The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1886-02-27
HUNTING THE TIGER.
'"Jack" Ayers Stories About the
King Of Grace and Strength.

A short, thick-set man with a dark
mustache, in which the gray hairs were
beginning to appear pretty thickly, sat
in the rotunda of the Palmer House the
other evening. To look at him one
would not think that there was any
thing very remarkable in his appear
ance, but he was, all the same, one of
the best known shikarris of the far
East, famous throughout India and
Burmah as the most deadly tiger shot
since the days of Gordon Cumming.
Wherever the camp fire is lit and the
days sport is being talked over some
anecdote of "Jack" Alger is sure TO be
introduced. He was on his way to the
old country via San Francisco and
Chicago, and the last time the writer
met him was in the hall of the Great
Eastern Hotel, at Calcutta, when he
was preparing to start on one of his
hunting expeditions to the Terai.
"Tell you something about tigers
that will interest Chicago people?
Why, certainly, my boy" and "Jack"
settled himself in his chair preparatory
to a "yarn." "My first acquaintance
with the tiger in his natural state"
said Mr.. Alger, "was made in the
jungles of the Terai. They are hard
beasts to tackle, especially the man.
eaters, and those who have engaged in
tiger shooting, either on foot or on ele-
plants, know full well how many shots
the brute sometimes takes. Where
population is exceedingly scarce the
tiger loses much of his skulking, hiding
disposition, and attacks his prey in the
open. knew once of lad herding
cattle who was pursued over a meadow
and through the herd, and was killed
by the tiger, who had begun to eat him,
when scared away by the villagers. /
saw the body; it lay in the midst of an
open field, at least two hundred yards
from any cover. Itwas disemboweled,
with the chest torn wide open, but the
face was as that of one who lies in q
pleasant sleep.
1.-The enormous forearm of the tiger
has attracted attention. You have
seen cat pat dead mouse or the face
of dog that was teasing her, and it is
easy to understand what tremendous
blow a tiger could give in the same
manner, but believe it is a mistake to
suppose that he strikes down his prey
with his paw. He strikes in self-de.
tense and when fighting, but not when
selling his victim. l have seen many
.carcaSses of deer, cattle, buffaloes and
horses which had been killed by tigers
and they all had the same appearance
-four deep holes at the back of the
neck made by the animals incisol
teeth; no other mark, and if the tigel
had begun to feed on the body it wa.
extensively lacerated. And if the prey
had struggled much and had succeeded
in dragging the tiger a few yards tn,
chest and forelegs would bear the i'm
preston of the claws and the tremen
dous grip, but these, as far as nv ex
perience goes, were exceptional cases
1--WE are told in natural history book
that the tiger disdains to touch carrion
This is not so. The same thing is saiC
in regard to the eagle, and is equally
erroneous. The lion also is, believe
as little scrupulous as any other cat il
this particular. have told you hoy
the tiger captures and kills his prey
When dead, if the body be convenien
to his covert, he lets it remain; if it b
too far out in the open it is dragge
further in toward the jungle and Their
lies until dawn. Sometimes the bod
is disemboweled after being removed
little way, and is then drawn away t
some hidden spot. A tiger has bee
seen to disembowel a goat, holding
by the throat, lying on its back under
meath the body and ripping it open b
repeated kicks with the hind claws
He appears to prefer rump steak, G
round, to any other portion. Thes
are almost always the first part eater
then the ribs, rarely the forequartel
and never, within my knowledge, tn
head.
Here is q good story" continue
Jack, settling himself anew, "that a
fOrds a pretty good specimen OF Ii