Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 303, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 December 1910 — HOW TO MEET A LION [ARTICLE]

HOW TO MEET A LION

BRITISH SURGEON ETIQUETTE FOR OCCASION. If King of Beasts Fails to Realize He Is de Trop Tourist Should Walk Away With Becoming . Dignity. The etiquette to be observed when • peacefully inclined tourist or explorer meets a lion in the jungle is described by Sir Frederick Treves, the distinguished British surgeon, in his tKrok7 _ Hottday;“ just published in England. "The tourist coming to British East Africa,” he says, “is sure to inquire as to the line of conduct that should - i*® observed—when a Uoil is encountered by the way. In answer to such inquiry I was told that the etiquette suitable for the occasion was the following: If the lion when met with is walking in the opposite direction to the tourist the animal should be allowed to continue his walk without comment. If, however, the lion stops and stares at the tourist it is proper that the tourist should ‘Shish’ the animal away, as he would an obtrusive goose on a village green. Should the lion be unmoved by this expression of annoyance the tourist is advised to throw lumps of earth at the obtuse creature. If, after this, the lion still fails to realize that he is de trop, the tourist is recommended to walk away from the spot with such dignityas the strained position demands.” Sir Frederick Treves has several other things to say about the animals of the wild. ”The rhinoceros is the embodiment of blind conservatism," he writes. “Its hide is impenetrable, its vision is weak, while its intellect is weaker. It has, however, two marked qualities—combativeness and a sense of smell. It is aroused to its maximum energy by the presence of anything that is new. This object need not be a thing that is aggressive or'inconvenient. Its offensiveness depends upon the fact that it is unfamiliar, and the more unfamiliar the object is the worse the rhinoceros “When a rhinoceros smells a man he will charge him with maniacal violence, although the man may be merely sitting on a stool reading Milton. The massive beast will dash at him like a torpedo or a runaway locomotive simply because the smell of him is novel. Actuated by this insane hate of whatever savors of an innovation, the rhinoceros has charged an iron water tank on the outskirts of a camp and has crumpled it up as a blacksmith would an empty meat tin. "A conservative rhinoceros with a senile dislike of anything new once charged a train on the Uganda railway, but with no more serious results than the tearing away of the footboard of a carriage. As regards the rhinoceros in this case, it appeared surprised that a thing composed, as it had imagined, of flesh and blood, could be so hard. It went off with an additional grievance and an increased swelling of the head.”