The King of Beasts

1895

THINGS WORTH KNOWING BEFORE TRYING TO TRAIN HIM.

Why Dogs Are So Often Seen With Trained Lions — Edward Darling, the Trainer, Tells All About the Processes of Training and Teaching Them.

"You have often heard it remarked of some person or other that he could not be driven, but must be led," said Edward Darling, the famous lion tamer. "If you have ever tried to accomplish anything with a person so disposed, you will appreciate that a great amount of discretion and discrimination must be exercised if you desire to be successful. Keeping in mind the difficulties that present themselves in a human individual who cannot be driven, you will at once concede that a lion tamer's task is not an easy one when I tell you that the king of beasts can neither be led nor driven. I mean this literally. If you succeed in having a lion permit you to lead him — and I tell you that it requires no little patience and work to accomplish this apparently simple trick — you can rest assured that the balance of his training will come easy.

"Many people have wondered why dogs always accompanied lions while performing on the stage. I have heard some offer the explanation that they were there for the protection of the tamer. Others claimed that there was a psychological connection between the dogs and the lions, by which the former had the latter hypnotized, so that the least bark or movement from the dog would bring the lion to a realization of what he was then to do. While these theories may sound very well, they are all wrong. The dogs are simply there for example. They are of course the most domestic of all animals, and their association with the lions makes the latter take on some of their habits.

"From the time a lion is first placed in the trainer's hands, which is at about the age of 9 months, young dogs are placed in its cage. At first there is some antagonism shown, but after they have been together for awhile they begin to romp and play with each other like kittens. Lions are usually trained in pairs — that is, two in one cage. This is done to make them bolder. If they have company, they do not have the same fear of the trainer as they would if alone. And it may seem strange to you to know that a trainer dreads fear in a lion more than boldness. If when you enter a cage a lion sneaks away from you and commences to jump about, striking its head against the bars as if it would dash its brains out, seeking to escape in every possible way, then look out to protect yourself, for as sure as death that lion, after having exhausted every way he supposed he could gain his liberty, will turn his attention to you and deal with you in a manner not the most polite. A timid lion is to be dreaded, but a bold one you can always tell how to deal with. The only protection the trainer takes with him when he first enters a cage is a board about four feet long. This is to hold up in front of him in case the beast makes a plunge at him. The tamer usually enters the cage as if he had some business there, such as sweeping or cleaning, doing his work, apparently not paying the slightest attention to the lions. He keeps this up for a long time, and gradually the lions become accustomed to his presence. Then he offers them food out of his hand, cautiously, for the lion usually makes a grab for his food with his paw first, and there is danger of having an arm taken off. After this is accomplished he begins to stroke the beasts with his stick, which shows them it is not for beating them, then with his hand rewarding each advance with meat.

"After a lion has permitted his trainer to stroke his back without a remonstrance he is considered to know the difference between right and wrong, and from that time on is punished for bad behavior. Before this no punishment has been administered, as the prime object is to first get the confidence of the beasts and let them know what you want them to do. But after the trainer has petted and rewarded him for it, should the lion show any desire to go back to his primeval wildness and make any attempt to claw or bite his master, then the whip is applied and not sparingly either. He is whipped and whipped until his will is broken and he permits a renewal of the familiarity. I have seen lions almost beaten to death before they would give in, but at last they were conquered. The trainer has become the master, and, strangely, the punishments inflicted are never remembered against him by the lion.

"The first and most difficult step, as I have said before, is teaching them to be led. The idea of being led seems to be contrary to the lion's nature. And no wonder, for what king would not revolt at such treatment? But the king of beasts can be taught, although it requires many long and severe lessons before he will bring himself down to it. Even after a lion has been fully trained you can never be absolutely sure of him. They are very peculiar animals. Sometimes they will not get out of sorts for years, yet in a day will develop nasty traits that make them decidedly dangerous. These spells only last, luckily, for two or three days, when they return to the former condition. We work upon the jealous feelings of a lion with great success while training one. I have seen some animals that could never have been conquered had it not been for the jealousy that was created in them. They became so jealous of dogs, and other lions that were having a great deal of attention paid to them by the trainer that they absolutely forgot themselves and came up to him as the other beasts had done. Naturally we got very much attached to our own animals, but you cannot develop the same affection for a lion as you can for a dog, I suppose because you cannot have the lion always with you. My lions know no one but myself. I attend to them exclusively, with the exception of cleaning out the cages. I feed them every morning and let them exercise, so that they are almost part of my family." — Pittsburg Dispatch.

Man Dragged By Lioness To Her Lair

1920

Escapes After Having Had Fingers and Ears Chewed by Cubs — Will Survive His Wounds.

CHESTER, California. — That after firing four shots into the body of a lioness and stabbing her with a dagger he had been dragged to the mouth of the cave lair of the beast, when he became unconscious, and that two cubs had chewed his ears and fingers, is the harrowing experience told by Giuseppi Martin, a shepherd.

When Martin recovered from the unconscious state caused by his desperate fight with the lioness he says he found her carcass within four feet of him.

This is the story Martin told Everett Goings and others who found him in his camp some miles from here, trying as best he could to dress his wounds.

The party headed by Goings dressed the shepherd's injuries with the aid of a first aid kit.

Ears and Fingers Chewed.

Martin's ears had been nearly chewed from his head, his fingers were badly mutilated, and his body and face severely lacerated.

According to the tale of Martin, he drove his flock of sheep toward the summit of a mountain when the sun arose. Leaving the sheep, he walked to the top of a crag, where he found himself confronted by a mountain lion, which promptly attacked him. He fired four shots from a .32 caliber revolver and then drew a knife from his belt when the beast closed with him, inflicting several stabs.

Martin lost all sense of what next happened. When he returned to consciousness, apparently some time later, he found he had been dragged a short distance to the mouth of a cave in the rocky ledge. The lioness was stretched dead four feet from him. Two cubs had gnawed upon his ears until they were almost gone and had chewed upon his fingers.

Following his return to camp Martin did the best he could to dress his hurts with the conveniences at hand. When the Goings party happened upon the camp his wounds were further cared for. Shortly after the owner of the sheep arrived and Martin was rushed to a nearby town for surgical attention.

Tells Story of Escape.

"I was caring for my sheep up in the lonesome and deserted section of the hills," says Martin, "when I heard a great commotion among the flock. I looked about me but could see nothing. Then I left the sheep and walked over to a crag near there.

"I found myself face to face with a huge lioness. I drew a .32 caliber revolver from my pocket and fired four shots point blank at the animal. It only wounded and served to enrage her.

"I just had time to draw my knife from my belt when the brute closed it with me snarling in a horrible manner.

"I knew that it was a fight for my life, so I exerted all my energy. I was badly clawed and knocked down several times, but I inflicted several deep stabs on the lioness. I felt everything growing dark in front of me and knew that I must fight harder if I wished to save my life. But I was so weak that I could no longer hold my knife in my fingers. That is the last thing I remember — the knife dropping to the ground and the hot breath of the lioness, its gaping jaws only a few inches from my face.

"It seemed years later when I awakened. I heard snarls as when I had dropped into unconsciousness. The light was very dim, but finally I made out the forms of two lion cubs. My ears pained me. I reached my hand to them and found that not only my ears but my fingers were terribly lacerated. The cubs had chewed them and were at that moment snapping ferociously at me."

Surgeons at the hospital said that Martin's injuries were serious but not necessarily mortal.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 1.

Antique Clocks

1901

A common trick of clock makers and repairers of years ago, when the craze for antique "grandfather" clocks first showed itself, was to alter the names and dates of the original makers on such of these clocks as came to them. This trick has made it difficult to prove the exact age of an old clock now, even by experts, and still more difficult to learn the name of the real maker. Reputable repairers do not follow the practice in these days, having realized that it results in the end in injury to the business. — Jewelers' Circular-Weekly.


Lions and Tigers

There is nothing odd or peculiar about the sleep of the lions and tigers. In captivity they show the same indifference to danger that they manifest in the jungles and by day or night will slumber through an unusual tumult, unmindful or unconscious of the noise. Their sleep is commonly heavy and peaceful.

Note: Interesting for the eye, the combination of u's, m's, n's together: "an unusual tumult, unmindful or unconscious."

Daring Woman Hunts Jungle Beasts With Both Movie Camera and Rifle

(Click graphic for a much bigger view.)

1920

BY ELLEN MARIE BAYARD.

"I'll tell you a secret," said Lady MacKenzie to me in her charming, well modulated tones, with just the slightest trace of an English accent, as I was admitted to her superbly furnished apartments in a Broadway hotel at New York City, as the special representative of The Saturday Blade to interview her. "But you'll promise that you'll keep this a secret?"

I promised that I wouldn't tell a soul — excepting the readers of The Saturday Blade.

"It's this," Lady MacKenzie replied. "Just a few days ago I was visiting one of my friends in New York, telling her of a thrilling experience with a tiger in Africa. Just at the most dramatic point of the story, a mouse ran across the room in my direction, and — "

"And you, of course, ignored — " I hastened to interrupt, feeling certain that I was showing the keenness of my powers of anticipation.

Lady MacKenzie smiled at me, that charming, friendly smile of hers.

"Far from it! I picked up my skirts and mounted a chair, just as my hostess did, or any other woman would have done."

Is Wholly Feminine.

This incident, more than any other mentioned during the short interview, seemed to be most indicative of Lady MacKenzie's character. Here was a woman who could shoot a charging elephant in the fetid jungles of Africa without a tremor of an eyelash, but who mounted a chair to escape a mouse in a luxurious New York apartment. This Englishwoman had penetrated further into the dank wilds of Africa than any other living white woman, and as a nimrod had to her credit a long list of such harmless little pets as bull elephants, tigers, leopards and lions — to say nothing of snakes as large thru as the trunk of a tree. Yet she balked at a mouse!

The answer is easy. Lady MacKenzie is wholly feminine. Tho inured to the hardships of the jungles, she dresses in dainty laces while in civilization. In the undramatic environment of a New York hotel, it is hard to believe that this charming, attractive Englishwoman has earned the admiration of the world by her contempt for danger and hardship in tropical jungles.

But it is so. Lady MacKenzie has made two long trips into darkest Africa. She is off now on her third explorative tour and hopes this time to penetrate further and learn more than on either of her previous trips.

War Interrupted Last Tour.

Her exploration of the Tana River, one of the most treacherous streams in the world, winding thru 2,000 miles of dense thicket and papyrus swamp, was interrupted by the war. Her camp at the junction of the Tana and Theka Rivers was taken over by the British as a military base.

Lady MacKenzie's tours are not for purposes of sport. She photographs specimens of wild animals for the Smithsonian Institution and for the American Museum of Natural History.

And with all its hardship and danger, she finds big game hunting an attractive life. She loves adventure and "real life," the life in the open and the thrill of the hunt. And why not? Have men in these days a monopoly on those things? Not that Lady MacKenzie knows of! She likes the ponderous silence of the inky jungles, the sense of stealthy peril ever slinking near, the sharpened instinct of self-survival. She just wonders how people can settle down to a dull, quiet life while Africa is still on the map.

Lion Didn't Like Camera.

"Tell me how you photograph 'em," I pleaded.

"I took a second too long to take a lion's picture once, and he charged me," Lady MacKenzie answered.

Sounds easy, doesn't it? I know that it did to me, as I sat in a soft divan in the New York hotel. But how it really happened in Africa, as I found by questioning the modest English woman further, was this way:

Instead of setting her camera to take a picture by pulling a wire from a convenient retreat in the rear, Lady MacKenzie got right into the thick of things, with her moving picture camera out in front of her.

The lion, of course, didn't like it. Lions often don't.

"G-r-r-r-r! G-r-r!"

Lady MacKenzie kept on turning the crank of the machine as the lion stepped in front of the lens. The animal's tail began switching furiously. Lady MacKenzie coolly adjusted her camera to get a better view. Then the inevitable happened.

Barely Saves Own Life.

The lion leaped. His tawny body describing an angry arc in the air, he met the target directly. Lady MacKenzie's, leap for safety was too late, and the shaggy shoulder of the huge brute dashed her to the ground.

But that was his majesty's last second on earth — for Lady MacKenzie always had her rifle ready and knew how to use it. There was a muffled report and the king of beasts fell with a bullet thru his brain.

"That was a narrow escape," sighs Lady MacKenzie, in recollection of the moment, "but not nearly so exciting as to be caught in a stampede of wild beasts in the heart of the jungle."

It was this way, as I learned in the next few moments. The modern Diana came upon an immense herd of buffalo one day, and was intent upon obtaining an "action picture." To get the desired action she shot the leader of the herd with her rifle. The rest of the animals stampeded.

On they came, a mighty, bellowing avalanche of hoofs and horns. There were hundreds of them, bolting directly for Lady MacKenzie and her party.

Quick as a flash milady threw herself flat on the ground and waited. At any moment she expected to be trampled to death beneath the beating hoofs. With the thought came a fleeting picture of being buried by black savages in the wilds far from home and civilization.

Then the unexpected happened — an intervention of Providence, Lady MacKenzie calls it. For some unexplainable reason the herd parted just in front of where she lay and passed around her on the right and left, leaving her unharmed, but killing several of the native guides.

"But outside of the danger, is there much else of romance in the jungle life?" I asked.

"Too much — sometimes, I'm afraid," replied Lady MacKenzie, with a whimsical smile.

African Chieftain Proposes.

Then she told how an African chieftain became enamored of her when he saw her powder her face one morning. He was curious, and when Lady MacKenzie gave him some powder he applied it to his face, and then got her mirror to see if he had achieved the desired result.

By this time he had lost his heart to milady, and immediately proposed, tho he had several score of native wives. He offered to give members of the party ten sleek cows for the Englishwoman's hand in marriage. It required all kinds of tact and diplomacy to turn down the offer without incurring the anger of the chieftain and his powerful tribe of savages.

The Masals are the most interesting of African tribes, says the huntress, but are fast dying out. They are deliberately practicing race suicide to wipe out their own race rather than endure the encroachments of the hated white man. They are a race of polygamists and have no religion.

Africa Is Little Known.

"The world probably knows less about Africa than any other country in the world," says Lady MacKenzie. "And there is so much to know. I predict that Americans will before very long get into Africa in larger numbers. Then we may expect to find out all about it. For the American has a faculty for developing the commercial resources of a new country — of any country. And there are such wonderful resources in Africa — only the surface has been scratched."

But, altho Lady MacKenzie was too modest to say so, I might add that she had contributed a mighty share toward enlightening the world about Africa. She has brought home valuable records containing the native speech of unknown African tribes and thousands of feet of moving pictures on which are forever recorded the habits of the wild jungle animals and the life and customs of the jungle peoples. She has returned with tons of educational trophies. And she's not thru yet!

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 14.

Comment: This article and Lady MacKenzie are offensive at several levels. To me, the worst has to be when she wanted an "action picture" of the buffalo, so she shot the leader of the herd and made the rest stampede. Then she was in great danger, but, thanks to Providence, she was left unharmed, but the incident killed several of the native guides! That's terrible all the way through. And check out the photo essay, as they hunted animals with "a camera."

Six Frightened Lions

1901

An incident at the Porte St. Martin theater in Paris has become part of the annals of the show business. The chief feature of the exhibition was a "turn" consisting of the casting of a young woman securely bound into a cage of lions heralded as being the fiercest and most bloodthirsty of man eaters.

The woman who had the part of the victim was taken ill, and a substitute was found in the wife of one of the trainers, herself a trainer of some experience, but without any acquaintance with these particular six lions, as she was somewhat nervous she carried a small club ready for use should occasion arise.

Amid the breathless silence of the spectators the ringmaster explained the ferocious nature of the lions and the terrible risk of the woman and she was thrust in at the cage door. In the excitement of the occasion the door was not securely shut after her. No sooner was she fairly inside than the six monarchs of the jungle, seeing that a strange person had been forced upon them, raised a chorus of shuddering terror, bolted for the cage door, clawed it open and with dragging tails and cringing flanks fled out through a rear entrance and found refuge in a cellar, whence they were dislodged only after great difficulty.

It was a week before the "ferocious man eaters" were sufficiently recovered from their terrors to reappear in public. — McClure's Magazine.

Treading On Lions

1900

While pursuing guinea-fowl in the Orange Free State Mr. G. Nicholson had a dangerous adventure with lions. He was stumbling along a rocky ridge, he says, when he suddenly trod on something soft, and instinctively took a spring.

Before I could look round a fearful growling was heard, and two lion cubs, about as large as spaniels, became visible, evidently in a fury at being so roughly disturbed. Next moment I became aware of a lioness rapidly but cautiously making for me.

There was no time to put bullets into the gun, and I quickly decided to stand still till it became clear that the lioness meant to seize me. Then, as a last chance, I would send a charge of shot at her head, in the hope of blinding her, at least.

In a few moments the brute was within four yards or so of me, growling and showing her teeth. I wished myself anywhere but there, but forced myself to stand motionless.

Luckily the cubs joined their dam, and she halted to notice them a moment. She came on a few steps, looking ugly, but halted again, then turned slowly around, and followed by the cubs, made for a huge boulder twenty yards distant, and lay down behind it, as I could see by the tail tuft which protruded beyond the rock.

Then my hunter's blood was up. I loaded my gun, kicked off my shoes, and climbed the great boulder. I was within three yards of the lioness, who instantly discovered me and crouched to charge. Taking careful aim at her breast, I fired and killed her.

The "boys" at the wagons heard the firing and came up. The two cubs were soon caught, at the expense of a few bites and scratches. We took them to camp, where they were kept for several months. We afterward sold them to an American skipper. — Youth's Companion.

Comment: Not exactly how we wanted the story to end.

King of Beasts Sometimes King of Feasts

1896

The Things People Eat

The so-called king of beasts is usually associated with eating rather than being eaten, yet the lion is an article of food among the natives of the countries he inhabits, according to the Boston Traveller.

Several species of monkeys afford food for the natives of their habits. Travelers who have tried them declare them good.

Dogs are eaten by the California Indians in times of distress; they do not use them for this purpose in ordinary times, because they are too valuable to them for other purposes. Marco Polo says the Tartars used dogs for food, as did also the Mexicans the native dog or Alco.

The chase of the horse for the purposes of food was one of the chief occupations of man in Europe in the Neolithic Age. The Tartars eat horses as regular diet, and there are many butcher shops in Paris and Vienna where only horseflesh is sold.

The wild ass is eaten in Abyssinia; and the flesh of the suckling foal is esteemed by the Lasilio a great dainty. The milk of asses is also used in Abyssinia, as is the milk of mares by the Tartars.

The tallest and awkwardest of all creatures, the giraffe, when grown to maturity, is defended from all human teeth by its impenetrable toughness, but when young it is esteemed highly as food.

Fountain Pen Saves Life

1909

Deflects Bullet Fired by Woman in Waldorf- Astoria Hotel

New York. — If you expect to be shot, carry a fountain pen in your vest pocket. It may save your life.

William D. Craig, a lawyer, was thus protected when Mrs. Mary A. Castle, a decidedly good-looking woman, tried to kill him in the crowded Waldorf-Astoria hotel and instead of a mortal wound he bears only a scratch, because the fountain pen deflected the bullet.

Craig, who is a member of the Rocky Mountain club, which has a suite of rooms in the hotel, was on his way to the club rooms to dress for dinner. Mrs. Castle, who had been waiting for him, tried to detain him, but Craig shook off the woman and went to the elevator. Mrs. Castle kept pace with him and as he was about to step into the elevator, she shot at him when the muzzle of the revolver was within an inch of his coat.

"He is the cause of my trouble. He has thrown me over," was her explanation.


Storm Panic At Circus

Roar of Lions Terrifies Crowd at Battle Creek

Battle Creek, Michigan — During a windstorm which uprooted trees, blew down fences and telephone poles here, the menagerie tent of Barnum & Bailey's circus was blown down and two women seriously injured. A large crowd was thrown into a panic. None of the animals escaped, but the roars of the lions created a panic.

Miss Adelaide Hathaway of Schoolcraft, Mich., sustained internal injuries and a fractured hip. Miss Bernice Platt of this city was severely injured. At Athletic park, where the local and Jackson teams of the Southern Michigan league were playing, Catcher Stringer of the local team was struck by lightning on the field and thrown to the ground unconscious.

Crocodiles — Some Very Big Bites

1907

They Show the Power of the Jaws of the Crocodile

The power of the jaws of the crocodile is terrific, says Sir Samuel Baker in his book on wild beasts.

Once, he continues, he had the metal of a large hook the thickness of ordinary telegraph wire completely bent together, the barbed point being pressed tightly against the shank and rendered useless. This compression was caused by the snap of the jaws when seizing a live duck which he had used as a bait, the hook being fastened beneath one wing. On one occasion he found a fish weighing seventy pounds bitten clean through as if divided by a knife. This, again, was the work of the snap of the jaws of a crocodile.

A Frenchman, M. Paul Bert, once made experiments on the strength of a crocodile's jaws by means of a dynamometer. He found that a crocodile weighing 120 pounds exerted a force of 308 pounds in closing his jaws. The lion has an enormous jaw power. On one occasion an African traveler pushed the butt end of his gun into a lion's mouth, and the pressure of the jaws cracked it as though it had been struck by a steam hammer.

Happy the Newsboy Drunk, Like A Jungle Lion

Olean, New York, 1922

GETS PLENTY OF LIQUOR AT $.25 A SHOT

However, two nips are two too many for "Happy" North Union street "sing song boy"

If there are any among the many "hootch hounds" of Olean who crave for action, and are of the opinion that the city is lacking in this "virtue," they of the doubt, may lay aside their worries and find plenty of the above mentioned action, and all for the sum of 50 cents. At least that's the opinion of "Happy" Calkins, a vendor of newspapers and a familiar figure on Union and State streets.

Happy told Judge Keating when arraigned in police court this morning on a charge of intoxication that he had obtained sufficient action in the Ross block in North Union street to last him for an indefinite period. "I only had two drinks of whiskey at 25 cents a drink," Happy stated, "and within 15 minutes after drinking it I felt like a jungle lion full of lust for battle, and believe me Judge, Jack Dempsey couldn't have knocked me out."

Pleading forgiveness for the offense, Happy, a very penitent prisoner, was permitted his freedom with a 60-day suspended sentence hanging over his head.

The next time he gets in jail it means a trip to Little Valley, Judge Keating warned the newsboy.

—Olean Evening Herald, Olean, NY, May 11, 1922, p. 4.

Dr. Livingstone's Ordeal — Attacked By A Crazed Lion

1895

Incident of One of Dr. Livingstone's Exploring Expeditions In Africa

One of the most famous encounters with a lion, from which the chief actor escaped and was able to relate full particulars, is that recorded in the life of Dr. Livingstone. "I meant," he says, "to have kept it to tell to my children in my dotage," but friends considered it so marvelous that he was persuaded to relate it in his first book. The testimony of such a man is far more valuable than accounts of the average sportsman and traveler, and the story in Dr. Livingstone's own words has become one of the classics of the English language. It is as follows:

"The Bakatia of the village of Mabosta were troubled by lions which leaped into the cattle pens by night and destroyed their cows. They even attacked the herds in open day. This was so unusual an occurrence that the people believed themselves to be bewitched, 'given,' as they said, 'into the power of the lions by a neighboring tribe.' They went once to attack the animals, but going rather cowardly in comparison with the Bechunas in general they returned without slaying any.

"It is well known that if one in a troop of lions is killed the remainder leave that part of the country. The next time, therefore, the herds were attacked I went with the people to encourage them to rid themselves of the annoyance by destroying one of the marauders. We found the animals on a small hill covered with trees. The men formed round it in a circle and gradually closed up as they advanced. Being below on the plain with a native schoolmaster named Mabalwe, I saw one of the lions sitting on a piece of rock within the ring. Mabalwe fired at him and the ball hit the rock on which the animal was sitting. He bit at the spot struck, as a dog does at a stick or stone thrown at him; and then leaping away, broke through the circle and escaped unhurt. If the Bakatia had acted according to the custom of the country they would have speared him in his attempt to get out, but they were afraid to attack him. When the circle was re-formed we saw two other lions in it, but dared not fire lest we should shoot some of the people. The beasts burst through the line, and, as it was evident the men could not be prevailed upon to face their foes, we bent our footsteps toward the village. In going round the end of the hill I saw a lion sitting on a piece of rock, about thirty yards off with a little bush in front of him. I took a good aim at him through the bush and fired both barrels into it. The men called out, 'he is shot, he is shot!' Others cried, 'he has been shot by another man, too; let us go to him!' I saw the lion's tail erected in anger, and, turning to the people, said: 'Stop a little till I load again.' While in the act of ramming down the bullets, I heard a shout, and, looking half around, I saw the lion in the act of springing upon me. He caught me by the shoulder and we both came to the ground together. Growling horribly, he shook me as a terrier dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a mouse after the first grip of the cat. It caused a sort of dreaminess, in which there was no sense of pain or feeling of terror, though I was quite conscious of all that was happening. It was like what patients partially under the influence of chloroform describe — they see the operation, but do not feel the knife. This placidity is probably produced in all animals killed by the carnivora; and, if so, is a merciful provision of the Creator for lessening the pain of death. As he had one paw on the back of my head, I turned round to relieve myself of the weight, and saw his eyes directed at Mabalwe, who was aiming at him from a distance of ten or fifteen yards. His gun, which was a flint one, missed fire in both barrels. The animal immediately left me to attack him and bit his thigh. Another man, whose life I had saved after he had been tossed by a buffalo, attempted to spear the lion, upon which he turned from Mabalwe and seized this fresh foe by the shoulder. At that moment the bullets the beast had received took effect and he fell down dead. The whole was the work of a few moments, and must have been his paroxysm of dying rage. In order to take out the charm from him the Bakatia on the following day made a huge bonfire over the carcass, which was declared to be the largest ever seen. Besides crunching the bones into splinters, eleven of his teeth had penetrated the upper part of my arm. The bite of a lion resembles a gunshot wound. It is generally followed by a great deal of sloughing and discharge, and ever afterward pains are felt periodically in the part. I had on a tartan jacket, which I believe wiped off the virus from the teeth that pierced the flesh, for my two companions in the affray have both suffered from the usual pains, while I have escaped with only the inconvenience of a false joint in my limb. The wound of the man who was bit in the shoulder actually burst forth afresh on the same month of the following year. This curious point deserves the attention of inquirers." — Chicago Chronicle.

Orang-outang Starts Panic on Ship

Beast Attacks Steering Gear With Crowbar

SAN FRANCISCO, Cal., May 20. -- The swan started something when it reached forth and plucked a bag of tobacco from the unsuspecting hand of the quartermaster.

All in a cluster the elephants began to trumpet, the tigers to roar, the monkeys to chatter, the snakes to hiss, and above all there was raised the clarion call of a giant orang-outang, or whatever it is an orang-outang does when it breaks out of the reservation.

Panic in Engine Room.
Many of the animals, freshly plucked from the primeval forests of India and therefore filled with jazz and pepper, were entirely willing to join the mutiny. The giant orang-outang chose the engine room to present his act. His arrival there was a signal for a grand hegira of engineers, firemen, coal passers, water tenders and other beavers who toil in the bowels of a sea-going steamship.

Let it be explained that all this happened aboard the good ship Haleakala while on its way to San Francisco from Calcutta.

No sooner had the orang-outang established himself as king of the engine room than he began to experiment with electric switches and such. In his enthusiasm the orang-outang touched two wires at once and the same time, an act that caused what is known as a short circuit.

The odor of singed hair filled the air. To get even the orang-outang unlimbered a crowbar and began to lambast the electrical switches, a bit of sabotage that caused the ship's officers to fire forty-six shots by actual count. Their aim was perfectly punk. Not a bullet registered. In the meantime the orang-outang's monkeying with the electrical steering gear caused the Haleakala to back toward Honolulu, a port that already had been visited.

After forty-six shots had been fired at the orang-outang the animal retreated to his cage and went to sleep.

Elephant Dies Aboardship.
Other incidents combined to make the voyage interesting, too. A bull elephant, weighing three tons, died and was derricked overboard, but the carcass failed to sink in spite of huge weights attached thereto.

Oh, yes, one thing more; a sailor got too near one of the lion's cages and the king of the beasts removed the southwest part of his trousers.

--The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Illinois, May 22, 1920, page 1.