The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1875-01-08
Tiger-SIaylng IN india.

The crusade against man eating-tigers
is being actively carried on IN South In
dia. The tiger-slayer, appointed blythe
Madras government, IS poisoning, trap
ping, and shooting, right and left. Now
and then sensational reports of the
number of tigers g exterminated pro-
coed from his pen but, unfortunately,
good many of these animals, half
killed or half poisoned, shave proba-
bly, retired to their inaccessible lairs In
the painless iungles to die" However,
Capt Caulfeld, the tiger-sIayer to
the Madras government, and his Shi-
EGTTje8 and staff, must be credited with
a good deal OF genuine zeal, pluck, aud
success. The interest exhibited In IL
dia in their proceedings is not confined
merely to sportsmen. Staid officials,
experimental chemists, and pious mis-
sionaries, have alike turned their at
tentiOn eagerly to the all engrossing
subject. The sportsman, of course,
regards the raid against man-eaters as
rare fun, and with unfeigned avidity
reads, marks, and inward1y digests, the
accounts of each tiger-chase. If the
pursuer himself should be eaten up, it
is frightful pity, of course but even
then how very interesting Is the account
upon the whole affair from an entirely
different standpoint. He desires stat
isties and these are given him, to
some extent, at least, in the numbers
recorded OF tigers killed and g mis-
sing" The man of medicine has a
nearer interest still in the matter. He
looks at it IN a scientific light. What
is the exact amount of strychnine which
will cause a full-grOWn tiger to fall dead
by the side of the bait? what will form
an overdose, merely causing the anil
NAL to eject what it has taken and run
off-scot-free? and what will so affect it
in tardy manner that the brute will
have time to dash off to it's den, and
there end its days In the bosom of its
family? The interest displayed by the
missionary is easily explained. He has
care for the bodies as we'll as souls of
his flock; and is constantly on the qlti
UiUe TO ascertain if any one of his re-
cent converts in the tiger infested dis
tricts has avoided inhumation as we'll as
cremation by becoming assimilated with
the organic structure of a beast of prey.
Finding that the determination of
tigers was attracting so much attention
in South India, Mr.. Groom, an East
Indian of Madras, invented, a short
time ago, an &c armor" for tiger-slayer.
This invention has not yet been pa
tented. IL consists of a dress of can
vas, to which bands of leather are at
tached. These bands are studded with
nails, keenly shsrpened, with their
points projecting outward. Mr.. Groom
was satisfied, when inventing his armor,
that any tiger, seeing man clad in it,
would at once have the sagacity to i'm
agine him. to be an enormous "fretful
porcupine," and decline attack. But,
although he has been frequently re-
quested to do so, Mr.. Groom declines
to test his armor on his own person in
the presence of live tiger in its wild
state, sand therefore we must hold our
opinion OF the utility of his invention
IN allegiance. Another story may be
regarded as more serious. Immediately |
before his appointment as official tiger |
slayer to the Madras government, Capt. |
Caulheld happened to be in CoimbatoTe, |
in South India, near the foot of the |
Neilgherry Hills; he was staying with |
Rev. Mr.. Jackson, a missionary. They /
heard that a man-eating tiger was ravag-
ing the neighbOrhood. With rifles, and /
a large body of hunters, they at once
set out in pursuit of the cannibsl. AS
they came near to a village, they heard |
q great clamor, and the noise OF women !
wailing. It was sunset, and under the /
shadow of some trees skirting an ada
cent jungle they dimIy saw huge old
tigress devOuriDg a poor herdsman,
whom she had just poUnced upon and
killed. At sight of Capt. Garfield and
party the brute ran into the Jungle. It
was too dark to follow her, so the cap
tain and his friend, the missionary, put
some poison into the body of the herds
man, and left it there as bait for the |
The tigress returned, and
the next morning was found dead beside
her victim. When this story became
known, the question arose Were the
officer and clergyman justified In using
the body of human being as bait ? If
30, then if a man fell overheard and q
shark took of one of his legs, so that
be died from loss of blood-in such a
case would it be justifiable, In order to
capture and kill that shark, so as to
prevent it causing the death of any
more men, to bait a hook with a limb
Of the dead man ?" It is a curious
question, and we leave it TO be solved
BY the infallible Teader.-PaU Mall