354 HERR LENGEL'S EXPERIENCES. to take his whip in with him, and told an attendant to pass it to him. This done, he administered a smart stroke on the leopard's nose, and then laid the whip aside, when almost instantaneously, the treacherous beast sprang upon him, and a fearful interval ensued. The keeper, however, adroitly contrived to extricate himself, but not before he had received several severe injuries, namely: a deep wound of two or three inches on one of his hips, a long, deep wound on both thighs, and another commencing below the knee-cap down to the ankle, laying the bone open. The sufferer speedily recovered. Herr Lengel, a Philadelphian by birth, and a lion-tamer by profession, tells the following story of his own experiences. After stating that lion-taming was a gift of nature with him, he continues: "I have no fear of them. People tell me every time I get a wound, that it ought to be a warning to me, and should make me fear to go into the cage again. But it does not. When I am away from the lions I get homesick, and when I can go where they are and my wounds prevent me from going into the cage, I get more homesick still. I never met any lions I could not tame. Three years ago I tamed five, in New York, which, while in Europe, had killed one man and badly mangled another, who attempted to tame them. In three weeks after they were put in my charge, they were as tame as I wished, though they were before considered untamable. I very seldom use force in taming them, but sometimes it becomes neceesary,-kindness is my usual plan; I am always careful to keep my eye upon them. Every one who has seen 'the lion-tamer' leaving the cage after his feat of lying down among the lions, putting his feet on their heads, feeding them, and firing off pistols, has doubtless noticed how careful he was,— stepping out backwards very deliberately, and watching closely the beasts, which always advanced upon him. If LIONS AND LIONESSES. 355 I did not keep my eye upon them they would jump at me. They have sense enough to know that I am retreating from them, and they gain courage; there is more danger to me at this time than at any other. If the lions were at liberty, I would fear to go near them. Some people think that a lion born in America is more docile, partaking less of the savage nature of the brute than one born in Africa or Asia. Not so. I would rather have to tame a litter born in either of the last two mentioned places than a litter born in this country-the latter are more dangerous and less easily tamed. I have been bitten a number of times by lions, lionesses I should have said, for the males have never done so; the lionesses are more treacherous and deceitful than the lions. I have been slightly scratched an almost innumerable number of times, but never had to lay up but twice from wounds. The first wound was a bite in the left leg, in Western Pennsylvania, while with Barnum's. The second was received while with S. B. Howe & Co., in Augusta, Georgia, being severely bitten in the left hand. The wound caused me to lose the use of my middle finger. The third was inflicted at Little Rock, Arkansas, by a lioness in Howe & Castello's collection. This time two fingers of the right hand were mangled. I have full use of them now. The fourth was received in Madison, Indiana, last Summer. The lioness seized me by the right leg, driving her teeth into the calf of my leg until they nearly met. The fifth was received last April in New Orleans. The animal seized me by the left leg, inserted one tooth of the lower jaw an inch and a half into the calf, and a tooth of the upper jaw the same depth into the upper side of the knee joint. I was confined to my bed awhile, but when the show moved I came along, and gave two exhibitions, one in Augusta, and one in Savannah. I do not think I was bitten but once intentionally. The lionesses, when to 356 THE DEATH OF LUCAS. gether, never meet, but they snap and snarl at each other -two of them never live peaceably in the same cage-it is my opinion that, with the exception mentioned, when I aggravated one beyond endurance, I was in the way, and was bitten for one of the lionesses. I have the teeth and claws of the lioness which I think bit me purposely. The teeth are an inch and a half long, with a root about two and a half inches in length. If the teeth were driven in flesh up to the gums, a large-sized peach stone could be planted in the hole. The claws, which the animal, like the cat, keeps unexposed till wanted, are formidable looking objects. I do not now doubt, as I once did, the assertions of travelers, that one blow from a lion's paw would kill a man, or tear out great masses of flesh. I fear their claws more than their teeth-they generally strike before they bite." Lucas, the celebrated lion-tamer of the Paris Hippodrome, was killed a short time ago by his animals. He was paid at the rate of five hundred francs per month, or about three dollars for each time that he risked his life in a cage containing four or five wild beasts. He went into the cage, at the Hippodrome, where there were two lions and two lionesses, with only a whip in his hand, instead of the heavy cudgel which he generally carried. A lioness, presuming upon his being unarmed, sprung at him and seized him by the nape of the neck. A cry of horror arose from the spectators. Many women fainted, and others rushed out of the theatre. The other lions, attracted by blood, rushed upon Lucas and bit and scratched him severely. In a few moments he would have been killed had not one of his assistants, who was not in the habit of entering the cage, come forward and knocked the lion about the head with an iron bar. Lucas said to him "Go away, leave me to die alone." The man dragged him away from the lions. The doctors discov GETTING UP A MENAGERIE. 357 ered no less than thirty-one wounds. M. Arnaud, the manager of the Hippodrome, had the presence of mind to close the door of the cage after the faithful servant got Mr. Lucas out of it, otherwise the lions might have made a raid upon the audience. Lucas died soon after. If any of my readers have a spare $100,000 in greenbacks, about them, they can get up a very respectable menagerie on that capital. Here is an estimate of prices. (in gold) for a very tolerable show, to make a beginning with: Pair of very large leopards, and two smaller ditto........ 5,000 Rare birds, monkeys, and lesser animals, including those .... 20,000 Total............ $60,000 With gold at a premium of say forty per cent., this reyou of all but $3400 of your greenbacks. lieves You may get some idea of your other expenses by referring to the chapter treating of circuses. And, to cheer you on, I would casually remark, that about one menagerie in ten makes money. The other nine-don't. As a general rule, in this branch of the show business, a little humbug goes a great way, and saves a pretty penny of expense. Not long since a man created a great sensation by exhibiting what he termed a headless rooster. Crowds thronged to see this extraordinary freak of na ture. To all appearance it was a rooster without a head, which walked about quite comfortably. Some one detected the "sell" one day. The rooster was found to have a head, which the unfeeling wretch of a showman had concealed by cramming it out of sight, and sewing a dead rooster's decapitated neck and breastfeathers over the living head of the unfortunate fowl. The fellow was arrested and punished. The humbugs of Barnum are celebrated, but I think this showman was never guilty of such cruelty as this. It is even stated that he refused to cut off a monkey's tail once-though he was exhibiting the monkey as a gorilla, and gorillas have no tails. Many people who have looked on in amazement at the "happy family" of dogs, cats, birds, monkeys, mice, etc., sometimes exhibited in the same cage in museums, wonder how these creatures, of such antagonistic natures, are kept "happy." Their "happy" state is similar to that of a man who has stupefied himself with liquor. They are stupefied with morphine, with some exceptions. The monkeys are generally left in possession of their faculties, and sometimes a dog may be found of a sufficiently benign disposition to be trusted. Apropos of dogs, an amusing story is told of a sagacious canine in England. The dog's owner resolved that it should be sent to the Birmingham Show. The coachman, who had known the dog for years, was thereupon instructed to get the animal into condition. Thomas began his work with tender care, dressing the dog's coat, and looking after him with unusual attention. Nelson (the dog's name) grew dull and moody under the treatment, and at last, when he was put into a new collar, and saw himself dragging a spotless chain, he refused to notice his master or any one else. The dog evidently felt that |