Alaska sentinel., 1909-01-21
THE NAUGHTY GOAT.
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Although our grandfathers and per haps their grandfathers before them, were amused by trained animals of one kind or another, 1t is only recently that goats have been educated" for exhibi- tion purposes. Horses, dogs, lions and monkeys have been performing their tricks in public for at least a couple Of centuries, but the trained goat, says a successful modern trainer, is a pres ent day product. He Is not hard to train, but is often difficult to manage in front of an audience
 As in the case of all trained animals the feats that look so remarkable on the stage are really things that a goat does naturally in a different environ ment. The same balancing power that enables goat to stand on a sharp pointed rock enables 1t to stand on the top of bottle, and the same agility that helps 1t to leap from one rock to another helps It to leap through a paper-covered hoop or over rows of chairs. The trainer patiently teaches a goat to balance, jump, stand on it's hind legs, and so forth, at certain def- nite signals, rewards 1t with lump of sugar when 1t is obedient, and whips 1t when 1t is obstinate. The result, after long period of patient labor, Is a goat that can be expected to do tricks In public provided the trainer can keep control of. it.
 But what makes the goat hard to manage in public is something that seems like a sense of humor combined with remarkable intelligence.
 The goat learns that its trainer does not like to whip 1t at any time, because trained goat Is too valuable to be mlstreated. But more than that, 1t discovers that the trainer will not whip goat in public. The audience would invariably side with the goat. So the moment the goat gets in front of the audience 1t is likely to turn disobedient Feats performed readily enough at re- hearsal it will try to dodge during the performance, and instead of staying quietly in Its place when not perform ing. 1t will now and then plague the trainer by trying to run away from the stage and get back to the stable.
 There are often minor changes In the performance of a troupe of trained goats that are quite unsuspected by the audience.
 Sometimes a goat gets so unmanage- able that the trainer has to enlist the sympathy of the spectators by explain ing matters. There was trained goat once that became day by day more and more unreliable, until there came per formance when the educated animal re- fused to do anything whatever. The trainer was in despair. and the goat apparently laughing at him. The goat had to be disciplined. The man knew 1t must be disciplined there and then, or 1t would become utterly worthless, and the training would have to begin all over again. He turned to the au- dience
 'Iadies and gentlemen" he said, "here I've got very bad goat. I don't want to punish him. You don't want me to punish him. and he knows IL Goats are like children. If they're not punished just when they misbehave it's no use punishing them afterwards With your permission, I'm going to give this fellow one good touch of the whip and make a well behaved goat of him.
 He held up a hoop for the goat to jump through. The goat merely looked at 1t and then at the audience. The trainer swung his whip and the lash curled sharply round the goats hind quarters. With an expression of sur prise and disgust the animal jumped through the hoop.
 ''Thank you, ladies and gentlemen" said the trainer. NOW that goatll be- lieye that an audience Is always on my side and I shall not have any more trouble with him."-Youth's Con-