TIMES HAVE CHANGED.

Waipa Post, Volume 39, Issue 3089, 14 December 1929, Page 3

TIMES HAVE CHANGED.

THE CIVILISED LION.

The time has come when we must revise all our lion stories. The latest news from Nairobi is conclusive. When civilisation first came to darkest Africa they used to make our flesh creep with tales of lions stopping the trains and playing hide-and-seek in the railway stations (states the London Daily Telegraph). But the lions and civilisation understand each other better now. The other day a herd or covey of lions settled down on the high road near Nairobi. Was there a man dismayed ? On the contrary, the citizens of Nairobi made motor parties to go and picnic with the lions. It was quite the thing. At the week-end 100 cars were there. The lions, we understand, behaved like Mr Chucks, in the most delicate manner in the world. They did no damage to anyone, not even the photographers. There was no coarse caveman' stuff. They "playfully gambolled," they "posed while the photographs were taken." None of our own lions, not even a film star, could have been more obliging. The interruption to this pleasant Sunday afternoon came from the natives. They are evidently an anchronism. They are still in the primitive state which believes that lions were made to hunt. A party of them

came along with spears. Our modern lion can stand much, but at spears he draws the line. The braves were surrounded by irate beasts, and were almost a regrettable incident. But the motorists saved the position by starting their cars and sounding their horns. Lions, who perfectly understood the dangers of modern traffic, removed themselves; It seems to us that once again the pedestrian has to complain of inconsiderate treatment.