Tensas gazette., 1911-05-12

- Frank Bostock. the
~ animal king. who not
only exhibits wild
animals himself, but also trains them
% order for other people.
Three weeks after giving this or
der, Madame Pianka exhibited her
-ierce Numidian lion" The audience
shivered as the savage beast dashed
against the bars Of his cage In an at
tempt to get at man standing just
out of reach-the husband" whose
.wife," Madame Pianka, was covering
In a corner Of the lions cage.
The lights went out. and the audi
ence sat breathless until a sudden IL
Illumination showed the lion standing
over Madame Pianka's PROSTATE and
apparently lifeless body, but holding
her baby safe In its mouth. When In
the next scene Madame Pianka,
dressed as the Goddess Of Liberty, sat
with her arm round the erstwhile saw
age beast-now the dignified British
iion-ths house went wild with ap-
plause.
During the time between the receipt
of Madame Pianka's order and her
FIRST exhibition with the fully trained
Hon, Mr.. Bostock's trainers had a
busy three weeks. First Of all the
Hon for the act had to be chosen.
Every animal has its peculiar charac-
teristics. and before any attempt at
training is made these must be known.
With rare exceptions all felines are
untrustworthy and more or less
treacherous. They are afraid Of man
only as long as he stands erect The
minute he is down they win attack
him. For such a delicate act as Ma
dame Pianka's. therefore, It was neces-
sary to select the steadiest, most do
cile. and trustworthy lion that could
be found.
Mr.. Bostock had forty lions. Among
these was magnificent animal which
had outlived most of his fierceness.
and which, by much posing, lad be-
come as steady as the stars. This
lion was chosen. The trainers task
was to make this lion simulate rage
without being angry-in the parlance
bounce: to teach him to stand harm
iessly over PROSTATE human; and to
hold In his mouth whatever was
placed In It. Upon the man who was
to appear as Madame Pianka's 'hus-
band" fell the first task He accom-
plished It thus. From outside the
cage he teased the lion until the beast
: sprang for him. The minute the Hon
jumped. the trainer threw him a piece
Of meat
1t took the lion only few days to
understand that the appearance Of the
trainer was Q cue for him to bounce"
and that the fiercer he ragged, the
more certain he was Of his piece Of
meat To get the lion to stand over
q PROSTATE person. the animal was
nrst put upon high pedestals, while
the trainer walked around and under
him. Gradually the height of the
pedestals was lowered until the lion
was standing on the floor itself. with
the trainer under him. The third
trick was also easy OF accomplish
ment. A lion. like dog. has nat
ural tendency to carry things In its
mouth. One Of Mr.. Bostock's lions
always worked" with long-stemmed
rose In Its mouth. Madame Pianka's
lion was given roll Of paper to carry,
and each day the size Of this roll was
Increased. In time the lion would pa
tiently hold large bundle. The baby
used for the exhibition. needless to
say. was not real.
From a fierce lion to a tame goose
is q far CRY, but It is no farther than
the range Of skill shown by Mr.. Bos-
tocks trainers. One Of these train
ers used to be Clyde Powers. now a
stage manager at the New York Hip
podrome. Perhaps you may recall the
man who used to make you laugh as
be walked about the Hippodrome
stage accompanied by a goose and q
pig. That man was Mr.. Powers. and
the goose was famous old bird.
Once woman wanted a goose
trained like this goose. -rll charge
you a dollar an hour for training It,"
said Mr.. Bostock. with a maximum
charge Of $50" The woman agreed
TO the price. and Mr.. Powers trained
the goose. This Is how he did 1t. For
"A hours he let the goose go without
food. The next "a hours he spent
with the bird, trying to gain It's
friendship. The remaining 80 hours
were devoted to training. To teach
the goose to follow him. he dropped
grains OF corn as he walked. gradu