FEARFUL SCENE IN A MENAGERIE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1759, 6 February 1888, Page 2

FEARFUL SCENE IN A MENAGERIE.

A TIGER AT TACKI G HIS KEEPER.

The Zoological Garden hero (nays an Amerionn |ap«r) was the scene of a thrilling and very nearly fatal inoidnnv recently. It is about two o'clock that the at'loanls m the linn-house are fed, fach one belog g'V'*o a large peoe of raw moat, generally ho<«. flesh. Thera are other «m?ma's In tils' houee hes dfla tho lions, amonu t^om a very fine Bengal tiuer named X "2. He is an unusually h»ortB »m«i benst, wsslvh o f limb aod vie no* !in te* p*r. Go' Tiro Robinson, hie Keeper, has Qrar, And last, had a great deal of trouble with him, and hns of'en bean 0 impelled m reset to extreme menanreß m ;hls punishment. And yet there are times when Ktog (a at doolie si a kitten, and Robinson, who Is a perfectly fearless man, h*3 frequently gone into the Cage md pUyed with the beast as a boy would with a dbg. Reently, however, King teemed to be In an aoasaally bad temper, touring np and down the cage all the fore* noon, md bonndlng agalmt the bars with a force th* 1 - made them rattle m their sookets* R(* '"son tried s veral times to maka him \t \ down, bat he was rnMuncßsfal Ha ought, however, that King* ngy humor >ald disappear at I fe«dlng-time, and h« jne'uded to wait un»il tbenboforearfmin'n ering the punisn* ment. In auk Ing bio prpparatb* gto feed the animale, the keeper hus to p««« be f ore the o»ge« a number of time?, and they become very rws'les* and impatient, tor they know what Is coming. King on this oocaston behaved worse than Robinson had ever known him. He seemed to be m a terrible rage, and fiaally, mi the keeper p ssed his o»ge, th« tiger thrust hi 'inmiao paw through the bar and srrook th» keeper* arm, during away the o'othing and Into the fl?sh. Robinson <vhos<s temper when an used (■ about as fi <ry as the tigers, beotme eoragwd m turn, and he det< rtnioed to enter the cage and eorqo*r »ha bea*t. It was downright madness, bob no penuia oq of the other keepers enuld prevail on the dauntless man to give up his purpose. Ona of the men was sent hurriedly to find headkeper Byre, who at 'his tlnre was m a d'lUut part of the earden, so that his authority might be Interposed to prevent Robinson to'in doing what everyone be> I evel to b» af> I «h and fatal ti n?. He h d hardly gone, however, before Robinson, who*e movements were ai quick as Uitrninur, hai sprang to the rear of the oat??, thrown open the door, and leaped In o the beast's der, slimming the door ifter him. \nd then a sued a soene whioh th bo who saw It o%n never torget. WaM and b %*b faced eaoh other, and for a miment neither moved an inch— the but, quieted by the man's sadden entrance, glared at its opponent apparently m niter surprise at his rfokless action. The man, brave and undaunted, and armed witb a s'-rong whip, was positively soperb as he stood lookiug into the eyes of the Iger. By this tim>; 50 people had gathered In the house, and among them Robinso . • wife and oMM, who were there to v sit him, and had been out of the boose when the troube began. There had been muoh excitement and many cries of warning and dissuasion when R ihlnson s at ed to enter the cage, but as he leaped m front of the beast the people became »• silent as death, the appalling danger the man Incurred paralysed their tongues. His wife, pale and terror ■ "•token, aank back upon one of tho benches and closed her eyes that she might not see h r huabond torn to pieces m her very preaenua, and his child, too young to realise the awful position of its father, dung to Its mother's dreas. orylng to her to know what his fa' her wai doing In there with the tiger. His li'tlw voice was the only Hound that broke the s'ill> ncrf, and Robinson, f rtonately for him, was too much bent upon hi« p<trpoß» to 1 ha i If, But the tiger now cr< ooW as if 1 >o spring, and Robinson knew that the i moment of his nuprome trial had o me. He awaited tLe atfcaot without the quiver of % muscle— still Jooklng the brute fixedly m the eye, and then it came, the tiger bounding forward like a thunderbolt. Robinson w«s ready for It, and he leaped ' qnlokly acid*, the tiger being carried by > the impetus of his spring full again* p 'he Wa at the end of the o&go. As it . *hit by him Robinson struck It a heavy ' hlow with his whfp across th^ flaiko Kd ; utterea a huwi if pain and ra^e, and 1 was np at the keeper again with the t r'pld'ty of light nirg. This time Robinson I d>d not fare so well. One cf the tiger's i •'awi oanghb Mi arm In passing, and tore out a piece rf fdsb. Ay sin th a keeper ai>p"ed thn whip, apparently uom'ndful of his two wounds, and again tt c tiger torti«d and spr«n< at its would bo master. letp'ng straght at his breaet, and fuM o^airist it Robinson had not been qul k enough, and he was borne to the fj tor i f the cage, where he l*y stunned » d moticn'ew, the ti. er lying with hit ' fn feet «cro>B the bodyi Aa the 3 ke p-r f^ll there w«s a q nek, loud ory i of ' iamay from the r aopls, who had l with bat"d breath watohed the terrible combat, and 'he breast, with his paws j still on his viotim'a breast, turned tit head to glare upon the people In front of bi# cage, At this moment Bryne, the > hesdkenper, appear' d, forcing his way > throoah the exoited orowd dear up to the I birs of he c«ge. With him were two ; aEsistatit keepers, to whom he gave directions, and they went immediately to the re^rof the cage, taking o*re that the tiger d d not see them as th y went. Bryno held In his hand a loug pole, on the end of whioh was a sharp rpike. As he i reached the bsrs he shoutf d at the ti jar In a lond, o >ajmanding tone, anu telling > to ppople to stand back, throat thn spike 1 iuto the animal's fl irk. With a howl of rage King rose from his position op the h< dy of Robinson, and dashed himself again* • the b»«-s wh«r<? Bryne was standing, i trytug to reach t>is new enemy. This was wuat the headkeeper wanted, for at that i moment the two assistants appeared at the door m 'ho rear, ready to perform their part m the rescue Bryne bad planned. F rtouately, Robinson had f*. «n uear the door, and as Bryne had k p<. up bis onmbu with the tiger, plunging the spike ogam and again into his body, the assistants quickly opened the door, grasped the wounied and still in~ seneitlrf man by the arms, and jarlred him out of the cage. The whole thing w«b done so rapidly th«t the doer was again closad aud fasteied before the luturia'ei besut diacovered that his prey had escnped him. The inteuse excitement of ihe spectator* now fuund vent m a lon.i ringing cheer, tho noise of which ar msed Robinson from his stupor. His faintir g wife and hia friigbtunod child were reassured by the sympathising pc >p'o around them, aod th"y wore soon nrith th-> husband and father, whoso wouuds were found to be ojuuparatively light, muoh to everybody's surpiise. Bib powerful physiqne bad saved him. The tiger will Boon recover from the injury lufl oted by the spike, but Robloion will not be allowed to enter his cage again, although he says he will oonquer the brute rat

Among the Siamese about six weeks, inoludiog parts of Maroh and April, are annually given up altnoit wholly to worship, much of which consists m efforts to pro* pitiate spirits. The spirit of the river next to eaoh village, and on which most of ttye looa traffic is oarried on, is propitiated by a floral offering, Tiny boats, oarried to the watar edge, arc filled with the ohoioest flowara, and tapere are arranged among them }>£ whioh to illuminate the little barks. At at) hour after dark a signal is given, and ptigultaneously thousands of these little . fastf §r« Jauneuid and go. Bailing down' the