Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-12-21
HUNT FOR A PANTHER.
A Monster of Three Hun dred Pounds
Killed Near Danbury, Conn.
BE HAD A TOOTH FOR CALVES
B'1t Attacked Cows and Horses if he Didn't
Find Tenderer Gfme.
A PAIR OF LOVERS BADLY FRIGHTENED
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO TIL E prsrArcH.

ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DIsPArcH.i
DANBURY, CT, Dec. 20.-AwaY to the
southwest of Danbury, some 20 miles, close
upon the border line between the States of
Com aectieut and New York, lying part in
t''ne State and part in the other, is as wild
nd rugged piece of country as could we'll
e. 1lst SO near to civilization. What is per-
hi ps the widest of this section is what is
XII own as the hundred acres" noun
tai nous tract of land of far larger area than
its name implies. The land is composed of
wo DDS and rocks and swamps. and the peo-
pie who live there are principally charcoal
bur hers and wood-chopperI.
B Oi 'dering upon these woods are small
farms, the occupants of which cultivate their
groul1 in the summer and in the winter 60
into he forest and cut wood. 1t is from
thes farmers who come into Danbury 10
tradt That the story of the killing OF a huge
panti ie T in that vicinity a few days ago is
told.
Very Near to Civilization.
1t is ,robably as near New York with one
exceptR IN as panther has been killed in
the last 30 years and the farmers breathe
easier nj wv that their stock is safe from the
depredal ions OF this huge beast which for
two mon tbs past has been killing and de-
vourIng sheep and cattle and even attacking
horses al I'd cows which were lett out in the
fields, 81 owing so bold as to enter barn yards
at night, This is the second panther which
has been killed in that neighborhood and
the farm ers feel that they are now we'll rid
of such Unpleasant neighbors.
,9urinn ha latter rarf nf nntohar
that the PANTHER made his first appearance.
A farm, n on the New York State side
missed calf from his barnyard one night,
and the tracks Of the wild animal were
plainly r;iced. The following night another
calt,was- used and one of the cows was
terribly lac Grated. The next night watch
was kept, Jut the animal did not put in an
appearanc :.
Disturbed at His Meal
A wee later Farmer Williams, living,
mile or more this side of where the animal
made 1t, ! first visit, heard q terrible confu-
sion in | lis stable one night. He seized
gun and ran out just in time to see some
thing wi iich looked like a great cat leap
upon ST one wall running from the barn to
the road =. and before he could take aim 1t
disappea ,ed on the other side of the wall,
and he CT ,uld hear it crashing through the
brush il l. neighboring wood. One of
Farmer Williams best cows was dying in
the pheA1hke inclosure in which she was
kept and its flesh was torn in shreds.
The ne 1t day search was made and the
tracks of some huge animal were followed
up int, the hundred acre" mountain,
where I hey were lost. Nearly every night
for two weeks the animal was heard from,
carrying away a calf In one place, a sheep
in anoth er, or mutilating larger animal
somewh IRE else. His foot tracks were fol-
lowed ( ime and again, but the searchers
were III able to find the hiding place of
the beai IT.
A Sunday Night Fright.
The 1story is told of a young couple who
were idi' lg home from church on Sunday
night iwh Gu they were suddenly confronted
by the, Animal in the highway. It stood
there M Stionless, and they were almost upon
it befor they saw it. They were terribly
frighter ed and were about to turn around
and drf re in the opposite direction, when
the pan sher turned tail and, trotitng down
the roa 4, disappeared in the darkness.
The wo described it as being pure white,
and hal i as large as a COW. The stories of its
size gre w as they circulated. Finally the
farmers banded together to exterminate it,
and fo week bands OF hunters were out
nightly tramping through the woods and
lyinsi b wait in convenient places. Their
hunt vas brought to successful termina-
tion la It week, and resident of that vicin-
ity bro ,ght the news of the death of the ami
NAL wi zen he came to Danbury on Wednes-
day. It was shot while making its way to
its laiI on the Connecticut side of the line
with a fuli-grcwn calf. Two dogs which
were ith the hunters attacked it first, and
one W is killed outright and the other so
crippl ed that it had to be shot.
The panther was big fellow. and weighed
betwe ei, 250 and 800 pounds. Where it or its
mate, who was killed previously, came from
is M stery.