IN THE LION'S CAGE.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVII, Issue XXI, 21 November 1896, Page 95

IN THE LION'S CAGE.

The man who goes into the lion’s cage and puts his head into the lion’s mouth is not regarded as so great a wonder as he once was. The experiment however, is just as dangerous as it was the first time it was made. An old animal-tamer said recently: ‘I never go into a cage of wild beasts unless it is absolutely necessary. In the first place, it is dangerous, and then there is nothing to be gained by it. People don’t appreciate the danger of the performance, so that it is seldom done any more. During the season I am continually annoyed by men who want to go into the cages. A good trainer will not risk his life so foolishly, and it is only novices who take the fearful risk. Most of the men now parading in cages are working for no more than _/8 a month. Showman offer no inducement, but often they will permit a man to go on parade with a den of lions if he insists on it, and agrees before witnesses to take all the risk upon his own shoulders ♦ They do it for glory, but I don’t see where the glory comes in. I used to have a cage of leopards that I raised from kittens. I went in with them for a few years, but when they got full grown I quit it. A fresh young man who was pining for glorv insisted upon taking the place I refused to fill longe r He got the job, and one day the leopards tore him to pieces before a large crowd, to the music of the calliope