The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-11-08
NUMBER 40.

/ pdCA 70 Inelr q quarters
! The next morning four or five
inches Of snow had fallen, and the
snow-storm still continued. The
weather was so inclement that the men
remained in their quarters, and no at
tempt was made TO pursue the tiger
''On the following day i sent out
Barrows with the men, to protect
them while they worked, and provided
the Corean s0rI-che17g, or tiger hunter,
with lance, and set him also to act
as guard for the others
I'm stationing these guards felt
that L had taken all practicable pro
cautions for the safety of the men in
my charge l was not at liberty to
withdraw them from the work Bar
rows was armed with an English
breech-loading carbine. which was
the only gun at the mill, except two
or three japanese flint-Iocks which
were not to be relied on
''In going TO and from the place
where they worked in the forest, and
score OF other times during every
day while at work, the Coreans raised
& aprolonged shout of ''Tuei TueI Tuer'
30 frlghten away the tigers. At all
hours OF the day heard this strange
chant echo through the wintry soli-
tudes, blending with the sound of
their axc-strokes
"a week or two passed with no
fresh alarm Barrows grew tired OF
standing guard In the snow, and al
lowed the san-cheng, at his own re-
quest, to resume his axe II was only
by constant exercise OF authority that
l kept BarrOws with the crew. He
possessed the usual traits of an En-
glish sailor and held Coreans in slight
estimation He grumbled continually,
and at length so far relaxed his vigi-
lance as to take his blankets with him
into the forest, and spend the time
mapping in front of fire
las evening was approaching, one
day early in January, large tiger
emerged from a thiclzet about sixty
yards from the place where the Core
ans were cutting logs They had bare
" time 20 perceive the creature before
he was among them, had seized his
victim, a youth about twenty years of
age, and was bounding away with the
lad in its mouth The Coreans scat
tered. uttering loud outcries Bar
rows fred an Intellectual shot at the
animal, and chased IL for a short dis
tance. Some OF the leaps made by the
| animal in its retreat covered a dis
tance of over four yards, as l after
wards found by measurement.
81 was at the lumber yards below
the mill experimenting the loading
of junk ut the time of this second
foray, and before l could organize a
pursuing party darkness had fallen.
The Coreans huddled panic-stricl1en In
their quarters, and l saw that they
would be useless as laborers until the
tiger that had twice assailed them
had been hunted down and killed.
alt was easy to discern the Great
ure's track in tho snow, which was
now nearly two feet in depth, making
il difficult to travel in the forest The
Coreans use a snow-shoe made OF thin,
tough, hard wood, to which they give
the name of seI-Dlai, and l set my men
at work to fashion several pairs of
these native rackets, which they fn-
tshed that night
Meanwhile, consulted with Bar
rows and three or four of the more
intelligent among the Japanese mill
men, and the result was that we
started a hunting party shortly after
sunrise the following morning. It
was scarcely a sportsman-like party
it rescmbIed rather a forlorn hope
and although l had picked out the
pluckiest of the japanese and COreans,
l could see that some of them had
I. e. -
fore them
1--WE were poorly armed for such an
undertaking. Two OF the japanese
carried hint-lock guns, and Barrows
had his carbine. The other men, to
the number of twelve. carried only
axes. 1 was armed with an axe and
my revolver.
I'VE followed the track OF the
tiger. which was stained at intervals
with the blood of his victim, for about
two miles, first up the valley OF the
river, then across a mountain ridge
heavily wooded with pine, and then
into valley beyond II. It was evil
dent that this entire region, now COW
cred with u dense forest, had once
been inhabited, for fragments of the
old walls OF stone houses and temples
were plainly discernible through the
snow, and occasionally an old ruin Of
considerable size doomed among the
dark boughs OF the thick expresses
and pines.
Ascending the farther side Of the
valley, the six or seven Japanese,
who were ahead of Barrows and my
self, came to where the trail ended
near large, irregularly-shap
aperture in a mass of old masonry
which had formed part of the front
wall OF a high, artificial terrace. This
opening, which was six or eight feet
| above the surface of the ground, led
back into a dark hole or cavern
'.In front of this cavern a large
| drift had formed, nearly as high as
| tho bottom of the opening; but the
| eddyiug wind had whirled the snow
outward, leaving an open space more
than two yards wide between the
! crest of the drift and the hole. The
tiger had bounded from the drift TO
! the aperture in the wall. The blood
/ stains on the snow showed where the
creature had laid its burden down 10
secure firmer hold upon it before
making the leap.
AT the crest of the drift the
Japanese stopped. and one Of them
turned back to meet US, enjoining
silence. according TO their custom, by
raising his hands. Barrows and had
just halted fifty yards below the drift
to hear his account, when with
growl which we plainly heard, tht
great striped brute emerged from tn,
den, and at one bound landed among
the Japanese on the snow-drift-