Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1870-07-27
lIFFLINTOWN, JUNlArA COUNTY, PENNA., JULY .

On the other hand, It cost the Govern.
ment sf6 500 in rewards to secure the
destruction in the same time Of 1896
wild beasts, Of whom 1878 were tigers,
1868 leopards, 1871 bears. and 1888
wolves. In one year the loss Of human
life in the Central Provinces amounted to
SOC. many Of whom were children while
51s tigers, S95 panthers and leopards,
534 bears, 467 wolves, and AIS hyenas.
were put to death. The wolves of Oudh
in the same year killed S men. 9 women.
72 boys. and so girls. Each of the
other provinces adds its quota to the
butchers bill. Of the numbers of cattle
slain and of the loss entailed on their
poor owners no regular estimate can be
formed; but one man alone in South
Canara complained Of having lost so head
of cattle through wild beasts Captain
Rogers tells Of tiger who killed half a
dozen in few minutes, and it is we'll
known that thousands of villagers are
continually reduced to utter poverty. fol-
lowed by a long term Of bondage to
money.lenders, through the ravages Of
these unpleasant neighbors. The very
spread of cultivation tends to increase
the suffering caused by their neighbOr.
hood. In the Nsilgherries. for instance.
the clearing away Of jungle for coffee
plantations drives the wild animals to
seek their prey from the villages at the
foot of the hills. On the other hand, the
planting of new and the conservation Of
old forests may afford new haunts or new
means of living to the beasts Of prey.
Superstition also plays no small part in
the maintenance of these intolerable
scourges. The Gonds, for instance,
instead of mastering In force to
hunt down the tigers who WACO war
against them and their herds, have an
idiotic way of regarding the tiger as
divinity whose wrath It is unsafe to arouse.
If one of them falls prey to the divin.
ity's appetite for human flesh, the rest of
the family are forthwith tabooed as dis
pleasing to the object Of their reverent
dread, and must expiate their offense by
costly sacrifices, which may leave them
penniless, but will restore them to their
caste-rights.
The head-money granted by Govern
ment. to the tune of sfl5,0OO a year,
tends, no doubt, to keep the nuisance Of
wild beasts in some check. As much as
a hundred pounds has been given fer the
head of man-eating tiger. But the re-
wards are sometimes granted on very
slight evidence for it is well known that
a cunning native will bring up an old
head for new one. or sew tigers skin
over the head of some smaller animal,
and thus cheat q credulous or careless
official into passing an unfounded claim.
Perhaps the present state of rewards
would bear amending. if, as we under
stand, much too little 10 offered for the
cubs in comparison with full-grown tigers.
The quickest way to e1tirpate the brutes
would be to encourage the destruction of
young animals by q larger bounty for
their heads. Sportsmen naturally shrink
from attacking these scourges with other
than the sportsman's usual weapons but
even Captain Rogers in his report avows
himself thorough convert to the use Of
traps and other wiles against foes so
widely destructive.-From tie lsd'a"
Mail.