New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-11-12
MISS PAULINE COLLIER.

MISS PAULINE COLLIER.
One Of our most highly priced contemporaries
t.,v DAYS ago devoted several inches of its valuable
srs,-uayo space to q dispatch from Texas telling
how !. Young lady In that State had just killed
.rormous North American tiger or mountain lion.
The Tribune, we must admit, contained no report
~ the remarkable occurrence at that time, but
we are willing this morning to make amends so
far rs possible by giving the facts contained in
our contemporary, together with few others
which have come to us from private but equally
trustworthy source.
II all happened near the little town of Chi'dress.
In the Panhandle country of Texas. The young
ady's name is Pauline Collier and her age is SIX
teen years Although she lives ten miles from
Chidress, she attends the high school there, riding
in on horseback each morning and out at night.
Her horse is tough little Texas pony, which 1t
is said can run faster. jump higher, dive down
deeper and buck harder than any other horse that
wears hair in Texas; still Miss Collier has never
been thrown. On Tuesday morning of last week
she was jogging leisurely along to school at the
rate of about fifteen miles an hour and looking
over her grammar lesson, when suddenly her pony
stopped short and gave loud snort. Miss Pauline
dug her spur into his side and told him to 60 on,
but he made no move and she glanced up from her
book and an enormous aguar or North
American tiger crouching directly in the path
ready for fatal spring." With admirable
presence of mind" so we are told Miss Collier
seized the lariat which of course hung from the
horn of her saddle and, swinging it about her
head two three times caught the enraged beast
around the neck with the moose. The pony leaped
over the big cat at on" bound and ran for its life,
the bloodthirsty tiger dragging and bounding be-
hind.
Then followed the most exciting race ever
seen in Texas The pony ran at the rate Of fully
forty miles an hour The savage beast at the end
of the larat being unable TO leap up TO Miss Col
lier, began gnawing at the ponys hind legs. This
the pony naturally resented and, putting down.
his head, but without Stacking his terrible pace,
he began running on his forward legs exclusively
and kicking frantcally at the savage brute with
his hind feet. The Infatuated tiger kept up o
most blood-curdling series Of cries. which could
be heard four miles distant, while the frightened
pony neighed with terror Miss Collier continued
to look over her grammar lesson. Noticing that
it was advisable that verb should agree with
it's subject in person and number, she took her
tablet out Of her belt and her pencil from her
back hair and made note OF this novel and In
teresting fact Then she jotted down that q
TO be in the nominative case, while if used as the
object Of transtive verb it looks best in the
objective case. During the next eight miles
(gone over in slightly above ten minutes) she
filled page with similar notes, corrugated the ir-
regular verb to be- and analysed the first five
lines of Polok's "Course Of Time" Then, hap
pening to remember the tiger, she looked back
and saw that he was dragging behind apparently
dead. Dismounting she went back and removed
the ariat from his neck. Just as she did 50 the
treacherous beast sprang to his feet with shrill
cry This enraged Miss Collier. She had
treated him mildly SO far, but she could not
stand ingratitude. Selling the ferOciOus brute
by the tail she began swinging him furiously
around her head and beating the surface Of the
earth with him at every revolution We trust
that we shall be understood when we say that
at each stroke he struck the ground with dull,
sckening thud. Miss Golfers temper was up.
She swung the limp and helpless beast through
the air like the of windmill fifty times IL
she did once, and wore deep hole in the ground.
She would probably have swung him another
6fty times il his tail had not come off in her
hands. Then she mounted her pony, wrapped
the tail around her neck for boa and galloped
leisurely to town, glanclng over her algebra les
son by the way.
We have given the exact facts in the case,
carefully guarding against exaggeration as thing
most hateful and not to be endured Our con-
temporary gave most of the facts, but few 1t
omitted Ours is the first account published
which is both complete and truthful. In closing
we ought to refer to one more point, sad though
it may he. Miss Collier was engaged to be mar
ried to young man in Childress The next day
after her encounter with the tiger she received q
note from him saying that all was over between
them. Investigation showed that he had fed.
1t is rumored that he has gone to Australia