Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 82.djvu/178

174 "King Pharaoh," an "educated horse" who made his initial bow at Wonderland Park yesterday, vindicated his honor at the close of one of the performances of the day. There was a "doubting Thomas" in the audience who thought the horse must have been given signals of some sort to perform the mathematical and other wonders which were revealed during the performance.

The man of inquiring and suspicious nature was told by Dr. J. M. Boyd, the owner and trainer of the horse, that after the audience had left he could remain and see for himself in the absence of the horse's trainer. The "doubting Thomas" was left alone with "King Pharaoh." Shortly the man made his exit with much expedition, with the horse a close second. The animal, the man said, had obeyed several commands but seemed to become offended and "went" for him, as if knowing he was confronted by a doubter.

It seemed apparent that the object of this was to impress the writer with the desirability of his not being skeptical about King Pharaoh's abilities, or the horse might attack him and do him harm.

After the trainer and his assistants had left the hall, the writer repeated every one of the experiments which had been performed by King when his trainer was present. It may be stated in brief that he failed to perform a single test satisfactorily. When told to go to the blackboard, without any gesture or sign other than the mere words of the command, he did not respond. He could not react even to the word "blackboard." But when urged with the uplifted hand in the act of striking, and guided in the right direction, he would go and "study" the numbers. But when invited to go to the rack and perform the solution, he seemingly had no idea of what was said to him. But when urged and threatened, he would pass along the rack without knocking off any number. It was impossible to get him to remove a number by telling him simply to find the correct one. It was the same in regard to the spelling. In some cases when he was commanded in a threatening voice and manner to find numbers, he would paw, indicating that he seemed to think the command was to count. The only reaction that could be got from him was to stand before the blackboard, walk along the rack when urged and threatened with a stick, but without any disposition to solve problems, and paw when a command such as "Go and find Miss W." was continually repeated in an increasingly austere voice. It was evident that the horse had no imagery whatever for the words "Miss W.," and no notion of what was wanted of him.

The trainer, who after a considerable period had come to the building to find out the progress of events, and who stood on the sidelines while the writer was trying the horse out on some of his feats, finally could not endure it any longer, and came into the ring, saying to the audience, "Once in a while King will come across a man for whom he will do nothing; but he will readily do it for most people." This remark had the desired effect. Some persons in the audience were led to think that the writer was not in sympathetic accord with the horse, and