Evening star., 1925-08-09

hdlr-falSlnP experiences such as they
would never dream of. Here is a
man whose entire life has been spent
matching wits against the kings and
queens and the dukes and duchesses
of the African jungle. BY the mag
netism of his eye, by the courage of
his will. by his knowledge of wild
beasts and by the total absence of
fear, this man Blackburn has mas
tered fierce tigers, awesome lions and
enraged elephants.
One time he was in the center of
an elephant stampede attendant on
the collapse Of a circus tent. His
knowledge of what the elephants
would do saved his life on that occa-
sion. He was even successful in re-
capturing all the runaways. One ju-
venile elephant was found in a foun-
dry. When the beast entered the
building all the workmen fed. Baby
Jumbo spent the night trying to dodge
furnaces and machinery. The ter
rors Of one night in iron works tanned
him. He was docile as a pet pony the
following morning when his keepers
came.
Mr.. Blackburn tells of one expert
cnce he had in doctoring a sick tiger.
The tiger was mean as a diamond
backed rattlesnake and sick with
serious case of indigestion. His keep.
er could not get near enough to the
infuriated beast to give him any medi.
cine. 1t would have been sheer sui
eide to attempt to enter the cage. The
case looked helpless.
All of a sudden Mr.. Blackburn hap.
pened to think of a scheme worth
trying. Grabbing a long dashed whip
and bottle OF castor oil, he climbed
to the top of the tigers cage. The
maddened animal began to roar
Blackburn inserted the long lash be-
tween the bars of the cage. Several
times he snapped the animal in the
face. Subsequently, as he snapped
the lash, the tiger would open his
mouth and roar. With remarkable ra-
pidity. Mr.. Blackburn substituted the
stream of castor oil from the bottle
for the whiplash. Before the wild
animal knew what he was doing, he
gulped down a mouthful of the medi
cine-an adequate dose to cure his
sickness.
GONE of the hardest jobs 1 ever
tackled" remarked Mr.. Black
burn reminiscently during our conver-
sation, was to get rid Of 81 baby boa
constructors, which one of the mother
boas at the National Geological Park
presented to Uncle Sam. When the
new crop arrived we already had on
hand about as many boas as we could
accommodate. 1t was almost a case
of snakes everywhere and no snake
charmer to take them away. l uti-
lized every trick of the trade to give
away, swap" and exchange the
snakes with other animal trainers. 1t
was job worthy of the zeal of an
other Hercules. | was the happiest
man in Washington when / saw the
last of that prolific family of snakes
loaded on the express wagon ready
Tor Its journey to a, certain western
city
"One of the most admired tigers
that we ever had in the National Zoo"
continued Mr.. Blackburn, was as
bald as a grapefruit when he first
arrived in Washington. A friend of
mine, an old circus trainer insisted
that L accept this tiger as a gift.
Finally. when 1 saw the animal, ap-
prec1ated that my old comrade had
played practical joke on me. The
tiger was that bald he belonged among
the menagepie freaks. There was but
one thing to do, and that was to doctor
the animal until his hair came back
No, l did not try any of the hair
tonics which the bald BARRIERS sell
mixed up concoction of sweet oil
and sulphur. Every day / would climb
atop the tigers cage and then shower
him with the solution. The medicine
did the business. The hair began to
grow. 1t was not many months be-
fore the tiger had sprouted a new and
sleek fur overcoat. That tiger lived to
be 80 years Old"
Strange to relate, the Washington
Zoo was once the Winter camping
grounds for the wild animals of one
of Americas leading circuses. That
was back in 1892. the second year
the National Geological Park was in
operation. Mr.. Blackburn arranged
with the management Of Forepaugh's