Show A LION HON TAM TAMER M observations of a man who subdues wild beasts how he H dun came to adopt ns Da semus the nature of and how they A ar i to perform tf no everyone cannot be alion lion tamer neither can every lion be tamed col boona boon bit big col daniel boone once of the confederate army army for many years superintendent of the national zoological gardens of peru and at one time military instructor in the peru peruvian aaa army w was as talking about lion tam taming inga he be had just finished an exhibition with his trained beasts in the theater nears near by in one ona corner cornar of the round perform performs 3 ing cage the great cats had ai slept ept un til the colonels colon elg stop on the fl floor waked them slept much as an bo house s c cats ta aloe sleep P rolled together gracefully graceful ur their hs air paws pawa intertwining and their heads head thrown backward for comfort at the word of command the iloni roused themselves and after a glanced glance at their master they sprang to their feet crowding on each e others th er a heels in their frightened hasto to escape frore froia their sleeping pen into the perform i mg ings ring then they went through their tricks while the band played and the audience kept very stol still only one once e did the people applaud and that was w when ben the trainers assistant drew her head from the mouth of the ugly snarling marling lioness dut but all was quickly stilled when the colonel threw himself full length on the floor and rolled houed and played with the biggest of the lions as though he had bad been a schoolboy and the lion a dog had one odthe of the brutes chosen at that moment to vent the rage th thi 4 he really felt against his master in one quick blow of hix great puw paw but he be 1 I knew knet he w when I 1 lay down said caid the trainer afterward otherwise I 1 should never have lain laid down I 1 can tell of course whether it is safe to begin my pe performance or not there are ara ways way of knowing iii I 1 shall tell you later on there was ou once ON though when I 1 w went ent through a per peril firmance for jor manci mance without that knowledg knowledge ge iv id was waa sho shortly itly after thi the close ot of thia the warl ra I 1 was living in lynchburg va V a bilut xa tl my folks and was trying to repair the family estate ty by dealing in coll Coat elloa circus clune came to town one day among performers the perform ern was voi herr eng engel e ano wajo was waa killed by a tiger alis th next W yearl a I hi hayti a great tiger trainer abi 1 11 day dar he had hada a cage of trained tigers ti girs 91 Z wi in tb abri a 01 2 qs f met him aud and ha e asked me it if I 1 waa afraid of tigers I 1 said I 1 was waa not have hate you ever handled tigers he asked about six hundred of them 1 replied I 1 had been colonel of the louii aca tiger this thi talk led to a foolish wager w agar that on the next day which was sunday I 1 should go into the tigers den the next morning I 1 met my friends lud and they asked me whether I 1 was waa going to go into the cage 11 of lof course I 1 said laid but I 1 really had forgotten a all about abou it we picked up heir engel engal somewhere and went down to the barn where the cages cage were stored over night preparatory to tooting moving to the next town youre not going into that cage said bald one better bettar look pleasant and pay your bet 1 1 I said that I 1 would follow follo the trainer and follow him I 1 did he birst put on a big linen duster and taking hu his whip he sprang through the door and put the brutes through their paces when he be came out 1 put on the duster took the whip and leaped into the cap cage like a whirlwind I 1 yelled at the frightened tigers beat them right and left and sent cent them cowering into their corner the trainer and my friends stood dumb with amazement give me the hoop boop I 1 called out til go through the whole show come out at once thava what doll do shouted engel youve youva rial naked ed enough for one day that is the way I 1 became an animal trainer I 1 have been in the business here in so south nth america europe and africa ever since you i say everyone cant cadt be a lion trainer and everyone cant it take cow courage a ge alone take for instance my man carl who has been with hagenbeck tn c diun in hamburg amburg since he was a baby and I 1 have hachim had him fifteen years yeam no can do everything with my lions but make them perform he sweeps out oct thor their cage cag e half a dozen times a day and he feeds them and caresses them they will run away from him and come to him but they would not act for him A man must have a peculiar knack knaak which I 1 cannot explain to make him ft trainer only one one lion out of three can be trai trained you cant make an acrobat out of everybody every boy who 9 goes 92 2 into a gymnasium nas burn can you I 1 have caught some lions in algeria but all 11 that I 1 have now I 1 bought mot most of them came from the show that went to pieces in cincinnati none of the brutes were tamed even short time to make my selection election but I 1 require all of that it is easier to pick out a uon lion that I 1 can be tamed than a man who can be taught a trade how so simply by knowing a lions nature and putting it to a test teat I 1 walk alk up to me cage where mr lion lilon bits I 1 hit the bars with my whip and make pretense of putting my hands between them if the lion throws himself against the irons with a great spring and a roar 1 I know that he is all right if he sulks in one c corner or comes up to the bars quietly like a cat coming upon a mouse mouse I 1 do not want him the noisy lion is ia a bluffer he makes his hia bluff when lie he makes his hir spring the quiet lion is treacherous erbus all ali lions are cowards when I 1 go into the cage where my noisy lion is and fire off a few blank cartridges r art ridges from my revolver and best beat him a few times over his nose with my my whip he It prowls owls dances and then slinks alint s away to himself what on earth doea all this mean I 1 thought that I 1 had that man seared to death I 1 guess that I 1 a int aint so frighten frightening inc as I 1 t thought aught I 1 was as the bluffer can be tahae c bently to let aie mer go into the cage without danger in a weeks time ant uni thare Is t never any safety with a sneak f lion I 1 11 the lion must be not 07 j e r aldand old and he must be 1 1 straight tracked baand and tronc A wea weak k lion bide il iiii uw arf quickly during tr training aai xing sail ga 1 tai is worth from one oae thousand fifteen hundred dollars attained when jie is trained he is ia I 1 worth from th three rel thousand to five thol thousand dollars aud and sometimes more it takes averal years to train lions perfectly the first tep step i is to show them that tha t I 1 am the mastor ni ator next I 1 teach them that I 1 do not intend to hurt them unless they the y disobey me I 1 begin ca them with the end and of ray my whip and I 1 do it gently it is not safe cafe to venture with your hand band at first after this which takes take weeks and even months month sometimes I 1 teach them to take food from my hands bands when a lion disobeys I 1 punish him but I 1 do it with judgment L there is a point beyond wh which ic h it is ia d dangerous an ge ro us to g go 0 my left arm has no muscles from the elbow up I 1 whipped a lion one blow too m many any in quito chill if his teeth had bad not been wo worn ru with age I 1 would not be alive today when a lion crouches down and hi his eyes turn green anil and his tail stops waving fr from in side aide to side and merely wiggles at the end like the rattles on a rattler look out I 1 stop then rend and give him a chance to qu quiet let down sometimes il am call assistance or do anything that I 1 can to distract his attention from me and then I 1 escape 1 what in i the easiest trick to td te teach sch a t lion after getting him to come to me at command com command mind to make him lie down II yoa cant throw a lion on his side elde with ayour your hana ix af you would throw a dog in training it after this mounting a chair or pedestal is the easiest but all this takes months of daily work patient work never give up that is the lion trainers motto in matins making a lion mount a chair I 1 generally put his meat on the seat and accustom him to eat it from there then by degrees I 1 coax him to th put one paw on the chair when he has done this I 1 pat him in the course of time I 1 induce him to put both fore paws on the chair now comes the struggle he ha does not want to put up his hind feet I 1 force him to do this by tapping them with my whip until he hops up to av avoid 0 id punishment when he has once learned what I 1 want him to do I 1 have little 0 trouble with him but all this takes time 1 I suppose the hardest trick is putting your head in the lions mouth on the contrary it is one of the iest and safest 1 hold the mouth open with both hands band and I 1 can feel the least attempt to briny bring the jaws together with my fingers finger this gives me a chance to withdraw my head in time it is well however to know your beast pretty thoroughly before trying it after I 1 have once taught a lion a trick he never forgets it and each time he does it easier than before the hardest I 1 trick is to drive a lion in a s chariot I 1 have sometimes worked for years to teach that after I 1 have chave the harness adjusted which takes months I 1 jump into the chariot and trust to provi denea the tha lion dashes away like the wina and never stops until he be is winded iva its a lively race I 1 ten tell you and must be re repeated pe abed hundreds of times before I 1 ran can rely on the steed to submit to a public exhibition another hard trick is the seesaw see saw I 1 worked for a year tear before I 1 taught parnell to crawl backward up the pl plank ank and allow himself to b be jolted up and down when the which rests in the center on IL a low pedestal is ia at rest one end touches the floor I 1 first forced the lion to turn his back to the plank then I 1 tapped him on the tha nose and on the fore paws until he backed away from me to escape to get him to go up the plank without leaving it and running away required a almost endless patience when he had backed as far as the center of the plank the board was basof of course level and parallel with the floor As parnell pamell kept on backing the further end of the board slowly came down to the th e floor auche and he found himself going down hill he dian didn like this when he bo reached the end his part of the work was done then I 1 had to tetch teach his hia mate to jump up on the raised end facing parnell this brought the board to a level again I 1 teeter tottered them up and down by having my trained dog step from one side to the other of the center of the plank how about taming tamine a lion by looking lookin it into his eyes you might as well tame him by fixing your eyes on his t an til I 1 look inac my lions eyes to i bat the s sion ion may LO le there is P where I 1 fatir fit i the danger si signal al if the signal sa i ago g go ahead then I 1 can turn my buek back 0 OR mr M ir lion and d go ahead safely I 1 never turn my back on him however within reach of his hib paws outside fae of the bars inside the pg cage e I 1 am master but if 1 turn my back when I 1 am outside and am within reach I 1 court instant death female and male lions should not be kept together the lions are more tractable when they are alone the average lion lives fourteen years rs in captivity but perform performing lions some sometimes times die younger cr timers tigers are more ore manageable I 1 than lions when once trained but they are li harder ader to train and make maka less spirited t pi performers N Y sun san |