Alice Rips Up Stake as Lion Claws Her Trunk in the Circus Tent.
Herd Head Saves Day.
Alice, a couple of tons of elephantine flesh got frightened last night and nearly went on a rampage that might have given Golimar Brothers circus a safe full of small change if Lizzie, the lead of the herd, had not brought her to her senses.
Alice was busy grabbing peanuts in the menagerie tent. Her trunk shot nearer and nearer to the lion cage to get the delicate morsels that lay in the dust. One lone peanut had found its way to the edge of the lion cage and Alice saw it. Out went the lithe trunk, through the bars and near the lion’s claws. The trunk grabbed the peanut but at the same time the claws of the lion scratched the trunk.
A shrill wail from Alice brought the herd to a frightened attention. Up came Alice’s stake as she pulled for a safer position. Back of her surged the heavy herd.
Then came the action of Lizzie and the trainer. Reassuring and calm was the note from the trunk of Lizzie. The herd snapped to attention and the trainer clapped the stake that shackled Alice in the ground. A stampede, the one fear of a circus man’s life, had been averted and a property damage of thousands of dollars had been prevented.
The damage done was slight, but fear gripped the heart of the circus men before Lizzie had quieted the herd. Only one bar had been ripped from the lion’s cage by Alice as she tore her trunk away in a frenzy after the clawing. Still the intervention of Lizzie had probably saved the entire menagerie tent, and a house or two.
The last stampede of the herd, according to the circus men, came in Montgomery, Ala., the winter quarters. A lonesome mouse had run in fright up the trunk on one of the elephants. A bellow of fear followed and the entire herd trouped through the side of the winter barn.
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