Three Times Three a Tiger?

[Jonathon Green]

My first cite (from Mathews Dict. Americanisms, 1950) runs thus:

1856 Spirit of Times  8 Nov. 165/1: Mr. Andrews [...] concluded by [...]
calling upon the Excelsiors to give three times three and a tiger to the
Putnams

A second runs

1870 New York Herald 17 Nov. Gentlemen, I call for nine cheers and a tiger
in honor of our guests

It seems that the whole 'three times' three (or 'nine') cheers plus the
shriek of 'Tiger!' was par for the course at this early stage. However, if
my cites are to believed, by the 1880s this seems to have diminished to the
better known 'three cheers'. Plus, of course, the tiger.

FWIW I offer this proposed etymology, culled from the Bulletin (Sydney,
Australia).

1900 Bulletin (Sydney) 30 Jun. Red Page/2:  Tradition and custom hold that
the ‘tiger’ is a howl which accentuates the cheers and intensifies the
applause. The best of several ‘origins’ tells how, early in this century, an
American politician, S.S. Prentiss, was stumping the country, and came to a
town where there was a small menagerie on exhibition. This he hired for a
day and threw it open to all-comers, availing himself of the occasion to
make a political speech. The orator, holding a 10ft. pole, stood on the
tiger’s cage, in the roof of which there was a hole, and whenever the
multitudes applauded one of his ‘points’ with three cheers, Prentiss poked
the tiger, who uttered a harsh roar. From this 'three cheers and a tiger'
spread over the country.

As to the veracity of such a claim, I cannot speak (tho' I tend to
scepticism), but would be grateful for any comments, especially as to the
biography (and campaigning tactics) of Mr Prentiss..

Jonathon Green