Torn by Lions.

Manawatu Herald, 4 February 1904, Page 3

Torn by Lions.

A well-known lion-tamer, Mme. Fischer, was torn to pieces by ten lions which she was putting through tricks in a menagerie at Dessau in Germany recently. Mme. Fischer was a pretty blonde of medium height. She entered the lions’ cage in low-necked evening dress, and wore dainty white shoes. She was armed only with a whip. Her appearance suggested anything but her calling. At first all ten lions performed

their tricks obediently, but towards the end of the display a savage old African refused to jump through a paper ring. Mme. Fischer struck him with her whip, but finding him still stubborn showered blow upon I blow upon the animal’s head, j The lion, infuriated by the chastisement, sprang upon Mme. Fischer, and dealt her a terrific blow with one of his huge fore-paws, splitting j open her skull. No sooner had this

happened than the remaining nine lions, smelling blood, fell upon the body of the unfortunate woman, and tore it to pieces, amid fierce roars. The tragedy was enacted with such rapidity that effective interference On Mme. Fischer was impossible. But an English lion-tamer named Smith, attached to the memagerie, entered the cage armed with an iron bar, and with the most extraordinary daring, attacked the ten lions, whose thirst for blood had now been excited to the uttermost. Several keepers fetched iron bars, and prodded the lions from the outside. For several minutes it seemed as if Smith would share the woman’s fate. The lions sprang at him with savage fury, striking out with their immense paws. Smith faced the wild beasts with unflinching courage, and parried their dangerous blows with perfect coolness. Then he belaboured them with his bar, driving them into a corner, where he held them cowed until two keepers removed Mme. Fischer’s mangled remains.

The menagerie tent was crowded with people when the tragedy happened. Many women fainted, and there was a mad rush for the exits. But when Smith entered the cage the flight of the spectators was arrested. They watched the encounter—one man against ten lions - spell-bound, Mme. Fischer was thirty years of age, and had been married ten years. This was her 1000th public performance with lions in a cage, and unlike most other members of her profession, she entertained a strong aversion to the life, and counted the days to the time when her large earnings would enable her to retire. One of the most terrible features of the tragedy was'that Mme. Fischer’s three children —aged nine, seven, and six—were present, and saw their mother torn to pieces.