The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-12-12
A Checkered Career.

Inc death OF Thomas stewart IN Ber-
rien county removes a singular character
from the scenes of life. writes q CORE
spondent of the st. Louis GloJe-Dem0-
crat from NIilledgeville, Ga. He first APP
peared there in 184j. He was not re-
markable for any thing except for scrawni.
ness, being of small stature, lean and Of
a clay bank color, the result perhaps Of
private meals off of the chimney clay.
But as time sped by he became hero in
that then wild country; at least he was
hero in one sense.
The family with whom he lived re.
sided not far from the Alapaha swamp.
One day he and another boy were sent to
the swamp to feed SOW. When within
a short distance of it a large American
tiger or jaguar sprang out of the bushes
and brought Stewart to the ground. lie
fell on his face, and the jaguar seemed
to be in no hurry to kill him. Indeed,
the brute was engaged Just then in
watching the other boy fleeing in the
direction of the house. Being satisfied
as to the direction the other boy took,
the beast then took Stewards head in its
mouth ana closed on it, but its teeth
slipped over instead of penetrating the
skull 1t bit the boys skull several
times, with the same result, and the boy,
with presence of mind wonderful in
one so young, did not once finch while
the animal was tearing huge burrows
through his scalp. The tiger, after hold
ing its nose near the boys face an instant,
as if listening if he was breathing,
seemed satisfied that he was dead, and
hastily covering him up with pine straw
ran hurriedly after the other boy. AS
soon as the creature was out of sight
Stewart sprang to his feet, and, taking a
wide circuit, ran with the speed he could
command, and finally reached the house
in safety The other boy reached the
house some time before the tiger came in
sight of it, and the brute, seeing that he
was too late, hurried back to his first prey.
If Stewart had moved while the tiger
was biting his skull, or if he had
breathed while the beast was listening,
with its nose close to his face, he would
have been torn into fragments; but the
boy having heard of many of the pcculi-
arities of this ferocious beast, was pre-
pared to profit by the knowledge.
The neighbors rallied at once, and
was successful in killing the jaguar,
which they found little farther on in
the swamp.
A few years after the above occur
renee, Stewart while feeding cane
mill, had one of his hands caught and
drawn in between the rollers and SO
badly mashed that the hand and por-
ton of the arm withered.
Later on he was in the field at work,
when thunder came up and he
was struck by lightning and left for
dead. He came to, however, and was
all right in a few days.
BY this time he was old enough to
take unto himself wife, but the parents
of his girl did not favor the alliance, so
they decided on elopement. In those
days, even, a hero could get married
without shoes, so he started for his fu-
ture wife, succeeded in getting her from
the house, and the happy pair were on
their way to the parsons, when Stewart
was bitten on the foot by moccasin, a
dangerous reptile. Even that did not
stop him. They proceeded to the par
sons and were united in wedlock. Stew.
art did not die from the snake bite. His
tory does not say whether the snake
died.
Next we hear of Stewart, he was be-
ing tried for his life for the murder of q
man named Wheeler. The evidence
was all against Stewart, and everybody
thought he would hang. lie was de-
Tended by the now venerable Judge Han
sell, of Townsville, Ca, then young
lawyer just starting out So able
was the defense, so pathetcally did the
young lawyer dwell upon the many hair
breadth escapes of the prisoner, who
seemingly had been preserved through
them all through providental interven
ton, that the jury brought in such yer
dict as sent him to the penetentiary fol
six years. While in the penetentiary h
learned the painters trade. and afte
satifying the sentence of the law, re
turned home.