UNHAPPY LION

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 10, 13 January 1933, Page 14

UNHAPPY LION

TOALS OF GILMORE

REFUSES TO GROW UP

■ Three hundred pounds of frolicsome lion, affectionate, but a bit overwhelming in Ma demonstrativeness, came ■bounding in " a regular frenzy of joy" to meet his visitor. Ho reared in the airy clasped both-of his forepaws about Mrs, Turner's neck as he did when a cub, ana she went flown like a crumpled weed, writes A..L. Wooldridge in the bt. Loots "Post-Dispatch" magazine. The lion was ready to cuff her about when. Captain Turner ran to her rescue ana drove Gilmore away.. ''Ha only wanted to play," Captain Tujner said. "But he doesn't realise iis strength or his weight. He would try to ; crawl ■up into Mrs. : Turner's lap If she gave him the opportunity." Gilmore, who has readied husky young lionhood, is the Peter Pan of his kind. .He won't grow up. Or at least he is unaware that he is, inevitably, approaching maturity. He still thinks of himself as a kitten; and he . can't understand why people won't play With him: as they used to do. You -remember Gilmore as the flying lion, of course. He is . the celebrated Nubian that flew some 25,000 miles with Captain Boscoe Turner, the aviator. But all that is past. Gilmore is grounded. And ho. is no; more the Turners' house pet—rfor obvious reasons. Ho is confined in a small but comfortable arena in.Los Angeles. . Everything possible is dime-, for his comfort) but ho- is unhappy, "lonely^ restless, believing himself in some sort of disgrace. And he can't figure why." He doesn't realise that he is no. longer a baby* Mr. Wooldridge explains as he,continues:— DIITEEENT NOW. The funny things he did as a cub a few months ago are now rebuffed, and he seems J;p" wonder what suddenly has got into the heads of people to make them act so queerly. "Why/ even his beloved, mistress, to whom.he has been so Sevoted, won't let hi:ii hop into her lap. and throw his paws about her neck arid .Jick her face as he used to. Why, ho ponders, should she, or an.' lady for that matter, object, to having a lion sitting in her lap. and playfully cuffing her with his. paws?" He weighs only about 300 pounds. .-..."' ' Even the dogs will not have anything to do with him now. When he runs toward one, all ready for a nice little romp and make-believe fight, the dog invariably tucks its tail between its legs and starts for South America, • howling with all its might. Gilmore doesit't want to hurt iti ~ Dogs, it seems,- are such dumb .creatures! There really }s pathos in tho plight of this beautiful, tawny/beast whose only offehco has been .the. development of a too; affectionate nature. '" ' : • Gilmbre was presented ;to Captain Turner, in the early part of 1930, by the owner of the Goebel Lion Farm, just outside of Los Angeles.... Ho was only four weeks old, a soft, fluffy-fun-ed littlo kitten that had, been taken from the side of his mother, Queen, a performing, lion ess, and fed on a. bottle. He purred' his happiness when they rocked him in their arms,, held him close, and-'.'babied" .him. like mothers do.their children. He ;had reason to know .all about those appellations, "dariin',""' "duinplin'," "mamma's lambkin," etc., etc.. He heard them all. HOUSEHOLD PET. The result of this treatment was that the cub became an accepted household pet^, and before long was given the run of the yard. No one feared , him!., Even the neighbours felt no hesitation: in stopping to roll Gilmore around," to rub his back, and hear him purf^- Everybody, said he was so "cute."':.- '"/.-■■;' ■•'.'.. .■ ■, : ■ '■"• ;Of course, the lion cub attracted "a lot of attention, and Captain Turner took a delight in carrying him about. Persons-wanted to touch and pet the creature, and Gilmore liked it. He tried to be friendly with, every one^ He had no aversion to cats or dogs,'< and although they couldn't exactly figure him put, one , or .two played -with him atVtimes. .Captain Turner's yard dog, In particular, learned to like .him. These were the only playmates, except human beings ho ever knew. Possibly he recalls them now. One day when Gilmore was still a kitten the idea occurred to his owners . that brought him. his fame. "Letfs. take the little fellow- up in the aeroplane,". Captain Turner said. '^Wouldn't it scare him?" Mrs. Turner '.replied.'.;*'"What do you think he would, do?'' . /'Let's find out," Captain Turner suggested; to her". . ; So ;ihey tried this I experiment, described by, Mr.: Wooldridge: :Thus "it was "that, early in 1930, Captain Turnsr,\Mrsl Turner, and Gilmore climbed into an aeroplane at a Lbs Aiigeles .airport. .The motor was warmed up, and presently they took off. As the aeroplane sped over the ground,. Gilmore, sitting in Mrs. Turner's lap, looked up; at her questionrngly, then turned, to gaze at his master At the controls. He seemed to be trying to ask, "Is. this all right? There isn't anything wrong, is there?" ;When the, craft took the air and the "earth Btarted getting farther and farther away, Gilmore took one dismayed look, .threw both, front paws about Mrs. Turner^ neck, buried his head in her bosom, and closed both eyes. Tho end of "the, world had come! ■', po "he.iemained;aß the ship went into the sky, turned, banked, and rose again, "Aiter.a while," says Captain Turner, "he took a peep with one eye. Then he saw mo sitting at the controls, unperturbed. .He felt Mrs. Turner's arms about him and heard her talking to- him.--"He wasn't hurt in any way, and before long.he regained his composure. Still, .he {looked . wonderingly at tho procedure!. was the big idea,' he seemed to ask, 'prowling around up here? What's the ultimate end of this trip ? Do you folks usually travel in such a manner?" That flight, 'sold' Gilmore on. the idea of flying. When we landed safely and entered our motorcar, to drive home, he was entirely over his fright." •. • MADE MANY PLIGHTS. Gilmore was "the aviator's companion in. dozens of trips over all America, and was photographed by newspaper cameramen, in .many of the major cities. He became known as "The, Flying Lion." In New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati,; Dallas, Vancouver, and other centres, Captain Turner registered at the principal hotels as himself "and lion." 1 "But,. alas, time is no respecter of petted lion cubs. It passes for them just as it passes with the rest of us. So' Gilmore began to grow up. And when.: h.e began this process he went rapidly," as we see: From a ten-pound kitten in January, 1930, he became a 135 : p6und cat in November. And a 125-ppund lion wandering around in1 an aeroplane and taking up a lot of room in the cockpit is no stabiliser to a moving airship. '_ So Captain Turner gave Gilmore a nice place at home arid, when he started ott tripa; tetherea him with a chain in the yard or left him free with Mrs. Turner in. the house. He applied for and was given a permit by the city to keep the growing lion in his residence on North Sycamore avenue. From that moment, griefs with the beast really began. * ..■ ' Gilmore's tiny claws developed, into rakes and his catlike teeth became

tusks. • Instead of scratching the tufted divan and chairs, ho Tipped out chunks of "wadding."'He found that small rugs on the hardwood floors skidded when he sprang-upon them, so he established a one-lion skating-rink. When visitors rang the doorbell, he was the first to answer. And no one wants to- be greeted by a half-grown lion when arriving to make a call. A most amusing incident in Gilmpre's career is related thus by Mr. Wooldridge: Not long ago,y Captain Turner took Gilmore out to the Goebel lion farm to see what his reaction, would be toward other specimens of his tribe. And Gilmore didn't like it. ;• He crowded in between his master and the fence, trying to push him away. He trotted off toward their motor-car, then retiirned, only to trot off again. He seemed to be trying to lure him away from those common, lowbrow creatures^ Jealdiisy, it appeared to be! So the only thing to'do was to build the beast a home and imprison him there, although ho had: never harmed a thing in the world. His little arena on Beverly Boulevard cost 2300 dollars. He has a comfortable house in which to sleep, the'stump of a tree on which to claw an a climb, a suspended automobile tire to cuff about—but no companion at his side. The days go by witli tho tawuy lion, now full grown, pacing back and forth, back and forth. When small crowds gather, ho sometimes stands and looks longingly into the faces of people, apparently wondering why suoh a change has come into his life. ■'■