer
lean horse every time. Like the people
of this country, horses bred in old Ken
lucky or any other state, can learn tricks
faster than any other equine nationality"
The fact that it took nearly two months
for the horses thoroughly to master the
machines is probably the real explana
ton of their trip abroad. They are all
blooded horses and were purchased at
fancy prices, being the pick Of a New
York horse sale. 49,.
After the horses had mastered the art
of running half mile without gaining
any ground, they learned to like the ex-
ercise. Next to their daily rations, it
is their very life. Impatiently they
await each performance, but when they
are led on the stage they are remark
w
battered up during the first few months
| they, were in the running, the fact that
they are in excellent condition now shows
that the wear and tear of chariot racing
ON a merry-go-round is scarcely more
| Injurious than several seasons on the
Minnehaha track.
How They Keep on the Belt.
wonder is frequently expressed said
Engel chow the horses manage to keep
on the narrow footing of the belt which
runs around the rollers. What prevents
them from getting their forefeet on for
hidden ground is nine-inch chain, one
! end Of which is securely attached to the
| collar and the: other to a thin iron stanch-
| ion which is fastened to the stage floor
| between the two horses of a team and
acts as a continual check during their
mad gallop. Anxious as they are to be
off, the horses always await their cue.
Like trained fire horses, it is the tap OF
! the gong that gets them going. The
frollers move so easily that the horses
start themselves. The first stride sets the
mechanism whirling, and, as the ancient
Romans might have said, they are off
| in a bunch at the signal. They run about
a minute and a half, and in that time
suppose they cover the equivalent of
six city blocks, nearly half mile, I
should judge. The exhibition becomes all
| the more remarkable when you stop to
think that they run most Of the time,
except at the start and the finish, while
the stage is dark. And when the race
is run we don't have to resort to any ap-
pliances to stop them. They know their
business and gradually slow down."
| The horses driven by Ben Hur are the
beautiful bays, Monk, the leader; JACKIE,
Nellie and Emma. Messala's horses are
Tom and White, the white flyers, and
Phil and Dollie, the blacks.
| They are remarkably well cared for,
being constantly attended by eight host
llers who travel with the company.