Wonderful Feat Accomplished by a Cossack.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 5012, 21 May 1889, Page 3

Wonderful Feat Accomplished by a Cossack.

WhonPezon the lion-tamer was at Moscow with his menagerie, he had occasion to employ a moujik, a fine specimen of the Cossack, to clean out the cagesof the wild beastsThe Cossack did not understand a word of French, and the terms of the contract were settled in dumb show. By way of instructing him in his new duties, Penzo went through a sort of pantomine with the broom, sponge and water bucket.

The moujik watched him closely, and appeared to fully understand the details of the lesson given. Next morning, armed with a broom, a bucket and a sponge, he opened the first cage he came to, and quietly stepped in, as he had seen his master step on the previous day iinto two cases of harmless brutes; but this one happened to to be tenanted by a splendid but untamed tiger, that lay stretched on the floor fast asleep. At the noise made by opening and closing the door the creature raised its head, and turned its green eyes full on the man, who, all unconscious of bis danger, stood in a corner dipping his bigsponge into the bucket At that moment Pezon came out of his caravan, and was struck dumb by the terrible sight that met his gaze. What could ho do to warn the man of bis danger ? A sound, a movement on his part, might enrage the great beast and hasten its attack on the defenceless Cossack. So Pezon stood, awaiting developments, ready to rush to the scene when the crisis came.

The monjik, sponge in hand, coolly approached the tiger, and [made ready to rub him down with the stolidity of a military bootblack polishing his captain’s boot 'i he sudden application of cold water to its hide evidently produced a very agreeable effect on the tiger, for it began to purr, stretched out its paws, rolled over on its back, and complacently offered every portion of its body to the vigorous treatment of the moujik, who* went on scrubbing with might and main.

All the, while Pezon stood there with his eyes wide open, as if nailed to the spot. When he had finished his job the Cossack left the cage as quietly as he entered it, and it required the most energetic and expressive gestures on the part of the lion tamer to prevent his repeating the experiment on a second wild beast.