The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1875-01-07
~Tlger-Slaylng IN India.

The crusade against man-eating-li8ors
is being actively carried on in South In
dia. The tiger-slayer, appointed blythe
Madras government, il poisoning, trap
ping, and shooting, right und left. Now
and then sensational reports OF the
number Of tigers exterminated pro.
coed from his pen hut, unfortunately,
a good many of these auimals, half.
killed or hall. poisoned, "have proba-
bly, retired to their inaccessible lairs III
the painless jungles to die" However,
Capt.. C~aulfeld, the tiger-slayer to
tho Madras government, and his Sht-
karrieS and staff, must be credited with
a good deal OF genuine zeal, pluck, and
success. The interest exhibited in In.
dia in their proceedings is not confined
merely to sportsmen. Staid officials,
experimental chemists, and pious mis-
sionaries. have alike turned their AZ
tention eagerly to tho all'engrossing
subject. The sportsman, OF course,
regards the raid against man-eaters as
rare fun, and with unfeigned avidity
reads, marks, and inwardly digests, the
accounts OF each tiger.chase. IL the
pursuer himself should be eaten up, it
is q frightiul pity, of course /; but even
then how very interesting is the account
OF tho disaaterl The official LOOKS
upon the whole affair from an entirely
different stand point He desires stat
istics and these are given him, to
some extent, at least, in the numbers
recorded of tigers killed and mis-
sing" The man of medicine has a
nearer interest still in the matter. He
looks at it in q scientific light. What
is the exact amount of %strychnine which
will cause u full. grown tiger to fall dead
by the side of the baitP what will form
an overdose, merely causing the ami
nal to eject what it has taken and run
off-scot. free ? and what will so affect it
in q tardy manner that the brute will
have time to dash off to its den, and
there end it's days in the bosom OF Its
family? The interest displayed by the
missionary is easily explained. He has
a care for the bodies as we'll as souls OF
his flock; and is constantly on the gu
UiuG TO ascertain il any Il OF his re-
cent converts in the tiger-infested dis'
tricts has avoided inhumation as we'll a'
cremation by becoming assimilated will
tho organic s%tructureof a beast OF prey
Finding that the determination O
tigers was attracting 30 much attention
in South India, q Mr.. Groom, an Eas
Indian OF Madras, invented, a shor
time ago, an "armor' for a tiger-slayer
This invention has not yet been pm
tented, IL consists OF a dress c. can
vas, to which bands OF leather i.re nt
Tackled. These bands are studde~ will
nails, kecnly sharpened, with -hei
points projecting outward. Mr.. Groom
was satisfied, when i~nventing his armor
that any tiger, seeing q man clad in it
would at once have tho sagacity to i'm
aeiue him to be an enormous "fretfu
porcupine," aud decline attack. But
although he has been frequently re
auested TO do 80, MIR. Groom declines
TO test his armor on his own person IL
tho presence of q live tiger in its wild
state, aud therefore We must hold ou'
opinion of the utility of his invention
in allegiance. Another story may b
regarded as more serious. Immediatel.
before his appointment ~ official tiger
slayer to the Madras government, Capt
Csulfeld happened to be in Coimbatore
in South India, near the foot of thu
Neilgherry Hills; he was staying with
Rev. MI. Jackson, a missionary. The.
heard that a man.eating tiger was rayag
lug tire neighborhood. With rifles, ant
a large body of hunters, they at ono
set out i'll pursuit Of tho cannibal. A
they came neal to a village, they heart
a great clamor, and the noise Of womel
wailing. II was sunset, and under tht
shadow Of some trees skirSing an ada
cont jungle they dimly saw a huge oil
tigress devouring n poor hordsman
whom sho had just bounced upon an'
|, killed. At sight Of Capt. Caulfield an
|, party the brute ran into tho jungle. l
, was TOO dark TO follow her, no the cap
tain Snd his friend, the missionary, pu
some poison into the body OF the herds
man, and left il thore as a bait for th,
map.eater. The tigrcss returned, ant
tho next morning was found dead beside
her victim. When this story becam,
known, tho question arose: Were tho
officer aud clergyman justified IN nsine
tho body Of u human being as bait? II
! 40, then il q man fell overheard and a
! shark took off one OF his legs, so that
. he died from loss Of blood--in such q
: case would it DO justifiable, in order 10
} capture aud kill That shark, so as to
prevent it causing the death Of any
more men, to bait a hook with n limb
OF the dead man?" II is a c%utious
question, and wo leave it to be solved
by tlie infallible reader. Pal Nal
Gazette.