The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-12-30

tically all the horses that appear in
Everyone will remember the Hippo
drome plunging horses, that leaped
overheard with their riders on their
backs in the course of a battle, and
swan to the other shore. It took
DR.. Potter six months to prepare the
horses for that act He began by lead
ing them gently into shallow water.
Then they were made to jump into il
from a small pla torn. Gradually the
height of this atform was raised to
four feet When the horses had got
ten accustomed to jumping from this,
they were takel into the empty tank
and the water raised until it was so
! deep they had to swim. The last
stage was to make them jump into the
tank with DUNN es in the siddle and
swim for the other shore.
The hardest thing of all to teach 4
horse" says DR.. Potter, rs the one
that appears easiest-that is, to make
him stand still" Many persons will
recall the aerial horse that made as
tensions at one of the big circuses.
This horse had no wings, like Pegasus,
and so had to be lifted skyward. He
stood on a small platform with moth
ing to prevent his jumping off. On his
back sat a woman. AS the animal was
hoisted slowly upward the audience
sat breathless; for had the animal
taken a single step, he would have
plunged with his rider to the earth be-
low Dr. Potter trained that horse,
and it took a world of patience to do
It, Time and again the horse leaped
from the platform, sometimes when ii
was fifteen feet in air. But the stage
was thickly padded and the horse was
never injured. In the end patience
won.
Monkeys, because of their agility
and their natural habits, can be
taught tricks that would be impossible
for other animals.
Dogs, as everybody knows, can be
taught multitude of tricks. But
dogs are so easily trained that usually
a dogs owner is it's trainer as well.
A dog will naturally sit up to beg for
a tidbit. 1t takes but little training
to get him to sit up at command. Dogs
are trained to walk on their hind or
front feet much as baby is taught to
walk. The trainer takes the legs not
in use and supports the animal. It
soon learns to balance itself OF
course it is always rewarded at first
by bite to eat.
, Cats can likewise be trained7if you
+ know how. There seems to be some
, thing in the feline nature averse tt
4 compulsory work; and the house cat is
usually as unwilling performer
- her larger cousins. "A cat will do any
= thing for a piece of liver" said Mr.
" Powers when pressed for the secret o
training cats, "and the worst punish
# ment yon can give cat is to hit 1t OF
-. the tail. That's all there is to train
=, ing a cat. Keep at it until it doe
= your bidding, then give it some livei
-, If the animal won't leap through
- hoop or through your hands, tap it o
-, the tail near the body and it will jun
in quick enough"
"a Perhaps the most remarkable accom-
!, plishment in the history of animi
- training was Mr.. Bostock's prepar'
- ton for the Buffalo exposition. II
&c was under contract to have a numbe
=, of wonderful animal groups ready tc
-. the opening of the exposition in Ma
-, On the 10Th of January, in the BAN
&c more fire. all of Mr.. Bostocks pc
- forming animals were destroyed. Ii
10 had only three months in which to g
- together and train the greatest an
nal groups ever assembled. L
GO morning Europe was being cpmbe
~ with a fine comb to furnish him VIII
-, new animals Training went on da
IN. after day, night after night uni
q trainers and beasts were almost dea
in. with fatigue.
no Several of the groups exhibited the
., were memorable. Twent leopards M
ro been assembled and taught to wa
a ropes, shoot guns, jump hurdles III
nd bicycles, roll barrels and pose in maj
positions. Another group, which co
ga sisted of seventeen animals, INCLUDE
ge lions, tigers, pumas, bears, hyena
- boar hounds, wolves and one panthe
I'M In addition to the difficulty of teachiI
cd these beasts to perform there was u
ed task of training them to forget the
,or natural instincts and enter cage
,,o gether without fighting.
mr. Most remarkable of all these grouI
mo- and in fact the most remarkable al
mo- nal group ever assembled, was Ca
in. tain Bonavitas company of thir
M lions. Everyone was fierce blac
ba named Numidian lion, Yet CAPITA
no Bonavita had complete mastery oy'