The state herald., 1894-01-05
HE HAD TOO MUCH COON.
AKENTVcKV MAN WHO WANTS
NO MORE HGNTiN6:
Was Assaditsd BY au Army o. Them and
treated ~ Probably NO Coon Hunter
Was Ever Treated Bsfore-Got Out
Alive and That Satisfied Him.

Ona night lately, accompanied by
y0ung golored man named John
Mckinney and four 0t his best dogs,
Kit Howard, d gray whiskered; but
hale old farmer OF Kentucky. started
as usual coon hunting.
Howard and his Companion BRO.
coeded up tho bottom about mife
from Towards to tho corn. field near
the edge Of tho woods. Scattered
about over the clearing" stood sew
oral tall dead trees. on which tho
young moon cast wan and feeble
light, They lieatd and SOW nothing
that bctokened tho appedrauce Of var
mints until they reached the far end
Of the corn patch. whero short dis:
TANGO from IN old. tumble-down un-
occupied log cabin. stood three per-
simmon trees, on tho swaying limb
OF one OF which tho sharp eyes OF tho
darkoy discovered big fat coon.
Tho dogs. too, shifted his coonship
and SGT up n provoking whine. says
tho Cincinnati Enquirer. The colored
man, accustomed To the sport. do,red
his shoes In q trlce. and was soon
going up the tree toward tho animal,
.Mhre Howard remained below.
Allow strong strokes sent tho var.
mint to tho ground; but, recovering
from It's fall. It made dash for the
log cabin near, and. bofor6 tho dogs
could seize it. passed safoly through
I'm opening under the closet into the
cabin. Ba'llcd OF their prey, the
dogs set up vociierous howl With
out moments dclay Howard com.
manded his companion to stand ut
the door, while hc himself. with d
club and lighted match, climbed into
an open window vt tao end OF tho
hut to drive tho coon from his dark
retreat But in getting into the
window tho match went out.
and before tho adventurous
hunter could light another he
felt teeth and claws trying ut his
legs At once he began to usc his
club, at tho same time lighting Il
match. so as to 500 his situation bot
ter and determine tho whereabouts
VI astalltut-
by tho fickering light. TO his
amazemcnt he behcl! the whole cnd
OF the cabin full Of coons, which,
now maddencd by the flame, began
to close around him with glaring
eyes and grinning teeth. ready to
spring upon him. lie halloocd to
tho darkcy to come to his rescue.
endeavoring at the same time to
fight OF the cmboldcncd varmints
with his club But his blows only
seemed to mako them fcrcer. and
their peculiar bark added to his tor
ror as we'll as to the excitement OF
tho dogs. now bowling and scratch
ing on tho outside.
The colorcd man, informed OF the
jeopardy of Howard by tho struggle
within. procured fence rail ind
proccc lcd to batter In the door Yet
his blows were nothing In number to
those OF Howard. who. In tho dara.
ness OF tho room, fought with dos
pcration to keep tho furious animals
from his body. At length the door
was forced but tho dogs would not
enter Howard. with true heroism.
was still welding his club. when his
companion came to his rescue. With
both mon tho night now became des.
poratc and furious. To them II was
delivcrance or death. The fury OF
the coons abated not The eyes OF
tho two men were now fixed on the
door. which afforded TO them their
only hope OF escape. And still
pounding their fierce assailants. they
slowly fought their way backward to
where the friendly moonlight was
shlmmcring through tho door.
The dogs still kept up their terri.
Gc yells. but did nothing to assist
the almost exhausted hunters But
once In the doorway Howard and his
companion were safe. They lcapcd
out followed by tho hungry varlots.
who, now desperate from tho en-.
counters. We're no moro afraid OF
dogs than men. But tho outside
struggle continued for only few
minutes The dogs. thirs,iuy for
their quarry. and fresh US compared
with their MASTER. played swift
havoc with the coons. selling and
tearing several OF them TO pieces
while tho remainder were getting
away.
After tho battle Howard was bare.
Is recognizable. His clothes were
torn almost entirely away. while his
lacoratcd BODY and limbs showed how
desperate tho struggle had been,
Mckinney. his dusky companion, also
locked little tho worse for wear.
while both men were so utterly used
mp that ,hcy with some difficulty
reached home.
When visited the next morning
the cabin presented u scene which
even an Indian hunter could not
hayo looked on without thrill OF
professional envy. There was blood
mud hair and hide all nbont the door
and the mutllatcd carcassos Of thlr-
toon coonA Inside the cabin tho
bodies of nineteen Of thn pcsky mi.
mails lay scattered about. whore they
had fallen beneath tho blowa OF tho
two stalwart huntcrL
Howard has hud the whole batch
skinned ani will keep thoir hides as
n souvenir Of his Victory and his de.
llsoranec. lilo says thoro must have
been 100 Of them and II he had been
alone he would have undoubtedly
been gnnwcd Into glblets by tho
yoraclous varlet+ lie will keep his
faithful dogs. but ooon.huniing, ho
rays, Is thing of the past with him.
Light. Heat AID o. .ctfi-uy.
In mn, of hIs remarkable lorturo,