Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-20
2 BABY LIONS GO
TO JAIL FOR LIFE
MARK AND LEO, PETS OF THE
PARK, IMPRISONED
KEEPER RICE SAYS HE DISLIkES
TO LOCK THEM UP
Little Beasts That Have Known Free.
dom of Eastlake for Months
Grown Too Large to
Have Liberty

Two little lions, still in their baby
days, in point of years, are pacing up
and down behind the bars of double
cage in Eastlake park, wondering, prob
ably, what they have done to make
their keeper shut them up in such q
place and how soon he will let them
out to gambol in the sunshine.
Poor little beasts! They may just as
we'll stop wondering; they have played
among the trees and flowers for the
last time. In the big cage in which
they are now fretting they will glide
back and forth, back and forth, until
they die. For nearly one year Leo and
Mark have romped and played together
wherever they would within the con-
fines of the park. They were well pc
haved little lions who felt lonesome
when no children came to play with
them.
Emmit Rice, their keeper, taught
them to be good lions, not the kind that
snarl and roar and like to tear people
to pieces, but kind, gentle animals
with code of ethics all their own. But
poor Leo and Mark, hard as they tried
to be human, couldn't live down the
reputation of their ferocious ancestry.
They have grown pretty large now.
They might frighten anyone who didn't
know what good lions they are; be-
sides, only very few people would
trust them. So Keeper Rice had to
imprison them for life.'
Leads Them into Jail
There were tears in the keepers eyes
as his playful charges followed him,
guilelessly, into what he knew would
be their Jail for life. Once in there,
he knew he could never let them out.
He loved his little pets and the thought
that he, upon whom they had trustingly
depended for everything during their
lionish babyhood. must be their Jailer
wrenched his heart.
Yesterday afternoon he went into the
cage to soothe the fretful cubs. They
jumped upon him like big dogs and
licked his face. Around each shaggy
neck the keeper wound his arms and
laid his face against their heads. He
patted them both and talked to them
for while When he stood up tear
glistened in his eye.
you see,' he said through the bars
to the reporter, my wife and l nave
had charge of these little fellows from
the time they were three hours old.
They have been almost a part of our
lives. We love them as we would little
children-don't we, Mark?" addressing
the bigger of the cubs.
Mark reared and put his heavy paws
on the keepers shoulders, as much as
to say: "Yes, we know 1t; but why
don't you get us out of this awful
place"
Mark and Leo spent the last hour OF
| their freedom posing for photographs
and playing with Mr.. Rice. 1t was
just noon yesterday when the keeper
much against his will, said:
"Come on. Mark; come on, Leo. It's
| a shame, but it's all over, little fellers;
| I've got to do it,"
| Mrs. Rice could not see them led
to their Jail She shut out the view by
remaining in the house. After they
had been locked UP she came to the
cage and stroked them through the
bars. She tried to talk to them, but her
voice choked. Tears welled in her eyes
and she cried as if her heart would
| break.
Leo and Mark are two of the most
unusual lion cubs that ever lived. They
have been allowed to roam at large
six months longer than any other lions
in captivity. They are only year old
| having been born on March IA, 1903
and weigh 1876 pounds each.
From the day they were born they
have been allowed the freedom of the
park. Keeper Rice says that in the
neighborhood of $1,000 people have
been there to witness the odd spectacle
|
feet long, playing with men, women
and children.
Never Hurt Anyone
| Yet in all this time and with the
| thousands of people around them every
| day they have never injured a single
person. They have playfully bowleo
over a few little children. 1t never oc-
Cured to them that they were just 9
| ,erI1 rxybaY1 thnN mt their n1ws
on the little ones shoulders or jumped
right UP on a mans back. But they
always acted repentent, says Mr.. Rice
when children were toppled over by
their playful leaps and bounds, ano
licked their faces until they stopped
crying.
| Another unusual thing about these
| cubs Is that they were put on ex-
hibition three hours after they We're
| born. No other baby lions have any
such record as this.
Their mother is, Kitty and theii
father Harry, both of which are still al
| the Eastlake zoo. Leo and Mark were
taken from their mother when they
were born. 1t was feared that she
would trample them to death, owing
to the smallness of the cage. Either
one of them could be laid in good
sized saucer, as they weighed only
pound each. 1t wouldn't have taker
much to have squeezed out their wee
lives. The strangest part of their baby
days is that within three hours after
they were born they were adopted by
Lucy, a large field spaniel which
Keeper Rice had at that time. Lucy
nursed them until they were strong
legged and frisky, then she weane6
them. From that day until yesterday
they roamed at will.