Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-07-04
WAYS OF THE SHOW ANIMALS.
Each Has Its Own Peculiar Temper
ament.

| amonI.
| Ellen Velvin, who by virtue OF her
vocation as wild animal trainer knows
a lot about beasts of various kinds,
says that no two, even Of the same
species. are alike.
Study four lions, tigers, bears or
elephants she says In McClure's,
land you will find that each has its
own ways, it's own moods, It's own
temperament. Lions are peculiarly
unlike one another In disposition.
1T Is generally acknowledged that
very quiet tiger. one that does not
| growl or snarl, is far more danger
Gus than one that Is perpetually show
ing signs of Ill temper. A snarling IT,
ger gives warning; a quiet one will
steal up behind its keeper or trainer,
| fiat on It's stomach, and should the
trainer turn round, 1t will stop dead
and appear to be looking off into the
distancel
There is for instance, or was a
few years ago, a celebrated tiger pur-
chased from the King Of Oudh for
the Geological Gardens at Belle Vue,
Manchester. England, who toward his
keepers maintained a very quiet and
docile demeanor. And yet, this was
the great lighting tiger" who was
never happy unless he was fighting,
and who always appeared relieved
and refreshed after he had had an
/ 80 aly
of his species.
"Jaguars are more noted for their
deceit. craftiness and treachery than
all the other treacherous members Of
| the cat tribe. Slyness, stealth and
cunning are written in the quick, keen
glances from their wicked eyes; In
their soft, lightning-like movements,
and above all in their moments Of
deadly quiet.
THE most deceitful of all his de-
ceitful kind is Lopez, the well known
jaguar I'm the New York Geological
/ Park. who has been living there now
/ for eight years. A well grown, finely
/ developed animal, he is noted for his
beauty Of form and coloring, his grace
Of movement and his villainous per-
sonality.
4 Elephants too have their individ-
ual peculiarities In the Barnum &
| Bailey show there was a short time
4 ago, an extremely clever performing
| elephant named Sultan. His chief
i act was sitting on a stool with uplift-
| ed forepaws, on each Of which sat
i little dog while a third dog sat on
| his head. When performing Sultan
was the most gentle and docile Of ele-
| plants, but downstairs In his stables
he had his whims and moods.
HE greatly disliked to have any
stranger come to his stables. One
day when in order to propitiate him
| he had got a pail Of some good warm
mash and I stood watching him; he
stopped eating for moment, looked
i at me with his tiny eyes and then
deliberately threw It all over me.
I'm one Of the large animal shows
1t became evident one evening that
the chief performing elephant was too
sick to do his act. This meant that
no elephant performance could be
given, since he led the others. The
trainers gave him dose Of hot whis-
4 ky and onions, a favorite medicine
with elephants.
i HE sucked up a large pailful Of
this mixture, and evidently wanted
Il more. He was so much better In an
\ hour that he was able to perform as
/ usual. But after this he would never
| give a performance without his dose
/ Of hot whisky and onions. No threats
or persuasions could induce him to go
/ on without 1t.
Supplying the elephant with a
pailful of whisky twice a day proved
/ to be so expensive that the proprietor
i finally had to cut his act out alto
/ gether. In his quarters, when he was
not called upon to go into the arena,
the elephant never appeared to think
| Of the whisky. -.
"Raboons are ugly tempered, vi
cious and treacherous animals, and
very few show much affection even
| for those who have cared for them for
years. Very little has ever been done
| In the way of training them; trainers
| generally fight shy Of them.
i Bears are particularly interesting
i animals to study. Most bears are
/ very conceited, and this Is the reason,
I believe, that they respond so well to
/ training and make such excellent per-
formers when trained. One little bear
I knew was taught to climb LADDER,
| pull a string which let loose an Amer
| lean flag, and then jump to the floor
and turn a somersault. But the pub
| lie did not know that In loosening the
| flag he also let loose lump OF sugar
"In time the proprietor Of the show
was Obliged to cut out that act be-
cause the little bear would never walt
/ for his signal. The minute he enter
/ I'd the arena he would go straight up
/ the ladder, pull the string and get the
/ sugar, and since this was arranged as
i the climax Of the entire bear act he
spoiled the whole thing. Punishments
| had no effect on him, he did not even
resent them; he went straight after
i the sugar. Even after his act was
taken away from him he would al
ways willingly do any tricks that
/ necessitated the climbing Of a ladder.
| "One of the most interesting bears
I have ever seen Is Silver King, the
| huge polar bear that was captured by
| Paul ]. Rainey and presented by him
| to the New York Geological Park in
| September, 1910 His capture took
place at Kane Basin in July, 1910.
| and he Is. I believe, the first bear that
has ever been caught by ropes or las
SOS and the largest polar bear ever
kept in captivity. He weighs more
than $50 pounds.
| For strength, endurance and saw
ageness Silver King is not to be
| eaualled. From the moment Of his
| capture to the present time he has
| always been furious either In widest
| rage and despair or sunk In sullen.
morose resentment against everything
and everybody. No coaXing with
dainties. no kindness has any ERECT
| on New York Sun.
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