Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1903-03-27
CERTAINLY in few fields has
the progress been more rapid
+Lo- L. +ho - ond troiDipO of

~
Nthe progress been more rapid
~ than in the care and training Of
wild beasts for the instruction and
entertainment of the public. Of course
it Is natural that, with the growth OF
and experience in their
handling, the treatment has become
more humane, and the methods by
which they are schooled have under
gone the most radical changes. The
man who has charge Of a modern n
NAL spectacle calls himself a trainer,
rather than a tanner; and he Is really
a teacher In every of the word.
He must be q man Of fearlessness. to
be sure, but he must also possess the
magnetic qualities, the quick under
standing and the ready sympathy
which characterize the successful
teacher Of men. Indeed, 1t is some
thing of a commentary on human edu-
cational systems that the trainer of
animals is selected with far more care
and receives q much larger reward
than the instructor Of men and boys.
Then, too, he has this advantage over
the public-school instructor-he choos-
es his pupils slowly and with al eye
to their future. Indeed, the most I'M
portant factor in attaining a complete,
interesting exhibition is the choice of
the animals who are to form the nu-
cleus Of the show. For this purpose
the very young are always given the
preference, and those born in captivi-
ty are obtained whenever they are
physically perfect specimens Of their
kind, though the domestic-bred beasts
are not numerous Such cubs are al
ways tanner to start with, and their
attention Is much more easily fixed.
They do not have the far-away, long
ing look which can be seen in the eyes
Of a desert-bred lion. They have never
learned to strike and to exult in the
feel Of quivering flesh beneath their
paws.
AS soon as a cub is able to crawl
around its cage, the trainer gets &C
quainted with it and feeds 1t and
shows it that 1t has only kindness tC
expect while its behavior Is good
When it is four or five months old
easy tricks are Notwithstanding OF
a chair, lying down and rising at corn
mand, playing with a ball, and so on
At first, the trainer devotes all his
time to n single animal until he ha!
;,nrnc,nJ u with hfc ohilifu fn CON
troll and direct it's movements. TheI
an older, thoroughly trained animal O.
the same breed is introduced, partl.
for the example 1t can set in illustrat
ing how the more difficult tricks ar
done and partly to accustom the GU
to association with its kind. Many
> trainer bears deep and permanen
scars as a reward for performing tn
first introduction or for Offering to al
. bitrate early differences Of opinion be
4, tween two future friends.
: The hardest task of all Is to accus
tom animals of one kind even to tolel
, ate the presence in the same cage Q
: animals of another kind, and month
] of patient effort are necessary befor
a newly assembled aggregation of an
/. NAL actors will perform even the sin
plest combined tricks. The make-u
of such an assemblage must be car
!, fully studied out, for the methods
:. teaching vary with each new combin;
ton of animals.
rrl~,tu baalfh ton 10 n mnffnr 4
Z n~ever-ending anxiety, and gives
g trainer more trouble than the impress
- rio feels over that Of his ~hlgh-salarie
, opera singers. If an actress Is indi
n posed, her understudy can take IL
" part at a moments notice; but the
y animal actors have no undesirable
1, and the omission of a beast or eve
T his chair or pedestal from an act Oft
%disconcerts all the performers. {
# the other hand, to compel a sick al
NAL to perform sometimes turns t
h act into a tragedy for the trainer; (
o. If he once turns his back on
n charges. and fees for safety, he mi
o. never be able to control them aga
ut and IL he stays to face the tronb
serious wounds may result. Once
err a beast see that you fear him, a
discipline Is destroyed; and,
~ deed, a crisis In which a trainer file
or Is rescued by helpers as a RI
works so on his nerves that even
~ he should wish to enter the cage t
at secret that he feared his beasts wot
be discerned by them In spite Of
he could do, and his mastery Of thu
he would be lost. Sometimes 1t happe
that a trainer relaxes his caution
r. commits an error of Judgment. Ma
a trainer takes desperate chances