The Washington times., 1917-04-10
LION DIES FIGHTING
20 MEN TO THE End
"spitfire," Biggest and Wicked
est in Captivity. Rages for
Three Hours.

BALTIMORE, April lo@-spitnrs,"
the biggest and wickedest lion in the
country-murderer Of two circus
trainers and known and feared By
every man who ever called the big
top "home," fought his last night
yesterday.
The battlefield was farm at Muir
kirk. Baltimore county, and spit
fires" enemies were q gang Of about
twenty men Their leader was ~Reds'
Carroll, the seer of the sawdust, who
put the great" into the Great Ameri-
can Circus at the Allied Bazaar. The
ight lasted three hours. 'Spitnre's"
long white fangs will never again
close on the throat of 'lion-tamer,"
and his right forepaw, as great Of
girth as a mans thigh, will never
again crush q human head with one
sweep.
The last sweep Of that paw the old
lion delivered In the direction Of
Reds Carroll. Then, being fast in his
cage, with the strength that for fivs
years had chilled the stoutest hearts
ebbing through i've bullet wounds;
and finding life really very useless,
and noisy, too, with the gang that
sought to kill him ciamorlng around
him, old "spitnre" closed his eyes
and died.
Was to Have Been Sold.
Muirkirk had been his home ever
since the New Model Show went into
winter quarters there some time ago.
the auction block and sold, along with
thousands of dollars worth Of other
circus trappings, and he was worth
5000. Bostock, in his time, wouldn't
have taken 81 900 for him, In the days
when he and Jack Bonavita, who
alone could make him quail, wrought
the nerves OF great audiences to the
swapping point. To the day Bonavita
died recently from the hanging Q
cageful Of bears gave him, he carried
useless shoulder which had been
crushed by Spitfre's right forepaw.
It couldn't have been the prospect
OF the auction that whipped spitfire
into q frenzy yesterday, for he got
those spells often He was what cir
Gus men call "forest-bred" lion He
could no more have been tanned by
science than q cyclone could have
been stopped by kind words-
He roared all Sunday night, and
yesterday morning he began to chew
holes in the iron fry pan from which
he drank water. Reds" Carroll pull
ed the frying pan out Of his cage, and
then Spitfire began to chew his own
tail. He had bitten on and worried
nve inches of It when Reds" became
convinced, first, that he was in the
wickedest mental state of his career.
and, second, that he stood q good
chance Of breaking out of his cage
and starting q rampage.
ChIoroform Plan Fails,
They lassoed him nrst and tied the
end Of the rope to q wheel Of the
cage, then they tried tc ehloroform
him. At the first whiff spitnre burst
the ropes and dealt through the bars
blow thFt sent Reds nat on his
back. So they got after him with q
shotgun.
with four loads Of buckshot in his
425-pound body, Spitfre sat on his
launches and roared. Then Reds
gave the gun to another man, who
stood at one end of the cage, and took
his stand at the other end. Spithre,
watching "Reds," didn't know that
his death was in the muzzle OF gun
against his ribs just under his left
forepaw.
Reds" brought the lions great,
shaggy head to q Baltimore taxiderm-
list last night to be mounted. His
body the circus men buried near his
cage.