Beatty & the Beast

Three years ago young Clyde Beatty, famed wild animal trainer, was attacked by a tiger. As he went down, an African lion named Nero leaped upon the tiger, knocked it across the cage. After that Nero was Trainer Beatty's favorite beast, was the tamest in the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. Last fortnight Animal Man Beatty was rehearsing his act at Peru, Ind. He cracked his whip over Nero's head. Nero snarled, crouched, sprang. As Trainer Beatty went down sharp teeth tore through the flesh of his leg. Assistants rushed into the cage, whipped the lion away, carried Trainer Beatty off to a hospital.

Last week, his leg swollen and gangrenous, Lionman Beatty tossed on a hospital cot, fighting for his life. Alone in a cage sulked his friend Nero.

Bees in Boston

With 500 cold and sluggish bumble bees in a hive tucked under his arm, Michael W. Barrett walked into Boston's Hotel Statler one day last week. That afternoon he was to tell the New England Nurserymen's Association about beekeeping. In the cloakroom he checked his beehive. Miss May Hassey looked at Miss Dorothy Stayton and giggled.

Not long after that Miss Hassey looked at the beehive. To her horror she saw issuing from it bee after bee after bee. Miss Hassey and Miss Stayton covered themselves with several layers of overcoats. The bees buzzed out into the lobby.

Beeman Barrett was eating a chop with spinach. His back was to the door, and the hotel forbids paging in its dining room. For an hour and a half he continued to eat slowly while bellboys gesticulated from the doorway and the lobby swarmed with buzzing bees. Finally one found its way to its master, lit on his nose. Beeman Barrett quietly put it in his pocket, finished his coffee, went on a beehunt. Amid cheers he retrieved half. The rest are still at large.

Break-up of Bostock's

Inhabitants of Whipsnade, London's famed zoo, looked down their noses at 100-odd new arrivals last week. With ill-concealed disgust they observed the plebeian habits of 25 chattering monkeys, 50 impertinent parrots, two elephants, two brown bears, one polar bear, two spotted hyenas, one striped hyena, 13 lions, two tigers, two wolves, five leopards, two dromedaries, a pelican, a crane, a leaping kangaroo and a sloppy old sea lion named Bonzo. Wondered the Manchester Guardian: "Will they bring the circus habit into the glades and meadows of Whipsnade? Or will the old circus performers keep themselves entirely to themselves?"

Known far & wide throughout the British Isles since 1805, Bostock & Wombwell's Royal Menagerie gave a farewell performance in Glasgow last fortnight and then folded its tents forever. Big, florid E. H. Bostock ran the circus. Last year he was 73. He arranged to disband the animals, then went off to South Africa to avoid seeing the menagerie broken up.

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