Tiger Tamer (Details)
citation: Collier's, May 31, 1952, 129(22):70, 72-73
alias: A Possible Candidate for the Presidency
teaser: I'm not kidding when I say Charley is Presidential timber. He not only got us out of the worst crisis we ever faced, but did it in a style impressive to man and beast alike
summary: The narrator reminisces about his boyhood friend, Charley, who hypnotized a tiger.
Charley was a born leader, organizing other children in such pranks as dying dogs and cats unusual colors, then releasing the vivid-colored animals throughout the neighborhood. He devised methods of coating blackboard chalk with shellac, and discovered a way to tap into a grape soda line at the local bottling plant.
One day, Charley showed up with a book on hypnotism. At the same time, a tiger escaped from a visiting circus.
Charley, the narrator, and three friends, are in Mrs. Councilman's yard, waiting for something to happen. One of the children notices a tiger walking toward them. When the tiger suddenly stops, and sits down, the children and Mrs. Councilman climb to safety in a tree. The tiger rises, and trots toward the house.
As he watches the tiger growling at a window on the side of the house, Charley thinks he can hypnotize it, noting there is a chapter on animal hypnotism in his book. He descends the tree, and under the tiger's watchful stare, walks slowly into the house. Later, Charley appears at the window above the tiger, and, according to instructions in his book, begins getting the animal's attention and confidence by feeding it balls of hamburger.
Holding a ball in his hand, Charley tells the tiger it is sleepy, with heavy eyes, and commands it to fall asleep. Incredibly, the tiger becomes drowsy.
Charley telephones the local newspaper, asking they send someone, inlcuding a cameraman, to cover the story. Charley then goes outside, continuing his hypnotic commands, until the tiger falls asleep.
When the newspaper men arrive, Charley poses himself with the tiger, the book in one hand, a foot on the tiger's chest.
The narrator notices something in Charley's pocket. Later, when the excitement subsides, the narrator tells Charley what he saw. Charley offers that the publisher of the hypnotism book has agreed to pay him for endorsements, and, in exchange for silence about what was in Charley's pocket, would be willing to have the narrator as his partner.
Now, thirty years later, the narrator feels Charley would be a good Presidential candidate, and the narrator himself, a good Secretary of State.
words: 4,634
genre: None
similar: None
people: Unnamed Narrator, Charley, Ed Krueger, Agnes, Mrs. Councilman, Ken Garver, Mrs. Garver
places: Galesburg, IL; Chicago, IL
comments: Forthcoming