A SENSATIONAL INCIDENT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8532, 10 September 1907, Page 5

A SENSATIONAL INCIDENT.

A sensational incident, which nearly culminated in a dangerous panic, occurred during a performance by Wirths'circus at Yass recently (as reported briefly by cable), the liontamer Marco being savagely attacked by a lion. When Marco entered the cage in order to carry out his customary performance with the lion, the beast sprang at him. At first the audience hardly realised what had occurred, but when the tamer was hurled backwards and pinned in a corner by the lion, the spectators became aware that Marco was in peril of his life. They wa-e seized with consternation, which was heightened to panic when the lion seized the trainei's arm in his jaws and tore it savagely. The circus assistants were taken by surprise, and it was not until the lion was making a second onslaught that the men who had rushed to Marco's help succeeded in beating it off with iron bars. Marco, with his arm mangled and bleeding, escaped through the door of the cage just as the panicstricken audience abandoned their seats and rushed wildly to the entrances of the tent. Only the extraordinary courage of the lion-tamer prevented serious consequences following the panic. In spite of the pain he was suffering, he faced the audience in order to let them see the danger was past. His appearance was greeted a storm of*cheers. The teeth of the lion had passed right through his arm, severely lacerating the flesh and exposing the bone. He said that never before had he such a narrow escape from death.