On March 25, 1875, Henry Farny sketched “The Hero of the Hour”, a drawing that immortalizes the death of a lion at the “hands” of the hero, a mule. According to a serialized story printed between July 16 – 19, 1945, in the Cincinnati Post, the lion managed to escape its cage at the yet-to-be-opened Cincinnati Zoo (known as the Zoo Zoo at the time) just as a water boy was trying to give water to the lion. The boy made a break for it, leaving behind his wages, while the mule defended the boy and badly hurt the lion. The lion limped away until hunters were able to kill it. Unfortunately, the mule also succumbed to injuries.
The version of the image shown below appeared in the July 19, 1945, issue of the Cincinnati Post, page 7. The original hangs in the Literary Club in Cincinnati:
On the back of the original copy hanging at the Literary Club is a poem by member George H. Kattenhorn. The poem was included in the July 19, 1945, Cincinnati Post article:
