Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-11-23
LUM W!lLIAMS'S CLOSE CALL.
lie Had to WHIP Ills Weight tn WHO
Cats Eeforc lie Was a:e.

lie Had to whtp Ills Weight In WHO
Cats Reiorc lie WAS ate.
Lum viii ans. an old mountaineer
and hunter, of Panther Mounia n. had
an adventure II few days s.ncc which
he will not soon forget
AS lie sat on the porch at Farmer
Petcrs's aud told the following story.
he was the picture OF about as badly
d lapidated a specmnn Of humanity as
one sc - IN lifetime. One arm was
carried in sling Ia I ght leg rested
upon a stool wrapped from thigh 10
TO ankle with linen cloths. while his
face, once smooth and fresh. nOtwith-
Standing bis age of over han IA century.
Ina the appearance OF having been cul-
iivated with line pronged garden
rake from his HAIR to his coat collar.
IL was go ng mp the mountain on "a
squirrel hunt with my two squirrel
dogs Snap ami Mig" said the old
mountaineer. I'VE had gone about II
m lie. aud had killed tive or six sqnir-
rels. when Snap began 10 bark IN
fierce way about one-hundred yards
of. Before got 10 the dog Mig had
joined him. and the two kept up II ter
rible racket
ii hurried on. expecting to find that
they had freed IL coon or holed fox.
When got 10 the spot / found The
dogs had hOled some animal in II hol-
low. rotten log. The log was poplar,
aud about twenty feet long, with "a hole
nearly foot IN diameter at the
mouth.
THE dogs wouldn't 60 in. l thought
that strange. as they never before
went back on fight with a coon. and
that was what thought was in the
log. SO tried to poke the coon, rs |
supposed il was. ont Of the hole, bnt
the only pole | could get wouldn't
reach. Finding | could not move the
game that way. threw down the pole
and examined the log. l soon discov-
cred that it was very rotten and that
there was crack in it about half way
down. made up my mind to try aud
pry that log open. and I'm sorry to say
| succeeded.
Almost as soon as I got stick in
the crack and began to pry. the con
founded thing flew apart aud out
sprang three Numbering big cata-
mounts. Great Scott! how they did
p tch into us. Two Of them sprang a.
me. One Sc zed my left arm near the
shoulder and pped il from shoulder
to wrist with h 5 long claws. struck
nj the brutes with the heavy oak stick
| held, aud by good luck knocked one
of them over just as the other one
Jumped at my face. | couldn't stop
Ii m, and he came down on my face
with both claws. ripping through the
skin and flesh like red-hot IRONS. Just
then Snap caught the cat by the flank
and pulled II m of. That saved me.
ne dog and cat rolled over and over
on the ground, VIII lie | was trying my
best, with tire blood pouring down my
face. TO get a blow fn on the cat
succeeded at last in striking Il across
the small OF the back as 1T rolled over
on top of the dog. That blow broke
its back. but it had done for the dog,
which was torn almost into r 6bons. -
IL had overlooked the one I struck
i'm the first place and by this me the
Internal brute had got on its feet and
sprang on me just as l ia sed from
striking the other one. This fellow
did not get fair hold on me, but he.
gOt tiose euOuGH 10 rip my icy ITOnl
thigh TO calf with his claws. | struck
it in the face w III the end Of the club.
and. as it dropped to the ground. /
threw my whole force in blow. which
| delivered upon its head, knocking it
over on its back. and | beat it 10
death.
The cat which had jumped at the
dogs in the first place | now saw lying
about twenty feet awav, with Mig hold
ing it by the throat. The cat was dead.
and so was the dog. VIII ch lay with
entraiis torn out, but still with death
grip on the throat of the cat Ii the
dog had ever let go of that cat l would
have been finished between them. As
u was, after the fight was over, l
tainted W tn pain and loss of blood.
and lay, | suppose, on the ground for
an hour or more. When | came 10 |
dragged myself 10 the road. half
mile away. where l found water, with
which j bathed my wounds. Luckily
for me Peters, here. happened to come
along. and brought me to his house.
/ have had many close fights in my
time W III bears. panthers aud wildcats
in these mountains. but this one was
the closest call | ever had. and il was
all owing to the fact that l neglected
10 take knife or pistol with me. -
fnnther Kaot Letter TO (incinnah
Eng irer.