LEOPARD IN COURT

Evening Star, Issue 19550, 7 May 1927, Page 9

LEOPARD IN COURT

A Berlin magistrate recently had 14 decide whether a man was entitled to keep a leopard in his flat. The owner of the leopard (reports the ‘Daily Mail’) said it was as quiet as a lamb. The occupants of the other flats said it was a dangerous beast. Their dogs barked in terror when they heard its savage growls, and the occupants themselves went in fear of their lives. “Wait a minute,” said the owner to the magistrate, and ho dashed out of court, returning later with the leopard in hi* arms. “ Did the wicked people say yon were a savage beast?” he said to the leopard as he took his place Before the magistrate. He stroked it and bent down and kissed it several times. While he was asking the magistrate to notice what a harmless creatine it was, the leopard nestled in its owner’s arms, and was on its best behaviour. The magistrate seemed favorably impressed by its reticence, when it suddenly ruined its master’s case by taking a flying leap from his arms to the magistrate's table and growling in a most savage way. The magistrate, and his clerk, assistants, witnesses, and police, bolted out of the door. When the leopard was caught and the proceedings resumed, the verdict was based on the animal’s spontaneous evidence—to the delight of its enemies.