The Hickman courier., 1877-11-23
The AIan-Eater's Meal.

Prof. r. c. Tapp, the celebrated Amer
lean horse-t tanner, commenced, week ago,
to tame the Petaluma Man-eater. as de
scribed in last Sundays Chronicle, and
has, every day since, given public exhibi-
tions of his process and progress in tenn
porary amphitheater in the rear of the
Record stables, on Market street, Opposite
Seventh Yesterday, however, the Man
eater changed the programme, and at
tempted to tame TaPp in 20 effective
way that Tapp emerged s0rely wounied,
and only by miracle with his life. The
Man eater, whose other nam& is Cogniac,
is dark dapple gray Norman stallion,
seven years old, weighing in fighting
trim 500 pounds, ;osled in Normandy
France; imported two years ago td
Illinois, and subsequently bought by
Joseph Wooden, the Norman horse
breeder Of Petaluma, and brought to this
state, and declared by horsemen to be ths
finest horse of the breed ever brought r
America. Untn DrGugnt - Illinois as
had been an exceptionally gentle animal
but, having indIscreetly, and probably
playlully, bitten out couple of pounds
of an Illineis groom, he was 80 injudi-
ciously and
BRUTALLY BEATEN
that, as Deacon Duncan would say, he
experienced a change Of heart, all his
atent deviltry was developed, and he has
ever since been the terroT>6f all whom
necessity has thrown into his company.
With exception of occasionally eating a
hostler he Is an invaluable brute, and
Mr.. Wooden consigns him TO Mr.. Tapp
TO have him cured Of this sole little foIi-
bic. Yesterday at o'clock the exhibi-
ton commenced in the presence Of about
two hundred spectators, and progressed
till halEpast 8, during which time the
horse had been handled by the professor,
and even driven to a buggy, and appeared
perfectly tractable and 10 have kind Of
lost his appetite for stsblemen. After
being unhitched he was cross hobhled BY
making a stout rope fast from the fetlock
of his nigh foreleg to that Of his off hind
leg, an arrangement which permitted
him to trot, but prevented his gailoPing
as also his kneeling down, and which is
why Tapp still lives to again try conclu-
sions with him. The horse stood near
the center Of the inclosed circle, and the
professor about midway between MIN
and the inclosed high barricade, the
horse perfectly subdued under the eye
of the commander. Some person on q seat
in the rear of Tapp a a3ked him a question,
and for one instant Tapp removed his
eye and half turned his head to answer
In that instant the craft brute
sPRANG UPON HIM LIKE A TIGER.
There was a yell of horror from the spec
tators, a. the horse caught the man up
bv the clothes at the small Of his back,
shook him as terrier dog does rat, and
flung him through the air against the
inclosing planking Before Tapp could
regain his feet, the ferocious monster was
again upon him, selling him with his
teeth by the LETT shoulder and endeayor-
ing TO kneel down upon him, which i-
his last and most approved way OF
KILLING HIS KEEPERS.
This the cross hobble prevented him
from doing, and the cool professor, with
his shoulder still in the cruel grip Of the
monsters jaws, struggling to his feet,
and with his right hand 50 held the bit
as to prevent, as far as possible, the sue
ccssful working Of the horses jaws Tie
crowd was intensely excited. Mr. Wooden
seized a long pole, and poked it between
the halter and the horses lower jaw,
and still further retarded the biting.
The friends OF Tapp called for a gun,
but there was no gun, and what is
remarkable in a collection of two hun
dred CsIifornians, no one had a
revolver, or the murderous brute would
have been shot dead instantly The
horse and Tapp continued fighting halt
way around the ring, Wooden, on the
seats out side, still hampering the for
mer's efforts with the pole. The spec
tators on the front seats also did all they
could TO detract the man-eater's atten-
tion, one lady seizing the crutch of a man
sitting next to her, and beating the horse
over the head with it By the aid of
these distractions, Tapp was enabled by
degrees, to draw his arm through the
horses jaws, the horse
CHEWING IT IAfPARTGALLY
as it slipped away from him, until finally
it was entirely withdrawn. The crowd
shouted to Tapp to jump for his life, but
the plucky trainer called for his whip.
and with his mangled lehS arm dangling
by his side, 20 tickled the fetlocks Of
Cogniac that that enterprising animal
was again in what Tapp fondly calls sui =
lection. Last evening the trainer was n
the stable Office with friend pouring an
odorous liniment over his bandaged arm
and the man-eater, with all his evil pas
sions inhamed with the taste of blood,
was romping around his prison and
eagerly reaching up tor mouthful OF
any timid spectator that ventured near
enough to look down at MIN. The peo-
pie will continue to look forward with
! interest to the solution of the problem
whether Tapp will tame the man-eater
the man-eater tame J%pp.-San frn' :
| cisco Chronicle.