The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-05-10
THE BOSS TRAINER OF WILD ANIMALS George ConkIin Tells Stories Q
 Circus Life A CAREER OF ADVENTURES Life Is Not All Rosy, Especially When One Is Bitten By Lioness and
 Has Many Other Like
 Experiences.

From the New York Evening Sun
 If you should ask the Ringlings what they would do without George Conklin who, according to those who should know, has trained more animals 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 40 years Conklin has been training animals with one show and an other, beginning with John O'Brien's "Greatr Moral Menagerie," in 1867 at Philadelphia, down to the present Barnuni x Bailey show, managed by the Ring lings He was born with the circus in- stnct, for his parents before him were powers in the circus world, and the train ing of animals became a passion with him, rather than duty. He knows them all and they know him. Mooney may oe' acquainted with the pecIliarities of ele- plants, somebody else may be the circus expert horses, but Conlllin alone of them all may handle without fear not only the lions and the tigers. the black leopards and the partners, but the ele- plants and horses as well. Because of this, and because he has a wider exper ence than any other ma the circus could secure, he is boss of the animal end of the show, and may retain discharge this man or that man, he sees fit
 It takes more than one quality to make good animal man. Conl1lin will tell you Some develop cold feet when it comes to getting in a cage with a silent. soft-footed tiger, and others. of the kind the circus does not want to employ, kill time smoking cigarettes and telling fun ny" stories. Conklin ruefully admitted this as he glanced over his tally book and counted up the names of some 30 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 in structions get well with the 'old man.
 Full of Stirring Yarns.
 Conklin is as full of stories about ami mals and circus life as a sailor is of sea yarns. Every variety of experience has been his. He was once bitten in the leg by a lioness while feeding her mate. He agrees with Explorer Livingstone, once attacked by tiger, that at the mo- ment no particular sensation is felt. Conk- lin attributes that to the excitement, which in his case drove all thoughts of pain away. Later he suffered agonles, and laid off for three weeks. In the fourth the head of the show told him he must resume his duties. ConlSlin said he couldn't The circus hired man to take his place. In another week 1t was plead- ing for the return of the "old man..
 But in spite of his adventure with the lioness and more than one narrow escape from bad" elephants, ConSlin said he would prefer to handle any animal rather than powerful bear, of the Alaskan type, for instance. It is most difficuit to train. the ''meanest of the lot, and less amenable to discipline than the deni- zens of the jungle. Next to the bear i'll general all-round ''cussedness' comes the tiger but the Malay is worse than ms neighbor of Bengal '"The Malay tiger doesn't walk explained Conkln suc- cinctly He lies in a corner crouching for a spring Those are the animals to fear the animals that don't walk before you The lions are more like dogs. They face you boldly and you know how to meet them. The black panther is very hard to break The jaguar is not easy. The others are, in comparison. But l have been fond of animals ever since infancy, and know that even the wiliest of them may be taught to regard human being with something like affection.
 Beat Lion on the Nose.
 s.How were you rescued from the lion ess the time it mangled your leg?' he was asked.
 "I rescued myself. caught it around the neck and beat it on the nose with my fist. Then it let go quick enough. The nose is the vulnerable spot with those animals. In those days we did not know much about taking precautions against blood poisoning, so simply wrapped the