Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1908-05-10
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Work of Animal Trainers.
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II YOU should ask the Ringlings
what they would do without George
Conklin. who. according to those who
should know. has trained more ami
mails In his time than any other man
now living in the United States, they
would probably refuse TO think OF any
! such dread contingency, For more
than forty years Conklin has been
| training animals with one show and
! another. beginning with John ORR.
! ems Great Moral Menagerie." In 1867
| at Philadelphia. down TO the present
! Barnum 4 Bale, show. managed by
| the Ringlinss. He was born with the
circus instinct. for his parents before
| him were powers In the circus world.
| and the training Of animals became
passion with him, rather than duty.
| He knows them all and they know
him. Mooney may be acquainted with
all the peculiarities OF elephants.
somebody else may b" the circus ex'
! pert on horses, but Conklin alone Of
| them all may handle without fear not
| only the lions and the tigers. the black
| lcopards and the panthers. lat the
! elephants and horses as well. he.
! cause OF this. and because he has a
wider experience than any other man
the circus could secure. he Is boss
| of the animal end of the show. and
may retain or discharge this man or
that man. as he sees At.
II takes more than one quality to
make a good animal man. Conklin will
tell YOU. Some develop cold feet when
! II comes TO getting In cage with
silent. soft.fOOted tiger. and others. OF
the kind the circus does not want to
| employ kill time smoking cigarettes
and telling funny" tories. Conklin
rucfully admitted this as he glanced
over his tally book and counted up
the names OF some Thirty men whose
services he had been Obliged to part
with for one cause or another since
| the circus opened at the Garden. But
those who work and pay attention to
Instructions get on well with the 'old
, man"
Full Of Stirring Yarns.
Conklin is as full OF stories about
animals and circus life as sailor Is
| Of sea warns, Every variety Of ey.
perience has been his. He was once
bitten in the leg by lioness while
feeding her mate. He agrees with
Explorer Livingstone. once attacked
by tiger. that at the moment no PAR.
| ticular sensation is felt. Conk!in at
tributes that to the excitement. which
| In his case drove all thoughts of pain
| away Later he suffered agonies. and
| laid of for three weeks. In the fourth
the head OF the Show told he must re-
sumo his duties. Conklin said he
couldn't. The circus hired a man to
take his place. In another week II
was pleading for the return Of the
''old man."
But in spite Of his adventure with
the liOness and more than one mar
| TOW escape from bad elephants.
Conklin said he would prefer to haR-
J die any animal rather than pow
erful bear. Of the Alaskan type. for
instance. 1t is most difiicult to train.
the "meanest Of the lot" and less
amenabie to discipline than the den
jzen sof the jungle. Next to the bear
in general allround "cussedness''
comes the tiger. but the Malay is
worse than his neighbor Of Bengal.
The Malay tiger doesn't walk" ex.
planned Conklin succintly. HE lies
in a corner crouching for a spring.
Those are the animals to fear-the
animals that doesn't walk before you.
The lions are more like dogs. They
face YOU boldly and you know how
| to meet them. The black panther Ia
very hard to break. The jaguar Is
not easy The others are. In cOmpar
isou But I have been fond Of ami
mails ever since infancy. and I know
that even the widest Of them may
be taught TO regard a human being
with something like affection.
How were YOU rescued from the
lioness the time il mangled your leg ;?
he was asked. -. ~
Il rescued myself. caught II
around the neck and beat II on the
nose with my fist; Then il let -
quick enough. The nose Is the vul