Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-04-26

hyenas. Most boys would look sort
Of dubious about it, but would think It
was up to them to be game, and they
would take the curry comb and brush
all right. | would take them TO the
cage, and tell them to just talk sooth-
ing 10 the hyenas through the bars,
and when the hyenas began to get
tame and act as though it would give
them pleasure to be curried off, and
laid down and rolled over, and purred
like a cat that wanted to be scratched,
and acted as though they would eat
out of ones hand, the boys might call
me, and would have the cage opened
and they could go in and curry them
off.
Well it would kill you dead to see
a fool boy side up to a hyena cage and
try to hypnotic a hyena by kind
words and a pious example, saying
soothing words like 500, boss" or
20, come off now, and be a good fell
low and see the hyena snarl and
show his teeth like an anarchist that a
multi-millionaire might try to tame
so he would take a roll of money out
of his hand without biting the hand.
| have had boys stand in front of a
hyena cage with a curry-comb and
brush all day, trying to get on good
terms with the hyenas, and OCCASION
ally the hyenas would forget to snarl,
and the boy would think the animals
were beginning to weaken, and the boy
would work up closer to the cage, and
say: Pretty pussy" and hold out his
hand and say: Good fellow" Then
the whole cageful of hyenas would
make a rush for him, bowling, snap
ping and scratching, with their bristles
up, and the boy would fall backwards
over a sacred COW. About this time I
would come along ana ask the boy il
he had got the hyenas curried, cause
ii he had, | wanted him to curry the
grave robbers-the jackals. Then
the boy would reluctantly give up
his tools, and say if | wanted the
hyenas and jackals curried off l could
do it myself. would tell them
they would never do for the circus
business, cause faint heart never won
fair hyena. Then they would go
home and sell their mothers copper
boiler to get money to pay their way
in the show. Gee, hut | have saved
lots CT boys from a circus fate.
Pa has an awful time in the hos
pital, cause twice a day the doc
tors strip him and pull a mess of cac-
tus thorns out of him, and he yells
and don't talk very pious. The doc
tor told me | must try and think of
something to divert pas mind from
his suffering.
So I got some telegraph blanks and
envelopes, and I have written mes
sages from the show managers, twice
a day. The morning message would
tell about the business of the day be-
fore, and how they missed pa. Then
/ would add something like this: "The
farmers around Olathe are all inquir.
ing for you" or THE farmers around
Topeka wish you were here, cause
they want to give you a reception
or About 200 farmers at Parsons
think we ought to let them in free
on account of being old friends OF
yours" The last n broke pa all up
} The message said: MANY farmers
Y from Atchison are going to come witt
! us to Kansas City to confer with vol
on an old matter of business" Pa
: Jumped like a box car off the track
: and wanted the doctors to send hin
: to a hospital at st. Louis, and he told
| the doctors the reason, but they
t cheered him up by saying if any moi
| came to the hospital after him, they
) would hide him in the picking vat
and make the mob believe he was dead
T That is the way it stands now. Blu
} pa is not so darn happy as I have
/, seen him, though | try to do all ! cal
to keep his mind off his trouble. I tel
: him as long as his conscience is clear
he is all right, but he says: But
Hennery, that's the trouble; it ain
clear. Well, let us have peace, a
any price."