216 THE MINDS AND MANNERS 



Boma's fear of man has never returned. Now, although he is 

 big and dangerous, he is a perfectly normal ape. 



The Training of an Over-Age Bear. A bear-trainer- 

 athlete and " bear- wrestler " named Jacob Glass once taught me a 

 lesson that astounded me. It related to the training of a bear 

 that I thought was too old to be trained. 



We had an Alaskan cinnamon bear, three years old, that 

 had been christened " Christian, " at Skagway, because it stood 

 so much pestering without flying into rages, as the grizzly did. 

 After a short time with us, the concrete floors of our bear dens 

 reacted upon the soles of its feet so strangely and so seriously 

 that we were forced to transfer the animal to a temporary 

 cage that had a wooden floor. While I was wondering what 

 to do with that bear, along came Mr. Glass, anxious and 

 unhappy. 



"My wrestling bear has died on me," he said, "and I've 

 got to get another. You have got one that I would like to 

 buy from you. It's the one you call Christian." 



Very kindly I said, "That is a mighty fine bear, as to temper; 

 but now he is entirely too old to train, and you couldn't do 

 anything with him. He would be a loss to you." 



"I've looked him over, and I like his looks. I think I 

 can train him all right. You let me have him, and I'll make a 

 fine performer of him." 



"I know that you never can do it; but you may try him, 

 and send him back when you fail." 



Thus ended the first lesson; and I was sure that in a month 

 Mr. Glass would beg me to take back the untrainable animal. 



About one year later Glass appeared again, jubilant. At 

 once he broke forth into eulogies of Christian; but one chapter 

 would not be large enough to contain them. He had trained 

 that bear, with outrageous ease and celerity, and had im- 

 mediately taken him upon the stage as a professional jiu-jitsu 

 wrestler. And really, the act was admirable. As a wrestler, 

 the bear seemed almost as intelligent as the man. He knew 



