The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-10-30
A Real Lion Hunt in N. Carolina.

n heal Lion Hunt Ill N. Carolina.
Sixteen hundred siehtsccrs at
Salisbury last week were RECALLED
with Il Feature moi advertised. or
even thought Of. \ real lion hunt.
One of the advertised features at thc
Nadkin valley fair Was ihc Johnny
J. Jones Trained Wild Animal Show.
aud One Of ihr principal acts on the
program was the feat performed by
Capt. Curlcy Wilson. who feeds raw
Escat from his Ii ps 10 Romeo. y train
ed lion. The aci is generally SuccrSS-
FULLY performed. buf on this urcn ION
somc young man. one Of The visitors
/" thc show had been imhibinc loo
freely in the red lemonade sold nj
the fair. who on hcholdin~ ihc lion
must hav" fnncird 'that he had
thcm' for with all the precipitation
he was capable of. he flew against
the cage. dislodging one Of the stakes
that held the door in place. sccin"
the open door, the lion jumped from
his pedestal. knocked down his keep
cr, flew through the open door and
ran as he has not done in years. Tn
the meanwhile the spectators all
sought the nearest means Of exit.
Old men who seemed unable to move.
jumped from the seats like boys of
II. some crawlcd under the sidewalks.
others ran through the back Of the
tent, some climbed up to the top Of
the large arena. tt was circus right.
Romeo in the meanwhile tore through
the fair midway, the people cleared
the road. The second race was about
to start. Romeo leapcd across the
fence and with one spring he was
across the track. Side by side with
the horses. Such il sight was never
witnessed before. The horses were
panic stricken. Such time was never
made before. tt was the greatest
race ever seen. Romeo soon. how
ever. tired Of this. Too tame a sport
for him. He was out to enjoy his
freedom after Is years of captivity.
llc ontdiStanccd his pursuers which
numbered at least two thousand, men
women and children. re made for 4
stretch Of woods across the railroad
track and was soon ont Of sight. Capt.
Wilson, his trainer, and Johnny j.
Jones, his owner, were both excited
and overcome, Searchcrs went out to
trace him. but the hours passed and
no word from him. The manage
mcnt were sorcly troubled. night fall
and still nothing doing. All night
long the men sought him. without any
results. Tired and worn Out the hun
tcrs returned, a reward Of $50 was
offered for hi srrtnrn but nobody
claimed it. Next morning with the
break Of day Capt. Wilson went to
feed the baby lions and imagine his
surprise to find Romeo lying quiet
and harmless under the cage in which
three baby lions was confined and at
a word from his trainer, he rose,
stretched himself lazily and as if
nothing had happened, he stepped up
and eyed the captain with such
pleading look that he was forgiven.
The captain grabbed him by bis bushy
name. mounted on his back and rode
him back to his cage. which he enter
cd as if nothing had happened. and
as soon aS he was locked in he began
to below for his breakfast. which he
certainly ate with relish. five
pounds Of raw beef. Congratulations
were in order. and the show went on
as usual. This attraction. by the
way is the feature Of The Johnny j.
Jones Exposition and Trained Wild
Animal Show. which exhibits here
during the week Of November 2, m
der the auspices Of the Ncwbcrry
Concert Band on the bottoms at New
berry.