The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-07-02
"GOING BAD. THE
 SHOWMAN'S DREAD
\ DISEASE FOR WHICH THERE
 sEElFs NO CURE.
Lions and Tigers Worst-other Ami malls Recognise the Ailment and shun the Afflicted Beast-once Affected the Animal is Worth
 less for Life-Two Phases.

|
 From Frank Bostocks "The Tanning of Wild Animals" Copyright. 1908, The Century Go.
 That those who have charge of wild | animals in captivity. and especially tram
 CTS. dread most among the large carniv- ora. is that inexplicable change of tenn perament on the part of the menaserie as | ~going bad" Lions are likely to go Lad about the tenth year of life; tigers two or three years earlier. The male tiger is | the dread of the profession when he reaches this condition, because he is more
 likely to go into a frenzy without warn- ing, and once gone bad. nothing win sat isfy him but murder. He will leap for | any man within reach, and when his teeth are on the bone, nothing but fire will make him relinquish it, and not al- ways that
 This going bad" may come in the nature of a sudden attack, or 1t may de- l velop slowly and be enumerated If taken
 in time. An old trainer can usually de- tect the symptoms of this curious ail-
 ment. It seems to be in the nature of a disease. and other animals recognize it and shun 1t. When its progress Is ap- parent the danger Is not great; all that is required then is a level head, and the wisdom to refrain rom further interfer- ence with the animal.
 A good trainer never dreams of inter fering with an animal in this condition. If attacked. his one aim Is to defend himself until he has a chance to escape from the cage, and to separate the animal from his fellows as soon as possible Sometimes this bad temper will last but short time. and again 1t will become the permanent condition of the animal In that case he is sent to the lonely cage to spend the rest of Ais life in compara- oho tot r,aar hy passing of his daily meals.
 Let an animal once acquire a love for blood and he is spoiled for the rest of his life. If the killing instinct once de- velops it can rarely be eradicated. Ra- jah. a tiger which has already killed two men. and severely injured me on more than one ocasion, went bad suddenly and his taste of blood having once been aroused, 1t would have been worse than useless to attempt to do anything with him again, and he Is now kept carefully by himself. Formerly he was she of the best trick tigers before the public, but some unknown thing ruffled his nature. he gained a realization of his own brute strength and a taste for blood, and his career as a performer was over.
 As a rule, a trainer can also tell when the critical moment has come in this peculiar phase of going bad" The man who puts his head in a lions mouth soon- CT or later arrives at the point where he feels that to continue would endanger his life. A trainer once had an experi- ence of that kind in England.
 He had safely accomplished the hazar- dous feat for several months without any particular feeling of terpidation. One night he placed his head in the lions mouth as usual. and was about to draw 1t out again when he suddenly had a shuddering. indeflnable realization that the Hons temper was gone. He knew the danger, and prepared for it by bracing all his strength against that of the lions jaws.
 He removed his head slowly as usual, for the least hurry might have provoked an attack but in a second the lion snapped at him while his face was yet within danger. The tip of his chin was caught and lacerated. That was the con- clusion of the act with that lion, and he was relegated to solitude like others troubled with the same complaint. Elephans also Ego bad and there is even more danger with these huge beasts than with lions and tigers; for they may break out and kill and inJure a great mense amount of damage by tearing up and destroying property.
 Most people have heard how many valuable elephants have had to be killed owing to their becoming "rogues." A rogue elephant is a terrible creature in more ways than one, for his huge bulk and enormous strength make him not only a formidable enemy, but his cum ming and viciousness can be appreciated only by those who have come in constant contact with him.
 There appears to be no special age for an elephant going bad. but the majority of these animals become dangerous after a certain time in captivity. The most tractable and gentle elephant I ever had suddenly went bad'' for no conceivable reason and although after much coax ing and soothing he appeared to settle down quietly, there were certain indica- tons soon after that he intended mis- chief. Finally. his small eyes became so red and threatening that I considered 1t wiser to have him allied. rather than run any risk of his sacrificing human lives.
 With regard to the instincts of anil mals, I have had some very curious ex- periences. Just before disastrous the poor animals were terribly burned. many in the exhibition noticed how restless and uneasy the animals were, but as there appeared to be no reason for 1t, we thought nothing more about 1t.
 When the time for the performance came not one of the animals would move out of it's cage. It Is not unusual for wild animals to get restless fits sometimes but 1t is extremely unusual for them all, at one and the same time, absolutely to re- fuse to come out of their cages at the command of the trainers. The majority of wild animal trainers are superstttlous, and many of them began to wonder what fl meant and whether 1t was a bad omen. for not one in the whole building had the slightest idea that the fire was even then gaining ground.
 There was not the faintest smell of smoke or any other indication to give warning that one of the greatest calaml- ties ever had was just coming upon me. Not more than a quarter of an hour be- fore the men had been round. according