El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-05-30
Animals Yield to Kindness
Training Wild Beasts Is Made
Science and Cruelty Is No
Longer Practiced-
n rvr.rr a1-fr l. HnHlEfm-
by Frederic J. HasINin-

u
1ASHUNGTON, D. c., May So
M With the circus season comes
w renewed interest in the
I training of animals that are made to
{ exhibit feats Of seemingly unnatural
! Intelligence in a manner 20 hOId great
/ crowds spelIbOund. The lion who per
I mits some lovely woman to rest her
| head against his shoulder. the tigers
/ who crouch humbly before their keep
I er and lick his hand. the elephants
/ who built houses with huge building
I blocks and dance the cancan, the horses
/ who know the multiplication table and
! aqd figures like expert accountants ana
/ the dogs who recognize the Rags or
/ an nations have SPECIAL salute Tor
! the one representing their native lana
I are only few or the achieve 1enLS
| which have been brought about Jy the
! patient, skilfuI work of the animal
I trainer.
Animal trainers work scientifically.
/ me principles Of animal psychology as
] laid down by Darwin and other great
scientists are being applied by l1any
trainers in their work. Ine results
7 snow greater display of Intelligence
: lhan was brought about by the earlier
I trainers and il is secured Nth lcss SUI
/ tering 10 the animals.
Early Trainers Cruel
The early lion trainers beat off the
I lions with not iron bars, thus inspiring
I them with fear of too close contact
! with humanity Such instruments are
I seldom II ever reSOrteQ TO now A
Z woman trainer, who with her two large
I lions has attracted attention in most
4 OF the large cities of the world be-
Z cause Of the dOciHry of her big beasts,
| claims that she has never been forced
7 10 brutal treatment. Before entering
3 2 cage she made the acquaintance OF
her lion by days of perservering Wis
I 10 in ID flan Ha ken
he learned 70 know the sound of her
/ voice before she entered his cage.
Her first visit inside the cage was
made with caution 1t amounted TO
l no more than standing for a minute
inside of the door. The call was re-
/ peared frequently until the beast be-
/ cause fully accustomed to her and each
I time she stayed a llLle longer talking
I TO the animal in a calm, firm tone.
AFTER she was able TO enter the cage
and spend some time without exciting
any antagOnlsm from the lion, she had
chair brought into the cage This
was done a number of times before
she attempted to sit in il and it was
always so placed that she could keep
her eyes directly upon the lion She
always avoided any sudden motion cali
culated TO excite the animal. but by
degrees began TO sit in the cage for
longer periods until the lion seemed
TO take little notice Of her. BY per-
severance she taught him to take
FOOD from her hand and other tricks
followed only by patient, careful train
ING she used no instrument other than
. a flexible whip. People who do not
understand call the whip cruel she
SAID 1t IS really not so. When ]
lash the whip through the air with a
loud smack l am really only giving
an order to the animal IN the way he
understands best. The crack of the
whip indicates that its force IS spent
before 1t touches his body
Teaching Animals Tricks.
by constant repetition Opinions are di-
vided as 20 whether il is best to have
Trick repeated a number of times
IN one day or only once dav for
number Of consecutive days at the
same hour Much depends upon the
condition of the animal. Trainers rec
OSnlze the fact that the widest ami
mails generally have the most sensi-
lively organized nervous systems and
that the best results Will be secured
by methods least annoying or fatigufng
70 the animal A trick which requires
cloSe concentration such as the count
ing exercises done by trained horses.
must be begun by short lessons with
adequate rest periods in between 1t
mas been found that animals have bet
Ter memories than many human be-
lnSs and that something once learned
IS easily revived in the memory. even
though some time passes before its
performance is called for.
Most animals learn By the trial and
error method which is similar to that
of child If the first attempt fails
ne may discover the reason BY natural
instinct and correct il in another ef-
fort, Prof John s. Watson. of Johns
HOPKINS university, has been conduct
Lns some interesting experiments in
animal psychology which have had
some results to animal trainers. He
mas planned a sort of maze through
Wnlch a white rat he was studying
must find his way before he reached
the center where food was placed TO
reward his effort The maze contained
an intricate number OF turns and blind
passages in which at first the moor
animal wandered around helplessly for
hours Having once found the food il
seemed TO know inStinctIv that its
EFFORT would be rewarded in a similar
way the following morning when it
was placed again at the opening of the
maze Within a few weeks the little
animal had learned the turns of his
unique cage so well that he was able
10 reacn his food in ten seconds
Have No Sense of Numbers.
respite many marvellous exhibitions
which seem to indicate otherwise.
scientists are still of the opinion that
rev II any animals are gifted with a
sense Of numbers. The DOGS and horses
which add and divide with such SKIN
IN the presence of an audience recet-e
some suggestion in the 'Ook or tone
OF the trainer which indicates TO them
the number of banks or foot strokes
20 De given for each separate IA sk
i ne degree OF concentration rCCui-ci
from both animal and trainer seems
quite as remarkable as would be the
power Of computation If really pos
sessed by the animal seeming TO dem
Onstrate IT,
Few animal trainers exhibitf6E
trained elephants have been able to
secure from them the degree of COM
prehensiOn which the ignorant Hindu
coolies in India take as a matter OF
course from the elephants they have
charge Of The enormous feats of dig
ging and lifting which the elephants
perform in the building of public
works in that country could never be ,
secured by the English officers or
WOrkmen in charge of the cOnstruc-
ton There seems to be subtle SYM
patty between the elephant and his
native caretaker which enables them 90
understand each other. The fiercest
elephant viii permit his keeper to 90
TO sleep against his huge body and viii {
protect him from any disturbance while
II stranger attempts TO approach MIN I
he VIII be caught up in the huge trunk I
and flung backward with a force suf-
fiCient to crush him
kipling's story of the keeper who
would Indicate by taps upon the cle-
plants toes the number Of days he !
was to be absent upon his debauch, the I
animals obedience to the substitute Z
for that number of days and his re- 4
volt afterward, has been called a RI 4
diculous eNaggeratiOn. but many have I
a Hna d.