Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-02-06
A JEALOUS LION.
The Terrible Revenge of the sav-
 age Brute.
Becoming Enraged over Division of Af- lection He Tears the Bride of His Master to Pieces During
 His Absence.


 A most peculiar instance of jealousy in animals was lately reported from a ranch up in the range northwest of Sil- yer City, N. M.
 A Mexican named Juan Lopez some years ago caught a young mountain lion and raised 1t as pet. He had the animal completely under subjection, and it was as docile with him as house cat. The lion is now about four years old and full grown, but it has always been accustomed to sleep at the foot of the bed of his master, and has followed him like dog when he went around the place. He had it trained for hunt ing, and it was always with him eX- cept when he came to town. It had never shown any evil disposition when with other people and would allow every visitor to fondle and pet it.
 Lopez recently fell victim to the charms of one of the senoritas. The girl was brought home to the cabin of Lo- peg, and her first move was to insist that the lion should be made to sleep out of the house, as she was afraid of the big animal. Lopez assented to her wishes and built a house for his pet near the door of the cabin. When he attempted to make the animal go in it that night the brute for the first time was disposed to rebel against the wishes of it's master, and the result was that it received q whipping. It went sullenly into the box, but all night the Mexican and his bride could hear it's low growls. Next morning the animal slunlk into the house and curled up in corner, repulsing the caresses of it's master.
 It was suLlen all day, but the bride noticed that it watched her constantly, and she became so nervous that she insisted that her husband should get rid of the big lion. He promised to do so as soon as possible. He told her that he would take it to town in a few days and sell it. The second night it went to its hut outside with little opposition, and next morning Lopez started to town to find q purcha1cr for his pet. He left the animal at home and told his wife to pay no attention to it bnt go about her work os if it was not in the house.
 Lopez had no difficulty in finding purchaser for his lion and about five o'clock in the evening started home pretty we'll intoxicated with nescal, and lated at the fact that he was to get one hundred pesos for his pet. which he has estimated to be only worth twenty five. He arrived home after dark and was surprised to see no light as he ap- preached the house, as he supposed that his wife would be ready with supper for him.
 He entered the place, but it was so dark that he cuuld distinguish nothing, and as he groped about he stumbled over something on the floor which gave to his pressure. Stopping down, he discovered that the object was a wom- ans body and he felt that the blood had flowed over the floor in such quantities that the place seemed to be literally saturated. He quickly struck a light and was mortified at the sight that met his gaze.
 The young wife had been torn to pieces by the savage brute, which had evidently looked upon her as the cause of it's disgrace. The strug- gle could not have been long, as the marks of the teeth showed that the lion had jumped upon her back and broken her neck at the first bite. It had then torn the victim to shreds, the limbs be- ing severed from the body and the floor covered with bleeding remnants, which had been dragged about and shaken as cat treats a rat. Part of the breast had been torn away and eaten and the face so disfgured that it was unrecog- nizable.
 The animal after completing it's bloody work had fled to the mountains and has not since been seen. Lopez hurried to the nearest neighbor and the terrible story soon spread.
 The young husband refused to be com forted. His grief was so great that finally he became violently insane and had to be confined to prevent him from taking his life.
 Strange ARaiction