The Lion Tamer.

Fair Play, Volume I, Issue 12, 20 January 1894, Page 9

The Lion Tamer.

The subject of our sketch (we refer to-the man and not the tiger) met with rather a nasty accident, while in Christchurch which fortunately did not result fatally,' although it might easily have done so. While going through the operation of putting his head in the mouth of his playful four-footed friend, the latter, who seems fond of a practical joke occasionally, closed his jaws slightly and inflicted a wound on Cox’s neck, The wound was not a very serious one, but it incapacitated him from appearing in Wellington during the first four nights of the show. He appeared in the lions den on Wednesday night, but did not give any exhibition with the tiger as the authorities ob. jected. Tho twe figures in the illustration which appears above this article are both worthy of description. Place aua dames with our usual courtesey' to the fair sex, we give precedence to the ladies. Scinda is a handsome female tiger of the Royal Bengal type, and is perhaps one of the best trained specimens of her type in captivity. She has been well kept and her sleek coat, graceful movements, and large sleepy eyes, make her the pet beauty of the menagerie. She is a young animal and as we explained above humourously inclined, but as a rule she is gentle enough and quite amenable to reason. Mr. Cox i s a young man, about 25 years of age, and seems to have a natural aptitude for dealing with wild animals. He is rather slight, of ordinary stature, and is possessed of indomitable pluck. He has been with Mr. Fillis for some years now and has-worked with the elephants, the tiger and the lions; He has had some hair breath escapes in the course of his career, but has fortunately up to the present time sustained no serious injuries. His, theory of ; treatment is a cool head, nerves of -iron, and absolute firmness, tempered with kindness to the- animals under his charge.. When performing with the lions or the tiger, he is almost constantly with them throughout the day, .personally attending to their feeding, &c., and familiarizing them! with his presence. According to his experience ohe has to be. constantly on guard with any of the members of the feline tribe, as their tempers are apt at times to be.

woefully uncertain. Pasha, the big lion, who is now confined i n a separate cage, gave Mr. Cox, as well.as his previous trainers, a great deal of trouble. He is a comparatively young lion, about eight years old, and was bom in captivity, but he «eems possessed of aU , the inherent ferocity of ah untamed animal, combined with devilish cunning and treachery- He attacked Mr. Cox on two occasions, and latterly has shown such symptoms of leonine “ cussedness” that it has been deemed wise to refrain from performing with him, and he,has. been put in a separate cage in order that he may not oorrupt the morals of the other lions. There is a story in connection with one of the animals in the menagerie, a handsome blaok panther that is worth publishing. Mr. Fillis and his company were attho time travelling in India, and a performance was given before the Rajah of Mysore, who informed Mr. Fillis: that; he had “a menagerie himself, but that none of his attendants dared ontor their cages. In particular he possessed a very fierco, well grown, black panther, and, said he with a smile, “if yon con get him out of his cage you shall have him." The challenge was accepted, and Messrs. Fillis and Cox soon concerted means to enter the cage, and presently stood before the astonishedHajah with the panther bound and a prisoner. . : . ,

The usual periodical ; ruction has broken out'again in tho New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and this time it appears to have been a little more disgracoful ;'than usual. The" last one ■which culminated in a regular “ miil’ , ; on the floor of the House between Paddy Crick, (Ministerialist,) and Jack;: Haynes, (Oppositionist,) was bad enough, but when a Minister' of the Crown permits himself to hurl. “ cuss" words at ; his opponent, and requires two or three strong men to hold him baok, so that gore shan’t bo shed, it looks as though things had reached a climax. At its best the Lower House in New South Wales is nothing more nor less than a legislative bear garden, every member of which is only too “ willing” to settle a dispute vi at ernrn, It only needs a spark in a heated debate to turn that dignified legislative body into a howling Pandemonium, with each member trying to get either the first blow in, or a decisive wrestling hold on his political opponent. The •. writer’haß sat night after night in the press gallery of tho Parliament ofNewSouth Wales, and has on more than one occasion witnessed scenes that would have disgraced the tap-room of a semi-respectable pot house. He has seen Ministers of the Crownhelped iuto:the Chamber at the end of a long debate, and on the eve pf a division, to hold the floor for 15 or 20 minutes whjla the “whip”# could garner in a few more votes, when they to speak coherently, on account of too much in the smoKing room. He has seen one of the Verniers for Newcastle so much under the influence of liquor tha he defied the Speaker and attempted to dance a Highland fling on the floor of the House, with the result that he .was finally forcibly removed by the Sergeant at Arms. In'fact many instances of disorder . could, be given that if they hod occurred in an ordinary haU would have been followed by the prompt interference of the police; but the latest - episode although it ended without bloodshed seems to us to: be< more disgraceful than any previous one. r For a Minister of the Crown to be aocused in open . Parliament of i drtmkennem; addressing the Speaker,, and to retaliate .by threatening to “ wring the d——d scoundrel’s neck.’ , hitn) « ffl d only being prevented from: attempting n speaks volumes. Stfrely;ther^i^ifld|M|sc^^rei^edM^^l^ft^ blackguardi^'’^he'.''indeMiic!y!.ofJwliici^^|a|^m^^i^^^^ exhibition in sqch a place. ' /p||