The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-02-23
A PANTHER HUNT.


Seen prowling about the lumber camps
of the Susquchanna basin, and making ita
presc nee apparent By fiids on sheep ana
even cattle anon TIC sparsely settled
farm localities Of .lllivan and adjacent
counties The advance Of civilization has
not been 50 rapid among these dense pine
and bemlcck wildcrncsscs 10 have alone
caused the panther 10 abandon its haunts
I'm those forests, for there are SUI mac
cessble jUnglcs and wild, rocky retreats,
so well loved by this boldest and fiercest
OF the great cat family. where ii might
hide itself with almost, If not quite as much
security as il did in earlier years; but
civilization was aided by band Of invet
crate and cunning woOdsmcn who passed
their lives almost solely in carrying on an
offensive warfare against the panther, FOL
loWiaL IL even 10 IFS rclnOtest ana most
dangerous haunts. and engaging 1t there
fearlessly. and with tactics which they
had reduced iO an exact science. It was
the perpetual and unrelcnting crusade OF
this baud Of wOOlsinen that gradually re-
dnced The once numerous race of panthcrs
i'm these woods to condition Of almost
absolute extinction so that today, with
(CUNlltbiiN AfOAsiyii NO NHAg ~ 80 N~f''N
eucc. but 70 its increase it is only at rare
Intervals TINT the blood curdling cry Of
this once monarch o. the woods is heard
among its old haunts, and, rarer still,
that the dreaded pOssessor of the voice is
seen
Capt. Brown was probably the most
famous or the old time panther slayers.
lie was an carly settler at the Forks OF
the I.oyulsock creek, near what is now
tie mountain village Of louisville, Sulli'
van county, where he put up cabin and
spent his time IN hunting. He was the
InntLer sconrge of wide region, and his
cablu was the first place that was visited
Ly the settlers thercsbOuts when a panther
lal be!aft some one Of them OF much
treasured sheep or COW, The visit being
IL beL Capt. Brown 10 come and rid
their particular locality Of the maraud-
ing beast Among the hundreds OF tales
OF daring and persistence manifested by
the great pioneer hunter one Is recouDted
with O.. .lecial pride by descendants OF his.
AmOag the first 10 seek the then I'M
known md unbrOEcn region about the
forks Of the LoyalsOck was settler
named Samuel Rogers. One morning
Rogers appeared in great trepidatiOn al
Capt Browns cabin, just az that hunter
was rigging himself uD for days
tramp among the panther haun.s
Rogers said that a big panther had
broken into his sheepfold the night be
fore and had carried of his most highly
priced ram. Rogers was good panther
hunter himself, but he implored Brown
to accompany him in the chase. 1t was
one of Browns eccentricities that he
never hunted in company with anybody,
and he refused to go with Rogers. But
he said:
Now, you 60 home, Rogers, and keep
cool j won't 60 with you after that big
panther, but III 60 ont myself and kin it
for you, and hope III have Il chance TO
get it's mate, too y
That was satisfactory to Rogers, and
Capt Brown took his gun aud went at
once 10 the woods OH the fats at the fo.T.-
Of the creek.
1t was late in the fall, and th%o ,,as .
light snow on the ground IeSt the edge
of the creek he struek. <tbe fresh track Of
a panther in the NV rro,,, ,ba nm.
nsual size of ih.u .ehoW. from ,he uh-
, uSu', f s,Ie % - footprints and drops Of
,i ne h'crs.eAfi1 there along the trail the
Tccte having come from some animal the
panther had secured and was carrying
away, Grown knew he had located the
biz sheep stcaler that had been i'll Settler
Rogers fold.
IL IS the habit of panthers, like all of
the cat family, To bury what is left from
feast 10 be eXhumed and eaten on
some future occasion. Brown knew that
bv following the trail, if he did not over
take the panther itself, he would come 10
the spot where ii had buried the remains
OF the sheep. and that b. waiting near
that spot he would be sure to get
shot not only at the one panther, but
more than likely at its mate, which
the former would fetch along 10
10 Join 10 devourlng the mutton. The
hunter followed the trail for long dis
tanoe aud finally, on the edge OF a dense
laurel thicket, found where the panther
had buried the sheep Before preparing
himself 10 hide for the coming of his game
he instnctvely glanced mp among the
tops OF the tail trees bordering the
swamp, and discovered tie panther, his
huge leugth stretched along Il limb near
the top OF one OF The trees, and his eyes
fixed on the hunter below Brown raised
his rifle 10 tire, but the agile animal
splang 10 another Tree top, and so swift
were his movements that he escaped from
the SIGHT of the hunter, who could only
follow the line OF the great beast 3 retreat
by the swGying Of the tree tops as the
panther leGped from one To another The
course the panther took was toward
Doablint Run, and Brown made his way
rs Iapilly as he could through the inter
yening lhcket, and when he reached the
run he found that the panther had come
down from the trees, aud had taken
lake, now the mountain summer resort III
Eagle Mere.
The iireless hunter followed tho trail
through the dense forest. and it led him
straight 10 the lake. "A distance of five
miles, AMI around the southern shore for
TWO miles more when Brown discovered
his game drinking from the lake. The
present. site Of the Eagles Mere steamboat
LANDING is pointed out as the spot where
the great panther stood and received Capt
Browns first bullet The shot did not
disable the panther, and it sprang into
the iaurels and again disappeared, leaving
the echoes of Its yells reverberating about
the rocky shores Of the lake. The course
OF the panther lay toward the outlet Of
the lake, and Capt Brown followed
Though the dense growth Of laurels.
When he came TO the outlet he discovered
the panther half buried In the soft mud at