The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1890-01-02
WHITE WOLF.

means which have been used for his destruc-
tion, the Scandinavian wolf ia increasing
rather than diminishing In numbers in many
places Lloyd ascrbes this to imm grations.
into Sweden aud Norway especially, of the
wolves of Finland aud Russia. However the
case may be- recent writers still echo tho COM
plants of CLAUS Magnns in the 10th century.
aud of the quaint old Bishop Pontappidan,
who declared that the country was over-run
with them, and that they were 1.-THE plague
and torment of the land" Thus Won Grief
asserts that in various localities the wolf
taxes the peasant higher than tho crown"
and /. A. Strom. who was famous destroyer of
the kind. expresses much the same opinion.
Lloyd thinks that in the mountainous and
forest regions of this part Of Europe the wolf
cannot be exterminated aud that hunts both
public and private, traps and poison are alike
unavailing to that end. Although the wolf
breeds but once year, the number of cubs
ranges from two to seven even nine. They
are extremely hardy and tenacious of life.
very cunning, enterprising and active. and
Notwithstanding that numbers perish every
Winter by starvation, both there aud through
out the north Of Europe and America, the AMI
NAL everywhere appears TO be capable Of sur
sivinE privations aud hardships that would be
fatal 10 almost any other creature.
Ii has been several times said In the course
Of these papers that IL is impossible to foresee
the conduct of any wild beast. aud that wheth-
or predatory animals fear man or not depends.
for tho most part, solely upon what sort Of re-
lations have existed between them. "Of all
carnivoroua animals Of equal size" remarks
Gen. Dodge Of the American species, tho
wolf In the least dangerous 10 man or beast"
Ross Cox. on the contrary. calls "the wolves
of North America the most daring of
ell beasts Of prey on that cont5ncnt y; but he
adds that 81 unless desperate they will seldom
or never attack human. bpinR." The former
statements. like a multitude OF similar ones.
mutually cancel each other. With regard 10
the latter, it may be said THAI no reason exists
for surprising the wolves Of this country 10 be
more cowardly than those OF other lands
where they arc unqueztionably man. eaters
Apart from tho loss OF life frem this cause in
India, which IL matter of official record but
where this occurs under exceptional circum-s
stances, since the Hindu makes little or no re-
sistapcc, IL Is exceedingly improbable that so
many stories Of the former aggression OF
wolves against men here should be pure invcn.
tions. However tho animal may have been
cowcd In the North. NIL through Mexico the
lobo is held In considerable respect aud not
without cansc.
Riding westward through the mountains
which in Mexico join the Andes with the
Rocky range to the north, tho writer found a
woman aud two children upon the trail and
offered protection through tho forest This
house, 10 which the party were going. lay near
by in valley that broke down from the ee-
waited ridge they were tTaversing. Within an
hour all of these unfortunates were torn to
pieces by wolves A party OF muloteers passed
inside Of that time and found their remains
HalEa dozen men, who could have had no pre-
violls knowledge Of the existence Of these vie.
tins. told the story, aud th"ro is no doubt that
II was true. independently of this an event
occurred deeper in the Sierra which put at rest
any doubt that mountain wolves will attack
men. After the battle Of Albuera, drago0n
sent by Wellington with dispatches was de-
voured, together with his horse aud the coun-
try and It's wolves are the same to-day rs then.
About 80 years ago company Of Russian in
fantry were extermnated IN the passes of the
Ural by these animals.
These deeds were done by packs; but when
the railroad north OF Jnhbulpier was being
constructed there was great loss of life among
the workmcn from wolves. In these cases Capt
Forsyth explains that but two animals were
concerned, as a rule, one of which caught the
man by the neck from behind while the other
tore out his entrails. Every year the wolves
of Central India destroy numbers of people.
Usually solitary wolf prefers to attack women
aud children; but when they are true man
eaters they will attack anyone" The trndi.
lions Of every country in Europe attest that at
one time the same state OF things existed and
where the wolf has not been ovcrawed they
exist still. Daring as the wolf was in oldcn
times" says Lloyd, speaking of tho Scandina,
Wan animal, g." he has lost nothing of his au-
dacity at the present day" From newspapers,
parish registers, official reports. and the evi.
dence Of eyewitness, no complies an nc
count of the ravages OF wolves aud of their
destructiveness TO life that nearly equals
those found in the MEDIEVAL chronicles. To
finish this sketch, aud To show what one of
these animals is capable of doing. we may refer
to IA series of events of which the French, Dutch,
Belgian, and English journals OF 1865 were full.
and which finally came 10 be a matter of serious
concern TO the Government of France.
During this period an animal that was not
identified as Il wolf Until aiter its death, created
"A reign of terror In The forest country of Prov
ence aud Iaugued0c, devouFing so persons
about Gevandau-"Qni devore plus que
quatrevingt personnes dams 10 Gevandau." A
drawing from description was sent t0 tho In.
tendant OF Alcn9on aud as this looked more
like the representation hyena than any.
thing else and also as geological provinces were
not so well known as AZ present, il was con
cluded that an animal OF this kind more
terrible than the man eating hyena Col Julins
Barras destroyed in Central India Il century
after, but less destructive than the wolf of tho
Forest OF Fontainbleau, who. in 1853, killed
l4O people, had committed these ravages. The
State offered 1000 crowias for its head. The
Archbishop ordered prayers for public preserva-
ton to be said in all the churches aud the CON-
handing officer OF tho department secured tho
country with light horse, These means failed,
and troop Of tho 10th Dragoons by whom the
beast was several times seen pursued 10 in vain
for six weeks through the mountains of Langue-
doe. Then the reward forits death was raised to
10000 livres by the province. Louis XIV offered
5000 more, high masses innumerable were said
and cavalry, bands Of gamekeepers and private
gentleman with their servants SouUht ia n,n
were In search of ii for months, during which
its howl was heard in villages by night chill
dren and women were killed in their own farm
yards, woodcuttcrs devoured in the forests, men
torn out of their wagons aud eaten on the high
way in broad day.
Finally, those who had escaped with wounds
from its attack began TO go mad but nothing
indicates that they had true hydrophoba, and
4 he fact that IL nliMn In tina Glnl MGR af