The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 54

JUNIOR EAGLE SECTION, BROOKLYN-NEW YORK, SUNDAY, AUGUST 13, 191 6. THRILLING EXPERIENCES OF A WORLD FAMOUS TRAINER 6 but never made an effort to Interfere. I walked to the side of the cage, with Mars following closely, and placed the sparrow outside the cage, while the mother sparrow fluttered close in her endeavor to lend aid to the young one. Mars looked on during the whole proceeding and, after both birds left our sight and hearing, he quietly returned to his place. Under ordinary circumstances It would have meant severe Injury, and possibly death, to me to get within reach of the beast's paws, but he was completely overcome with curiosity, and I firmly believe that at the time he was watching that sparrow 1 could have done almost anything with him.

Another peculiar trait in a real bad animal was revealed by an incident with Morrlmac, a lion, lr which a monkey figured proin' ncntly. During a performance one of the monkeys which we carried with the Bostock show at that time broke loose and boldly entered the exhibition cage. It was- scarcely a second bofore Merrimac pounced upon the monkey and, seizing him, carried him around the cage. Finally, as Merrimac rested himself Bpon the floor, two other lions came over to partake of, what appeared to be, a feast of monkey flesh. There was a lion on each side of Merrimac, and that, together with the position in which the monkey was held and the efforts of the two lions to get the monkey, formed rather a ludicrous, although pathetic, sight.

With his body between the lion's jaws, tail extending from one side of his mouth and head from the other, it seemed Impossible for the monkey to survive. I approached Merrimac at, what I figured, an opportune time and commanded htm to open his mouth. He obeyed my command, and out jumped the monkey, and he never stopped until he was safely on the other side of the bars. That happened at a special performance which was given for the benefit of the newsboys in Indianapolis, and during my stay in that city 1 was hailed by them as the man who saved the life of a monkey. It made such an impression upon some of them that a few seasons afterward while there they reminded me of it.

I suppose there are a great many people still at Coney Island or In ('renter New York who were familiar enough with the Bostock Animal Arena of years ago to remember Pete Taylor, one of the most popular trainers of that time. Hut there are probably very fojv who ever knew of the narrow escape Pete had in the passageway while we were appearing in Dreamland. It was a miracle that Pete was not killed, and even he never realized just what happened in that narrow space. He worked a group of lionesses, and among the group was one of un unusually savage nature. She was as bad as an animal could possibly be, and several times it required the combined efforts of every trainer to control her.

At a performance one day it came time for the lioness act and Pete started through the passageway to get them. We waited three, four, then five minutes, but Pete did not return, so we went out to investigate. You can Imagine our horror upon discovering Pete prostrate upon the floor, face downward, with the bad lioness standing over him, sniffing around his body. We attracted the attention of the lioness and, after a terrific battle, drove her to her cage. Upon carrying Pete to tho open we found him uninjured, but in a dead faint We revived him and questioned him as to the meaning of such a proceeding, but he couldn't give the slightest explanation.

He declared the last thing he remembered was starting after the lionesses, and did not know what caused his faint or how it happened that the lioness was released from her cage, leaving his life in jeopardy. It is not unlikely that had it been a lioness that was not quite so bad as that particular one, Pete would never escaped with his life. The good animals sometimes in a spirit of, we might say playfulness, do as much harm as a bad animal in a vindictive mood. In the Bostock arena at Luna Park we have several extremely bad animals, but, as I remarked early in my story, It is to those creatures that we owe much. They provide the excitement and fascination which makes the profession of animal training interesting and at the same time provides thrills for an ever hungry public.

attendants succeeded in forcing the scraper under the door, and it took five of them to hold the door shut, so great was the strength of the lion. It was impossible for them to hold the door tight at the top, and it was at that point the lion exerted his efforts. He graspeu it with his claws and teeth, and finally pulled the battens off the door. However, the door withstood his strength, and after holding me, like a rat in a trap for several minutes, he relinquished his grip upon the door and returned to tho two lions with whom he had been fighting. The attendants secured firearms, and came in the passage way, where, after considerable maneuvering, they succeeded In driving the animals to their various cages.

They were a badly battered lot, but their Injuries were not serious. Mars and the Sparrow. While appearing in Dreamland a short time previous to when Baltimore attacked me and took my right arm I had a lion, Mars, that was a difficult beast to handle. I never saw Mars completely whipped but once, and that was not brought about through a trainer, but was accomplished by a common young English sparrow. Undoubtedly there are many people at Coney Island who will remember tho Incident.

I believe it worth relating, as it shows a peculiar side to the beast As I was putting the animals through their paces one afternoon, Mars seemed to be more interested in something between his paws than he was in the performance. As the time for his act had not come, I paid very little attention at first finally the attention of the audience was entirely given to Mars, and I became interested to know what was going on over there. Cautiously I made my way close to the lion and watched him for several seconds. All I could see was that he seemed very earnest in his efforts to pick something from the floor by the use of his paw In a cup shape. Upon a closer investigation 1 found there a young English sparrow, which had fallen into the exhibition cage and, upon discovering it, Mars tried to pick it up in his paw.

Quietly I went to him and took the sparrow away, while, with the most curious expression, he watched me closely, ConUiiiiocl From Page 1. Rajah In hot pursuit. The safety cage, where I met tho animals, was about four feet square, and, in passing me, the tiger was so determined to catch the quagga that he leaped past mo without a moment's hesitation. They rushed into the exhibition cage, which the quagga began to circle, hampered slightly by the frequent clawing he was receiving from the tiger in his mad leaps. I entered the cage as quickly as possible, with a view to intercepting the tiger.

The qnagga fastened his eyes upon me with an appealing expres-eion, and came straight toward me. He dodged to one side as he reached me, and with a shield, which 1 had snatched, I parleyed Rajah and, as he jumped away from me, the quagga, which had recovered his equilibrium, let fly both hind feet, and knocked Rajah senseless. We finally managed to get the tigor to his cage, where we treated his wounds with a syringe spray through the bars and brought him back to health. I never attempted to work the tiger after that, and it was not long before he caught cold and died. Kmpcror, the Most Unruly Of All Lions.

With the possible exception of Denver and Baltimore, two bad lions which I mentioned in a previous story, I believe the most unruly lion I ever attempted to train was a line specimen of forest-bred South African beast named Kmperor. Ho derived his name through his ability to rule, by brute strength, all animals with which he came in contact I had engaged in several battles with Emperor, but there were never serious consequences, except once In Dreamland, Conov Island when, in trying to protect him from a group of five lions, he set upon me and Inflicted injuries which incapacitated me for a few weeks. Upon one occasion when he attacked me my escape was almost miraculous. It was whilo we were aboard a ship bound for Europe. It was my custom in traveling on board ship with the animals to build an inclosure where they could exercise each day, and in this particular toclosuro I had very little space When the construction was complete I discovered that for some unknown reason there had been a Shifting den left within it Th" hitting den is a cage on wheels, Which we use for transferring animals from one cage to another.

There was no reason fur having one In tho inclosure, and to this day I have never been able to explain Its presence there. However, it was the means of saving mv life so 1 am thankful somebody made a mistake and left it in the Inclosure In traveling, at times, the animals would appear t0 beoome not dcs.rous of exercise, but to protect their health they were often forced to walk around the inclosure Emperor and Hex, another forest-bred fcouth African lion, were two that roqmred a little prompting in their exercise, and that was what took me into the inclosure on thai particular day, when the displeased Emperor tried to end my existence I entered tlie nni them during the combat, and had Just begun to think I had done my last animal training, when suddenly I was seized by my coat collar and dragged backward through an opening in the enclosure and to safety. I had been so busy in warding off the attacks of Emperor that 1 had not seen the attendants and other trainers remove a section of the enclosure, through which they dragged me. I could never understand how they succeeded in removing the section, it was built so securely, but it must have required superhuman efforts to accomplish it in the short space of time within which they had to work. Hex, a Moil, is A Disinterested Spectator.

During this encounter Rex remained a disinterested spectator, and I was thankful to him ever after that he didn't take part; otherwise, the end might have been different. Had Rex lent aid to his brother beast, my time would have been so short in that enclosure that there would not have been the slightest opportunity for me to escape. Hex. really, was not a bad animal, although an incident in which he was concerned showed the terrible vengeance which pervaded his soul. After our return to America we were established at the Sea Beach Palace, Coney Island, and Rex was taken seriously 111.

His condition was so bad that the veterinary said his only chance for recovery was in tho establishing ot a sun parlor for him. We built a large cage in the open Just in the rear of Sea Beach Palace, and carefully removed Rex there, where he could enjoy the sunshine. He lingered for sometime, but showed very little improvement. In fact, as time wore on he became worse. He became so weak he couldn't Btand, and lay in one position day after day.

On the day he died, and Just before he breathed his last he seemed to vent a long pent up rage. A pony passed the cage, and with what was almost supernatural strength, Ilex rolled himself to the bars, and while in the throes of death reached the pony and clawed the life from his body. That incident was evidence enough of the natural trait, possessed of every animal to kill. A Sly Animal Whose Name is "Sly." I once possessed a lion named Sly, that, like Emperor, was an exceedingly unpleasant beast, but, unlike Emperor, ho was not the bully of the group. It may have been owing to the fact that he was continually being beaten up by other lions, Sly was so troublesome.

During an engagement in Richmond, I had a memorable encounter with Sly, when luck, more than anything else, saved my life. The trouble began by a fight, which was started between Sly and two other lions in the passageway. To full realize what a fight In a passage way means, one must become somewhat acquainted with the size of it. It is a passage in the rear of the cages, two and one-half feet wide, and with a turn of an angle about seventy-tive degrees every eight feet. It Is arranged so a view of more than eight feet is impossible.

When three full-grown lions become engaged in battle in such a small space it Is easily imagined that the results are liable to be very disastrous. On the day in question, in driving the lions to their cages, the fight started. The animals ran so fast down the passage that it was impossible for me to judge their exact location, but from the sounds which emanated from the distance I knew something must be done very quickly, or we might have three dead animals on our hands. In my anxiety to reach them I was not so cautious as usual, and before I scarcely realized my location, I found myself within a foot of the raging beasts and entirely unprotected. Sly saw me at about the same time I saw him, and he abandoned his fight with the other animals and started in p'ursuit of me.

Within a few feet I came to an empty cage, into which I rushed, and Summoned all possible strength in an effort to hold the door tight. I called to the attendants outside the cage to get a scraper. A scraper, as you all are probably aware, is a shaped iron, with the about ton inches long, and with a long handle to which it is welded. The Will Brooklyn's New Shortstop Measure Up to Expectations? Brooklyn Fans and Lovers of Baseball the World Over Are Awaiting Anxiously the Appearance of Kel-liher in a Brooklyn Uniform Other Notes of Interest of Doings on the Diamond. ent shortstops of the Superbas, inasmuch, with the hole t(t that position plugged, Brooklyn will sail away with the National Leagua pennant.

No More Sidestepping Di Passing Man to First. HOW is this for a funny one, you Junior Eagle fans? Out in the Western League, wlfen a pitcher wanted to pass a dangerous batter so that he could pitch to the weaker hitter following, he pitched four balls to the first baseman, and the batter took his base. You've often seen a pitcher walk a man like Benny Kauff or Ty Cobb, but ho doesn't pitch to the first baseman. He throws four balls away outside of the plate and the umpire calls them one after the other. Then the batter takes Ids' base.

The president of tho Western League was at one of his games the other day, when the pitcher deliberately -turned to the first baseman when a heavy hitter came up and pitched four balls over, the man taking his base. president immediately stopped that kijid ot thing, and now ho has to pitch to the catcher. Will Hornian and Magee Let Bygones Be Bygone? WHEN Arthur Hofman, star outfielder of the Cubs soma years ago, and Lee Magoe, who is now with the Yankees, were on the Brooklyn Federals last year they crabbed and quarreled until finally Hofman got "sore" and went home. Now the Yankees have signed Hofman to play with them, and as they purchased Magea from tho Federals at an enormous price the men will again be on the same team. It remains to be seen whether bygones will bo bygones or whether they refuso to be friends once, again.

G. V. C. Ermyntrude "I'm terribly worried. Dear Harold is coming home on leave, and he tells mc he's captured seven Germans.

Now I really haven't the faintest idea what to do with them." Weekly Telegraph. ALL reason it has been observed by Brooklyn fans, and tho baseball enthusiasts of other cities visited by the Su-perbas on their swings around the Western circuit, that Ollie O'Mara would not do at shortstop. Not that the youngster did not try, for he did he gave the best that was in him but he did not measure up as a major league ball player. What was to be done, then? Would the Superbas, playing a good game In all other positions, have to struggle along for the rest of the season under the handicap of an inferior player at the biggest hole In the infield? It looked that way until Manager Wllbert Robinson finally decided to send Ivan Olson to short and give him a chance that will not come his way again. (In passing, it should be remembered that Olson has played with the Cleveland Indians, and was not considered good enough for tho American League, inasmuch as every club in that circuit gave its consent to his being sent here.

He is old, speaking of ballplayers' ages, and his trial by Robinson meant that if he made good he had a permanent job, and it he didn't lie was relegated to the bench'! where he would plaW the role of a pinch hitter or runner once in a while). Ivan has not made good, to put tl.e situation bluntly. When sent to shortstop, after a long layoff, he played like a veritable demon, handling everything that came his way, and hitting fairly well. However, after he had been there for some time he became as unreliable and as erratic as O'Mara, and the latter was sent in again. That is the status of the case.

Now the thing left to do was for tho management of the Brooklyn team to secure a shortstop, and that is precisely what Charles Ebbets and his associates, the Mc-Keever brothers, tried to do. They were the second bidders for Her-zog, and they have even named a price for the star shortstop of the St Louis Nationals, Roger Horns-by. New York went them some better In the deal for Herzog, and only real ball player left on it3 team, Hornsby. Therefore, the owners of the Brooklyns are just, where they started, playing O'Mara and Olson alternately, and getting but indifferent results from each. Now they have bought a hush leaguer, a lad named Kelliher, from the Denver team of the Western League.

Kelliher Is thj regular shortstop of the Denver team, which, incidenally, Is managed by Rebel Oakes, the former outfield star of the Tirates. He played in six games last week for Denver and made eight hits In thirty-one times at bat, which made his batting average about .225. He made three errors handled thirty chances in the field. From this record it will be seen that Mr. Kelliher can at least han- 1 but his batting looks rather poor.

Maybe he will pick up a little, as they sometimes do, when he comes here, and maybe it was that last week was one of his off weeks; but fat any rate Brooklyn fans are look-! ing forward to the appearance of Kelliher and hoping that he will prove a big advance over the pres with nothing but a small stick, ami Persuaded Hex to take his daily exercise, but when I started after Emperor' who was in tho enclosure with Rex, instead of responding to my wishes, he met my approach with slimmed tail. I knew that meant something was going to start, and that Emperor would bo the starter. However, I did not wait to convince him that my purpos0 was for his benefit, but, instead, leaped at about the same time he did He charged, and as ho landed in the tracks where a few seconds previously I had stood, I landed on the top of the shifting den. For the time being it seemed to me that my position, upon the top of tho den and backed against the Bide of the enclosure, was not one of safety, and just then every Eecond counted. Soon as he recovered from his first iUng0 Emperor came after me again.

The door was fastened on the inside, so nobody could come to my rescue, and all that stood between myself and apparently, was the small stick I carried. As fast as the Hon Raped fur a position upon I the top of the di I would push him off with the stick. At each leap he would grasp the stick and bite olT a portion of it, so it was becoming very short. 1 thought 1 was deserted by my ompanlnns, nut seeing any of!.