Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-01-11
THE ROYAL TIGER.
AN EXPERIENCE WITH THE BEASTS,
TOLD BY A PARTICIPANT.

| AN EXPERIENCE WITH THE BEASTS,
TOLD BY A PARTICIPANT.
| Smoking Them Out of a Deserted Mine.
| Old Hunters Who Forgot Their Guns-A
| Fight with an Enraged Mother and
Fer Young.
For fifty years Paul Gillett. the old hunter
anci Indian trader, has been a conspicuous
| figure in the Colorado and ella river dis
tricts He has taken part in a number of
severe brushes with the Apaches and other
tribes, but in his old age, owing to the mill
tary forces on the frontier and the lessening
of Indian difficulties he is now devoting
more attention to hunting.
His eye is yet undimmed, and though now
yearly 10 years of age he is strong and stall
wart. 1t would take book to tell of his
varied experiences. Moreover, he is not in
clined to talk much of himself. However,
| be consented to tell an Examiner representa-
| tive of a strange experience he had with
| royal chihuahua tigers, as an animal OF
| which nothing is known quite SO far north as
| San Francisco.
s'You must know" said he, ''that these
tlSeTS are Clo uOSU DeauUllui duliildlo LII
| America. They are robust and seven or eight
| feet long, a beautiful golden color. and
| spotted like leopard. The royal tiger of
Bengal is striped and has no dots on him.
Moreover, his general color is dun, and not
| gold, like the tiger of the Aztec races.
"a thorough going cat in all his move
ments, sly and light of tread, and with the
| strength of Hercules, man cannot afford
| to fool around much when he meets one out
under the southern pinon trees.
sit was in September that myself, Tim
| Estabrook and John Wilkinson were camped
| at our mines at the head of Dolores. canyon.
| A party of Mexicans came in and reported
| that they had found an old Spanish mine a
| few miles out. The Spanish mines were to a
large extent covered over and concealed at
| the time of the revolution, and many of them
were lost 1t was one of these lost mines that
| the Mexicans said they had. We set off after
| it, carrying our express rifles with us, for we
never in that section go out unarmed, for
fear Of renegade Apaches, let alone vicious
| wild animals.
WHAT WAS IN THE MINE.
"After an eighteen mile jaunt we came to
the entrance of the mine The earth cover
ing had fallen in, and though wreck and
ruin were all around, there was good sized
! aperture, and we had no difficulty in enter
| ing it. We had advanced about fifty yards
| in the long. desolate tunnel and if t1ere is
| anything desolate in this world it is the dark,
| damp tunnel of deserted mine. We carried
| pine fagots in one hand to give us light, and
| were moving along in a STOPPING posture, as
| miners CO. when all of sudden l noticed
| great big tracks in the soft mud at the bot
| tom Good heavensr said I, there are
bears in here, and if we don't get out we are
| done for We beat hasty retreat, and
reaching the open air again gathered dry
| bushes and sticks to smoke them out. We
| stacked them up pretty high in the mouth Of
| the tunnel and threw dirt on them to cause
them to smolder and throw the smoke back
ward
| 'sThen we sat down with our guns to await
| the enemy. We had sat there fifteen or
twenty minutes, and were tired holding the
| guns so long and began to talk about other
things. Still nothing came. We discussed
| a variety of subjects; our attention became
| entirely relaxed, and was in the midst of
story when boob! boohl huge golden tiger
| leaped over the fire and us with a great
| bound. In twinkling another, with the
same boohl boob! and bigger than the other,
leaped the barrier, collided against Esta-
| brook, knocked him down and went flying
|
| every last one of us forgot his gun and
| went racing around trying to find trees to
| climb. An old she tiger and two kittens
with piercing yowls next followed and went
| clambering up the hillside after the other
| two. By this time every one of us was either
| perched in a tree or shining up sapling.
| Our guns were lying scattered on the ground,
| and, old hunters as we were, we were clearly
| beaten.
| "Perched in our trees after our fright was
over, we INDUCED in loud shrieks and laugh
| ter. The situation was too ludicrous.
SUCCESSFUL TRIP.
"But we resolved to go after these tigers,
and we did it. We got 6 skilled Mexican
| trailer to so with IS, and we traced them
| across gulches, through shrubs, and finally
| caught glimpse of one perched in rocky
| cleft. Wilkinson brought hlm down BIZ a
| shot in the heart. He was very fine one,
| large and powerful, and with magnificent
| skin.
| Into the next canyon we traced the other
| tigers. They Travelled almost together, going
| only fifteen or twenty feet apart in places.
| The Mexican at last corralled them in a soft
! limestone mountain, crumbling in places like
| chalk, and with holes in one side made by
weather and animals. 1t was their other re-
| treat. This time, while we made prepara-
| lions to smoke them out, we stationed our
selves a hundred yards away, spread far
| apart, SO we could get good aim at their
| bodies while they ran. The first came bound
| ing out like shot out of gun, but we were
| on the alert this time, and three bullets
| pierced him and laid him low.
| 'sThen the old one and her young came
| along. We shot into them wounding the
| Sfohr
| was caught and his coat torn off. Turning
| to flee, the tiger caught him by the left hand
| and put her teeth through it and crushed it.
| The kittens, weighing about 100 pounds
| apiece, would not run and advanced to aid
| in the fight. A rife ball from one of us
crippled enc and laid the other low, and on
| I'VE rushed, firing all the while, to the aid of
| Estabrook. Some say we missed the brute.
| We had to fire with the greatest care, to
| keep from hitting the native, and it seemed
| to me that it was fully five minutes before
| we planted fatal ball in her.
"Estabrook was SO badly manned by the
| teeth of the tiger that he has never recov-
| cred from it. His hand was 80 tofs. that two
| of his fingers hung by shreds of f1esh and his
| arm above the wrist was also lacerated.
| "These tiger skins are very valuable and
| we sold the two big ones in Los Angeles af-
| terWard for $50 each. The little ones brought
| $40 each. They were so fine and soft that
| they are now in the parlors of W. Fl. Robert
| son, at Los Angeles, more as an ornament
| than for use.
| 'sThis was the closest call I ever had with
any wild animals. Bear, deer and other
kinds of game on the borders have killed in
large numbers, but there is aothing on the
| frontier now that is 50 vicious as this tiger"
| San Francisco Examiner.
! -zA-
| A Tarantula Causes Panic.
Mr.. Louis Nevin, of Louisville, recently
undertook to bring from Hot Springs an i'm
| mense tarantula which he had captured
| there. While on the road, between Hot