The sun., 1894-09-30
xErER rR1eHrExED BUr oxcE,
A,,nou@s for sixty Yeur- He Hsd FouEht
Re,r-. wolves, sna Fnuther-,

Althoueh for sixty Neurs sfe fhho F"NS-
Bears, wolves, sac Fnuthers.
ATLANTA. Sept 28.-The Hunter Of Tallula
,s dead. but the tales OF his exploits In th
Georgia wilds will be told for generations :
come. II when he died tho announcement
had been made simply that Adam Van Dive
was dead, after while the inquiry would hav
come from many quarters, "What has becom
of the Hunter OF Tallulah 2" so long had II beef
since he was known by any other name.
That was his name. Adam Van Diver
| He was born In Tallulah county only an houi
1 after his father and mother, who emigratet
I from New Jersey to Georgia, had arrived at tho
hut in the woods which the elder Van Diver hat
put up on a previous visit TO the region Mrs
Van Diver had made the entire journey or
! horseback. The boy grew up In Talluiaf
! county, and for more than sixty years hunted
the Georgia wilderness, with the exception OF
four years. Those four years he passed as sol
dier in the Confederate army, being one Of the
first to enlist He died near Clarksville, aged
nearly so. In all OF his long life In the woods,
during which he came In frequent contact with
panthers, wolves and bears, II was the old hunt
er's one boast that he was never really fright
ened but once
The memorable experience that gave him
this single scare occurred to him Just before
dark one day near his camp in the Tallulah
mountains. He was sitting In his cabin when he
heard the howl of wolf The cry was echoed
from so many directions among the hills that
the hunter was unable 10 locate the actual po-
sltion OF the wolf. To satisfy himself on this
point, he climbed toward the top Of the high
mountain on the side Of which he had his cabin
TO get above the echoing rocks. The better to
do this he clambered to the top of a big
boulder which lay on the steep hill
side. The steep ran for hundred feet
below the rock. and at its base yawned
ravine hundred feet deep. AS the
hunter stood on the edge of the boulder listen
ing to catch the sound Of the VOLTS next howl
he felt n peculiar sensation. Glancing down at
the rock he discovered that II was one OF the
hanging rocks peculiar to that region, and that
its balance on the mountain side was such that
his weight had disturbed the equilibrium. and
that the boulder was about to plunge down the
steep Van Diver mechanically raised both
hands at arms length and threw his body back
ward. That movement saved him from fright
full ride to death. His hands came in contact
with the branch Of o tree that extended
over the rock. They closed around the
limb with a desperate clutch. The next
instant the big rock tipped forward and
went laundering down the mountain. Van
Diver hung suspended in the air. He saw the
rock leap over the brink of the ravine, and
the bottom of the great chasm. Then the hunter
dropped to the ground upon the spot where
the rock had lain perhaps for centuries. He
was SO unnerved by the narrowness of his es-
cape from the awful fate that had threatened
move toward his cabin. and for one whole day
and night he lay there supnely unmindfui OF
which resounded about his cabin at freouent in.
tervals He at last reRained his nerve and com
posnre. pc ana n the next two days added the skins
fer 10, fha
Il seemed to be the fate of the Hunter of Tai
hdence In himself when In conflict with or look
so many signs of panther that he used unusual
caution In his stalking; II was a peculiarly OF
kept dogs. He trailed his game and ran IL down m
with no other aid than his own wonderful knowl-
edge OF ,wo9,dcraft and of the nature and
hunt he jumped up a big buck from It's
bed. He fired at and Wounded it,. but
II left Van Diver was certain that he had
wounded 1t mortally, and he expected TO come
trail very great way. He followed Il until dark.
and I stu the bloody clue led on; The
light permitted him to take up the chase again.
Not more than twenty rods away he knew there |
building III sc camp Ts hs heard the se he OF
ravins. Instinctively Van Diver felt that the |
III,
falling dead in that locality. its body had been
scented @ BY pa panther IT. which had come to feas.
panther was not to be thought OF for a mo mo.
nent The wo9dsman seized his gun and
,ry had come. He had come nearly to the edge
y the rayine. when out Of its lurking place In
Tss ,hS tser Of the
ping II he drew his hunting knife. IL was ter.
he night and forest. In the thickest OF IL the
lunter knew that they, were drawing nearer and
..way from IT, At last they reached the edge. A
,,psJ s struggle to avoid the catastrophe
vailed pd ts nothihg; Into the ravne both hunter
II was broad daylight when the woodsman
,Ss anything further He WAS a. the bottom
her His Clothing was g nearly % % ali torn rne om Sn
lim. and the flesh on his arms, breast, and
'one, Examining the panther, he discovered
hat its neck was broken, From that the hunter
own and struck head first on the rocks and
! hi, ,s,r his own life had probably been saved by
Diver was obliged 70 travel mile down the ral Tn
daSi,Isn s1I5 and painful Journey in his p Injured
ssro went hack and found s fAyhns' the bues uns
II probability be lying. The carcass was un-
armed; AT, ,.k the panther not having begun its
'as week before Van Diver was ' in sbsn. ~
AXE TO the woods again.
Another time the hunter Of Tallulah shot A |
uck at spot with surroundings similar TO |
hose where he had fought with The panther.
he deer tell In its tracks and lay there like a
'g Van Diver walked leisurely toward the
rostrate buck. When he was within A few
cps Of il the deer surprised him by springins
its feet and rushing savagely upon him. The
unter seized the buck by the antlers.
ne raylne was not ten feet aUay and
.e furious deer at once made a desperate
Tort 70 throw its antagonist into It, In spite OF
! the hunters struggles TO prevent It, the buck
last succeeded in swinging him over the edge
an Diver held fast to the bucks horns. and J
ie result was that both deer and hunter tum
ed to the bottom. Fortunately for the woods !
la an, az the bottom OF the gully was stream.
nnged into Il was a deep pool Into that thev
~ and neither received serious injury. The
ater was TOO deep for either hunter or deer 10
re 70 continue the fight In IL, and each turned ,