LION CAUSES A STIR

Hokitika Guardian, 4 September 1931, Page 3

LION CAUSES A STIR

ESCAPE FROM A CRATE

COALED BACK BY MEAT,

When a railway official inspected a van standing at a railway platform at Victoria Station, London, on May 19 lie saw to his great surprise a lion seated on a crate and peering through the bars of the window.

The official promptly gave the alarm and a message.was' sent immediately to a London animal dealer who bad loaded the lion in a crate in the van. Until ille arriva’ of trainers who could deal with the situation, platform seats were used as a barricade around the van, ar,d officials were posted at a 1 points in case the lion should smash down the sides of the van.

Wh ii ‘ -the trainers arrived they found that the'lion*was Nero—a wild young animal bound for ‘‘Dreamland • at Margate—and that since the previous night, when the crate bad been placed in the van, be bad spent the time gnawing throqgh the woodwork of the crate to the wider liberty of the van itself.

IT a ! f a dozen men bad gone to Victoria Station with special tack’e of a 1 descriptions, and it was obvi< us that the problem of getting N* ro back from the van to the crate would be a ticklish one. Every precaution was taken to keep early passengers away from the van.

Fortunately. X ro had very hungry, and after pacing op and ( own the railway van he decided to eat n piece of meat which bad been sk’lfu Iv thrown through the window of f>o van into the crate. He walked into the crate tlr-mi-h the hole h- bad gnawed and set-fed down to enjoy the meat.

Then, e.efng with lmfitnim" s” ’c' l • the doors of the van were opened, and men dnrlwd in with a stout niece of timber which was quick’y placed over the bole in the crate and securely hammered down.

Nero tlmn qui tly rested after bis meal to enjoy his railway journey to Margate.