The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1890-11-06

ran 10 cover, anu tnen we Drought up our
ammunition train, and made ready for
business. We had sheet-iron cylinders
from the diameter of a candle to thit of a.
tea canister. We selected size to f,t any
hole we found, and they were loaded with
powder and buckshot and fusb in
serted. The cylinders dropped hown
after the snakes, aud the explosion set
tied the fate OF anything in that hole. I
think VIC killed sixty or seventy serpents
en- an acre OF ground.
The FIRST Chinese bomb / used oh the
railway line was st point eighty miles
west OF Lucknow. One morning native
came TO me from a small village on our
right flank and said that panther had
carried of his two-year. child the
evening before. just after sunset, while
he family were sitting about the door of
the hut, the child, which was Just begin
ming to walk, t0ddlcd OFF around the
corner OF the hut, and was seize5 by
panther lying In wait. Its screams goused
the whole village, and everybody saw tho
beast gollopiug away with the clid in
its mouth. This panther was known to
have two cubs, and her retreat was in a
rocky rlyine, mile from the village. !
took i've r1eu and the elephant,
and, accompanied by about thirty
Of the villagers, went to the ra-
vine. 10 wasn't exactly a raviue, but
a basin Of thickct aud rock, with
spring q. the bottom Of it. My men soon
bea, up the ground, and found we'll
worn path leading to the den. II was
about twenty feet below the crest of the
sink, and the opening was nearly rs large
a' barrel. There was no question but
tht, thc pluthcfs would be at home at
tHgt hour Of the day, and after arranging
my mcn with their shot guns | dropped
the bomb into the den myself. 1t wasn't
q bomb for mortar, but heavy glass
bulb filed with chemicals and exploded
10y fuse. When the chemicals we're re-
leased they created such smell as no
human nose could endure.
heard % growl rs retrcated, and all
of MS caught the sound of the explosion.
Indeed, We felt the jar OF 1t. A few Sec
onds later there WAS rush and roar,
and one panther was hardly out when a
second followed. They were cut and
bleeding and seemed to he on fire. We
fired u they came into sight, apd both
rolled 20 the bottom Of the sins, dead.
it Wa, p fun hour before native could
enter the den, and then he found two
dead cubs and some OF the bones of the
villagers child. We gave them the
scglps OF the panthers, that they might
claim the Government reward. and the
father of the child 1T once forgot his
loss.
had had ny elephant seven months
before | learned his real value. He lad
been warranted a neryy Deast, bet it often
happens that il an elephant is transferred
to new scenes he undcrgoes change of
heart. one afternoon | rode down the
route about five miles to a village to pro-
cure medicine for a Sic; man in my party.
The route was through forest AMI thicket
and over stretches of open covered with
ta!l grass. Before going l exchanged
thar It. IL Mosa 61 2e IS, s1osgapsh & Swing
pom from the back of anSiep6aht. IL lf3sa
had been a murder committed in the vii
laCo that forenoon, and this aud other
matters detained me until about an hour
before sunset. As made ready to start |
back native hunter said TO me-
"Tho sahib will need sharp eyes and a .
steady hand. \ wolf has just appeared |
in the village
/ thanked him forhis interest and rode .
away. The wolves Of India do not pack |
in such numbers as elsewhere, seldom
more than five or six being found to-
-cthcr. We hal killed few along the |
line, and they had showed no fight at all. /
IS Lcb shamb!cd along / thought far less |
of wolyo, than of bigger game.
wasn't mile out Of the village when .
Ieb began - swing his trunk as sign .
,hgt me- scented danger. As we left the /
cover of the woods to cross one of the |
open spaces, he trumpeted in excitement, /
and increased his pace. / could see .
nothing 10 first to alarm him, but two or /
.hrec minutes later ! caught sight of /
five wolves ON our trail and this number /
increased TO twenty almost in twink /.
ling We were not yet half way across
the open when the pack spread out in
hall circle and closed in ON VS.. As soon
as they were near enough | opened fire, /
ana VOL, dropped at every report. The
living didn't stop, however, but closed /.
in more eagerly than before, and Zeb was
now under such motion that | could no
longer use the gun. had scarcely laid
it down and picked up hatchet which
was in the howdah by chance, when
wolf spraag fairly from the ground and
caught the edge Of the box-!ike arrange
meut with his forepaws. | used the
hatchet to sever his paws, and both
dropped inside Is he rolled of to the
ground.
Zab was now speeding along like
runaway horse, and | had all could do
to retain my seat. He used his trunk
right and left, and more than once |
heard a wolf howl out as he was knocked
over. | had no mahout, always actinl
as my own, and Zeb had always beer
wonderfully obedent to my voice.
had No orders to give him now, however,
and only knew iu a vague way that he
was heading for our camp. He finally
reached the far edge of the open, and