Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-04-09
SPOILED HIS BEAUTY
NIT. MorrelI's Experience with
 a Wildcat.
BIS APPEARANCE IS STARTLING.
One of His Eyes Out and He is 0 he wiss
 Badly Mutilasea.

1t Took Him Thirteen Weeks to Get Over
 His Fight With the Animal. and He
 Doesn't Brag About His Good Looks Any
 SJore-It Was the Largest Cat Ever
 Seen in Northern New Jersey--It Win
 he Stuffed.
 DEcKERsTowN, N. J :, April 9.-Aleck Morrell is well-known quarryman over in Sandystone township. The big slate quarries are in that part of Sussex county. He was in the habit of driving down here and stopping for chat with tae boys. Nobody had seen him for over three months, and some of his friend were proposing to take a trip over to his home to ascertain what was the matter when Aleck stepped into fa- milir gathering place.
 Morrell had always been rather hand some, but when he came to town he pre- scented such startling appearance that his friends were aghast. One of his eyes was out and the greater part of his cheek and mouth was pulled around nearly to his right ear. His back teeth could be seen through the gap. His left ear was partially gone and two of his fingers were missing.
 With facial contortions that were painful to behold the quarryman told the following story:
 'I stopped one evening several months ago at the house of friend, and it was pretty late when got home. l had been drinking a little, but not enough to affect me or make me careless My house is a little way back from the road, and there was little porch to the front door with vines growing over it, so that it was pretty dark inside of the porch. As put my foot on the step l saw some- | thing sitting on the rag carpet mat, and thinking it was stray dog 1 fetched it a kick and says Git out!' Before l l could take time to think something | landed square on my chest and knock ed me off the stoop and into the flower | bed.
 It was too dark to see what it was, but | I said to myself, ''Aleck, you've got 8 job on your hands" and tried to grab the critter, but got my left hand in it's month, and that's how I lost them two fingers. They l caught wipe across my face and at the same time my right hand closed on the critters windpipe, | and in spite of the loss of my eye and | the blood flowing all over me, l rolled over on the critter and got my knee on its breast. It clawed at me with it's hind feet and ripped me open in dozen places, but 1 held on until l lost my senses, and the next thing l knew was when woke up in bed with Dr. Moore stitching up my wounds.
 ''It seems that my wife heard the noise of the scrimmage and came out with a lantern. She found me lying across the dead body of wildcat. was all torn up and had scarcely a rag on me. It took | 13 weeks for me to git over it, and I haven't bragged about my good looks since, but I'm bragging that Pm the only mao ever choked a full grown wild | cat to death'''
 Morrell is going to have the wildcat stuffed. It weighed A pounds, and is the largest ever seen in Northern New Jersey. It is the first one of that species that has been heard of since 1876, when good sized one was shot by a wood chopper in one of the heavy forests over in Montague township.