Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 November 1905 — TAMING A TIGER. [ARTICLE]

TAMING A TIGER.

jftie Way a Showman Got Friendly With a Fierce Bean. A zoologist thus describes how an attendant brought about friendly rel* tions with a tierce tiger: “There was a showman I used to know named Melchior He once bought J magnificent Bengal tiger, which he ot at a low price because it had already killed two men. “At first Melchior would put his foot or his hand into his cage, but from thfc way the tiger would leap at him he knew that to put himself entirely in its power nrould be suicide. Nothing he could do would establish a friendly relationship between himself and the tiger. “Some originality was needed, and Melchior showed it by taking some old clothes, stuffing them with tags and throwing them into the cage. The tiger in a jiffy tore the old clothes to pieces, thinking that the figure was a human being. “Next day and the next day and the next Melchior continued to throw in tb the tiger stuffed figures, and the tiger continued to destroy them. But as time passed the animal ceased to put heart into its work and in the end It gave up altogether these attacks on the'"scarecrows. It would just play with them or else not notice them at all. . ; “N'ow was Melchior’s time. lie opened the cage door one morning, walked in boldly and slapped the tiger familiarly on the back. lit gave him a friendly look and purred. It took him for another manikin not worth bothering about. It lived seven years with Melchior and became as gentle as a kitten.”