Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-10
pIaaTIaG A PAHrHEs.

Captain William Fowler, the jolly host
Of the Knickerbocker Cottage, il this city,
ia man well known to fame, first in
sport, Erst at funeral, and first in the
hearts Of his customers. The Captain took
his usual GUNNER outing last month among
the mountains of Sullivan county. The
doughty Captain is no home guard soldier.
he has sesn war, smelt powder and been
wounded He was a real live Captain
during the war and rode horse-a strong
horse, for " Tup " Fowler, as they used to
cali him down in Co.lear's Hook, is heavy
weighs and tips the beam at 283 and rig
ing, His prowess being so well known in
Sullivan county that children were brought
up on nursery rhymes extolling his
bravery, it is no wonder that
he was called upon to investi-
gate the cause of the continual
sacrifices of cows, sheep and fowl in that
county by some terrible wild beast whose
home was in the mountains, noT is it sur.
prising that the Captain responded with
slacrity and sailed forth with his reliable
gun, TO do or to die" as fate should
will. Thirteen bullets were in his pouch,
and he carried thirteen charges of powder.
There were also just thirteen horns in his
pistol pocket, engraved upon which were
thirteen letters, VIZ: " William Fowler,
under which were thirteen more, viz:
Knickerbocker. The terrible ordeal
through which he passed is best told in his
own language 81 tried my gun this
day." said the Captain to Journal re-
porter yesterday, "and went for soms-
thing People did not know what it was.
but It carried off hundreds of fowl ard
killed lots OF COWS. There were no tracks
he took them with him. So struck into
the wilderness. | went a long way
before l saw or heard of anything alarm
ing, when / was startled by a shrek that
sounded for all the world like woman's
cry if she were in great distress. IN.
slung my rifle in trice, and looking in
the direction of the cry, | saw, crouched
on the first branch of an enormous tree
twenty feet away, an immense panther
making ready to spring upon me. He
was lashing his sides with his tail, his
eyes blazed like two moons, his mouth was
open, and he had the most villainous grin
upon his face that mortal ever saw. l
have seen big panthers in my time, but
this was the ugliest fellow / ever saw. Be-
fore could cock my gun he made his aw.
full spring, and as he rose gracefully IN the
air l could not help admiring the beautiful
curve he was describing and the perfect
contour of his sleek body. never thought
of myself until sharp report rung out
on the air and the panther fell by my
side, wounded, bleeding, terribly saw
age with pain, and wildly shrieking
with anguish l never realized my fearful
danger till then. He was clawing my leg,
which was bleeding and lacerated, till
Charlie Cooper sprang to my assistance,
and with twelve more shots ended his life.
Charlie had seen the panther and drawn a
bead on him before discovering my perilous
situation. Cooper lost portion of one of
his thumbs in the encounter and my leg
was terribly lacerated.
The truthful Captain showed the scars
in verifcation of the tale.
" The panther" he said, was thirteen
feet long, weighed 3I3 pounds, was thirteen
years old, and the taxidermist promised he
would have him finished and send him to
the cottage tomorrow.
"Did he have thirteen teeth p asked
the reporter, timidly.
Yes, and thirteen rings on his tail,
replied Tup, and l hope it will be thir
teen years before meet another such. y
IN, Y, Journal.