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ea
rical
Circ
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:T FELl
Ir.
Monarch in
IN EUROPEAN TRAVELS
aer
iother lions in self-de-
captive the two fluffy,
the most important vaudeville house
south of the Pyrennes. Carter found
"Baby" a quick study and a thorough
artist, quick to grasp the possibilities
of the leading "heavy" in the melo-
drama.
The situation was dramatic. It was
"Baby's" premiere. The theatre was
the Little Colyseu in Setubal, a city
about forty miles from Lisbon. The
second revolution had passed over the
new republic and left its people with
even less regard for royalty, and with
more vigorous stirrings of patriotism
and republicanism evident in its at-
titude. Carter advertised widely the
fact that he would exhibit the King
of Portugal's lion in one of the im-
portant acts in his entertainment. It
drew a house, but one whose temper
was somewhat like that of the aud-
ience which greeted Lady Gregory's
Irish Players, when they sought to
present for the first time, "The Play
Boy of the Western World" to a typir
cal Irish-American audience. They
were waiting for "Baby." The stage
was set. It represented the palace of
the Shah of Persia. In the back-
ground was 'a double cage, in one-
half of. which "Baby" is discovered
walking restlessly back and 'forth,
switching, his tail against the bars,
snarling and behaving ferociously as
though waiting impatiently for a long
delayed dinner of missionary chops.
The other half of the cage was vacant.
A slender door stood between.
e now took on a very'rosy tint for
y," and he 'took to his new quar-
in the palace like a duck to a mud
but his brother, brooding over
rphaned state, wasted away and
of voluntary starvation.
e troublous times upon which
igal and its irresponsible young.
were entering disturbed "Baby"
t all. They did not seem to make
Simipression, either, upon Manuel
the fatal October 3, 1910, when
is 'deposed and had to flee for his
ous life. The king had already
i "Baby's" education seriously
>ersonally in hand, and the lion
by that time do all the parlor
that any well-bred cat or dog
h thn -aaP onr l" n r
accustomed to handling lions, .acci-
dentally loosened the door at the top
of the cage and "Baby" stuck his head
out in playful fashion and grinned at'
him. Without more adieu, the stage
hand broke for the stage, jumped over
the footlightssinto the pit, and ran up
the center aisle screaming "au lion."
It did not take the audience long to
leave the theatre, but they all came
back when they were assured that
there was nothing to fear.
It is no so easy to travel comfort-
ably with a lion as people unacquaint-
ed with that form of pleasure might'
suppose. Railway officials are skepti-
cal, and golden assurances often have
to be extended before their fears are
placated, but it is wonderful what a
little assurance of this kind will do.
Ingenuity often results in smoothing
'the way where the other method is
too expensive. For instance, when
Carter was seeking passage from' Os-
tend to Dover, he resorted to a little
Yankee facetiousness to enable him o
get across in' a hurry, as he had no
time to wait for a freight boat and he
had 125 trunks, besides the lion, to
transport. He carefully saw to it that
the trunks were all on board before
he sprung it upon the gaily uniformed
courtiere maratime eta d'Assurances
d'Ostend, n other words, the superin-
tendent of the boat company, that he
had a lion also to go on board. This
was merely mentioned in a casual, off-
hand way, as if it were the everyday
business of the boat to carry lions,
the same as other passengers.
He had already paid a sum approxi-
mately $450 for the passage and the
boat had already waited an hour,
while the baggage was being put on
board.
But the superintendent put his foot
down hard when it came to passing
the lion. He called attention to the
regulations on the back of the ticket,
which prohibited the transportation of'
"wild forest bred beasts," and he in-
sisted that the lion was a wild beast.
Mr. Carter declared that he was not a!
wild beast, that it was a good, tame,
domesticated actor, and not a lion at
all, in fact, and after about an hour's
argument, while the captain of the
boat fumed up and down the deck, he
finally convinced the doubting Teuton
that the animal in the cage was noth-
ing more or less than an American!
Whangdoodle, a well-known Ameri-
can quadruped of the cat tribe inhab-1
iting principally the States of Alaba-
ma, Louisiana, and Texas, although
now they were being grown in The
' Bronx, New York, and were making
their appearance on Broadway. The
perplexed uniformed courtiere mara-
time eta d'Assurances d'Ostend ner-
vously looked up in the restricions to
the boat company whether or not a
Whangdoodle were permissible upon
the line, and finding no restrictions on
any animal of this sort, he reluctantly
allowed the cage to be put upon the
boat, and the'voyage, delayed for three
hours, was begun.
When the lion was brought to this
country the Cunard line officials sta-'
tioned an armed guard over his cage
irf addition to Fritz, his regular valet.
This guard was relieved every four
hours, the ceremony partaking of the
dignity of guard mount. The lion
proved so gentle and amiable, .that
one of the men whose duty it was to
exercise the dogs and horses came to
Mr. Carter and asked him when he
should exercise the lion. But the cap-
tain, hearing of this contemplated
tour en force, gave a peremptory or-
der that it should not take place at
all, and so "Baby" got no exercise on
the voyage; but it is a matter of rec-
ord that he was the only passenger
on the ship that was not seasick, 'for
the voyage was rough. However, he
was landed safely and has since been
living on the fat of the land ever since
his arrival in, America.
- Fat of the land, as applied to the
King of Portugal's lion, is fifteen
pounds of the best beef, raw, once a
day, and a barrel of water. Mr' Car-
ter pays as much a pound for "Baby's"
meat as he does for that which graces
his own table, but it is not so much
what he eats, as how he eats it, that
proclaims "Baby" an aristocrat. It'
is the accepted nature of wild beasts
to spring at heir food and tear it to
bits, and eat it in much the same way
that a hunger-crazed savage would
devour the last loaf of bread in a'
cache. Feeding time at the circus is
for this reason an event. But "Baby"
calmly takes his food, retires to the
most secluded part of his cage and
slowly and daintily separates the meat
and eats it with all due ceremony.
For human companionship he has.
a particular fondness, and for his mas-
ter what amounts to an affection.
Carter always talks to him when pas-
sing his cage, and "Baby" puts his
nose up to the magician's ear and tells
him what he thinks without reserve.
He is lonesome when left alone, but
resigned. He has accepted philos-
ophically the fate that has cast him in
such devious ways-born to rule, the
pampered pet of a monarch, and now
the willing puppet of a conjurer ma-
magician-a high-class animal actor.
This wonderful lion will be at the
Majestic with "Carter" the great
American magician, Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, November 30, .December 1,
and 2.
EDITOR LAUDS TABLOID DRAMA
COMING TO LOCAL PLAYHOUSE
Mr. William Reedy, proprietor and
editor of the St. Louis Mirror, says of
Chas. W. Bowser & Co. and "Supersti-
tion," "Oliver White is master of the
tabloid drama. He can compress a
whole play into an act, and make it
move with intensity without dryness.
He can write epigrams too, and he has
a fine cynic sentimentalism, and he can
end a piece with an unexpected twist
that yet is natural and logical. His
"Superstition" is a lively and fascinat-
ing production, touching politics and
graft lightly, and yet surely, without
preaching, with, in fact, a world-wise
toleration.
Chas. W. Bowser & Co. are the cast
in excellent, swift interplay of charac-
ters and odd situation. A Frenchman
like Richepin might have written the
thing. No company could have played
it better than it was played.
Chas. W. Bowser & Co. will appear
at the Majestic the last three days-of
the week, Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
December 3-4-5.
CARTER AND HIS LION BEGIN
ENGAGEMENT HERE TOMORROW
Charles Carter, the great magician,
who is to appear at the Majestic for
three days starting tomorrow is a
widely traveled man-he has played in
nearly every city of importance in the
world and many out-of-the-way cor-
ners of the globe as well. He has
gleaned an immense fund of know-
ledge upon his hobby, and is constant-
ly adding to his store. His favorite
aphorism is: "You never know
magic." "In .other words, the study
is' inexhaustible, like that bottle that
I pour all kinds of drinks from."
rie pajace comad .o;
es, his clumsy paws,
needle-sharp claws sheathe
as thick as the queen's thi
other KIumar
ana It seemed that the Shah, who owned
with the lion, had become desperately en-
ed in amored of the charms of Hester, a
ekest young woman in his dominion. The
hole- beauteous Hester was oblivious to the
n be- advantages of the Shah's romantic at-
tachment, as her affections were fixed
upon the advance agent of a Persian
circus named Hadji. But the Shah
was stubborn. He would compel the
beautiful maiden to love him or cast
her to the lion. In her extremity 'she;
appeals for her life, but in vain. The
Shah sounds the alarm gong. The
maiden is seized and is about to be
cast into the outer cage when Prince
Sahib,'a powerful potentate from Pun-
jaub, and a mystic Mahatma, or sacred
man, appears. He had been entreat-
ed by the maiden's father to save her
life. He bespeaks the Shah with
smooth words and asked him why he
had taken the maiden prisoner and
held her against her will. The Shah
hangs his head in guilty confusion, but
steadfastly refused to give the mai-
den up. The Prince thereupon shows
the Shah the sign of the Order of
Yogi, the insignia of his mystic order,
ap- and tells the Shah that he is able to
release Hester by magic if he chooses,
but the Shah still refuses, and the
ffec- prince takes his departure with a
con- long threatening look as he exists.
ment The Shah thereupon directs the in-
carceration of the young lady in the
nva- ante-cage, preparatory to her exe-
and cution and deputizes a female slave
rried to stand guard over her to see that
left she does not escape. The Shah goes
d by out, the prince comes. He bribes the
resi- female slave to assist him, the lion
o do it the meantime uttering convincing
nists roars at frequent intervals. Disguis-
e de ing himself as a priest, the prince en-
rque ters the ante-cage, much to the relief
aby' of the harassed Hester.
to
ntle and a
'hen came the revolution; the i
n of the palace by the despised
rtaxe, republicans; the hur
ht of the king; and "Baby" was
.ind, unloved, feared and starve
new occupants of the royal
.ce. Not knowing what else to
h the baby lion, the revolution
k him to the Gardin Zoologicof
:limacao em Portugal, in the Pa
Palhava in Lisbon. Here "B
in a little over a year as an
[t," and tjhe fact of his havingL
King of Portugal's lion, gave
anding that none of the other
sts could boast. But his dispos
s not soured and he remained
tILL and playful as beiore. He
red, in fact, such a liking for
n companionship and attention,i
was very lonesome when
iday crowds were not allowe
Zoological Gardens, and voiced
ness with almost human wb
"ex--
been
him
wild
ition
d as
ac-
hu-
that
the
d in
1 his
him-
But the directors of the Garden were
not strongly inclined toward the lion,
for he savored of the' old regime of
royalty, and they decided to sell the
beast.
Carter, who was in Lisbon at the
time, bought him.
The price was nominal-very mod-
erate for a well trained, perfect and
undamaged lion-300,000 reis. When
it is realized that in order to satisfy
Now comes the big moment for
"Baby." He crouches in the farther
end of his cage and with one terrific
roar leaps, at the partition, which sep-
arates him from the trembling maiden.
The partition gives way. The entire
cage falls apart, and lo! the terrible
lion is instantly changed into the ma-
gician himself.
The audience had sat quietly
enough, but at this cries of "down
with King Manuel's lion" started in
the top gallery and were taken up in
the' pit. A riot seemed likely. The
people outside the theatre who could
not get in threatened to demolish the
windows and storm the stage, when
Carter bethought him of a scheme to
startle the audience into submission.
lHe brought "Baby" out on the stage,
ostensibly to take a curtain bow, held
in leash only by a slender cord. In-
side of four minutes there was not a
seat in the house occupied, and no
one came back to the box office to
demand his money.
From this auspicious beginning of
his theatrical career, "Baby" played
all through Portugal and Spain,
France and Belgium. It was in Liege,
Belgium, that "Baby" inadvertently
caused another riot. His act was over
and his cage wheeled into the wings.
During the intermission a Belgian
audience repairs to two convenient
"bars" on either side of the auditor-
ium, there to refresh themselves
against, the second half of the enter-
tainment. During this intermission,
one of the stage hands, who was un-
of
of
s, even a normal hunger it is necessary
as to part withi 3,000 reis in a good hotel
P- in Lisbon, the figure is not astonish-
r- ing. In American money the trans-
ig fer of ownership was accomplished
on for a sum approximating $550, for
ed which Carter obtained the lion and the
he guarantee from the director of the
zoological garden, Jose Julia Lopas
is Valladez, that the lion's teeth were
te sound, his digestion in good 'order,
a and his limbs in perfect condition.
st The deal was made through Sig..
of Antonio Santos, the wealthy manager
h of the Lisbon Colysen Dos Recreios,
Chas. W. Bowser & Co., in "Superstition," Majestic theatre, Thursday, Friday, Saturday,