The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-04
THE MORNING NEWS: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4. 1896

the bushes. his gun exploded, the shot
striking him in the left shoulder. The
bones were broken and terrible noie
showed that the whole of the upper pacy
of his shoulder had been torn away, leav-
ing a gaping wound, which bled furiousIy.
The pain was so great that he fell upon
his right side, and then upon his back
unconscious. When he recovered con-
seriousness he discovered that the blood
had almost stopped flowing. The loss or
blood was so great it not only saturated
his clothing, but also made him so weak
that he no longer had strength to crawl
to the pines for protection from the rays
of the sun. The utmost he was able To
do was to draw his cap over his face
and lie quiet, completely exhausted
1t was then that, half unconscious, hair
overcome by the loss of blood and pain,
he began to wonder what was to become OF
him. His wound had stopped bleeding.
and so long as he lay perfectly still there
was little danger of bleeding TO death. In
his own words, the narrative ran thus;
THE sun was terribly hot, but 1 could
bear that. Then l began to fear the wild
hogs, for 1 had no strength with when
to defend myself from them, and l real
lied that in all probability l should not
be discovered until the next morning. I
knew l should not be missed until dark
and had no way to send message home.
so 1 just made up my mind to make the
best of 1t.
This determination had hardly been
made when 1 thought of the turkey buzz
yards. Then l realized the actual danger
in which I was, You know. they kill new
born calves, lambs and sheep, plucking
out their eyes and then eating them,
They discover their prey by sight, and
not by smell, and so they were sure to
discover me.
II pulled my hat more firmly over my
face and put my hand under me. But 1
could not stand the anxiety. l lifted my
hat from time to time to watch the skies
to see If any of the vultures We're coming.
l was sure they would not discover me
if could only get among the pines, but
could not do that. and l dared not move,
so l was exposed to them beyond all hope
of escape. 1t almost drove me mad The
cold sweat stood out on my forehead and
my we'll hand tremblcd. Littletby little
my hopes of escape grew, for l had watch
ed the skies for nearly three hours and
none had come into sight. Then ! saw
the first one sailing leiSurely over me. He
went past, then after few minutes an
other started over, sailing round and
round He stopped. Then another came,
and in a few minutes there was fully
score directly above me, wheeling in swift
short circles.
1T took but a few minutes for them to
alight in the trees near me, and to come
from them to my side. The stencil from
them was almost unbearable. l covered
my face with my hat and lay quiet Sud-
denly l was startled by a heavy body
lighting OH my chest and tearing at my
coat and shirt with its claws. Instinct
lively l clutched my hat and swung it at
him and he flew away. l counted a full
score around me, hopping from one place
to another, and cycling me in the most
horrible manner. Every few minutes one
would jump on me and tear my clothes
with It's talons. My trousers and shoes
were too thick for them but my coat
and shirt were soon in shreds. My eyes
were the cause of my greatest fear.
knew from what had seen ofIthem that
they attack their prey first by tearing
out the eyes when possible, and l realized
that if l were to lose my eyes it would
be sure death.
Three or four times they started my
shoulder bleeding, but not to any great
extent, for / kept my hat swinging over
my face, fighting them off.
This fighting began about O'Clock, 1
should think, and continued until after
sunset, so far as can remember, for at
that time l either went to sleep or else
lost consciousness. Those were the long
est hours l ever put In at any work in
my life."
Searchers did not go out until early the
next morning, and then only to waste time
going from one pond to another, until one
of their number thought to get a blood
hound and follow the trail. And even
with the keen use of the dog to direct the
way it was not until nearly 10 o. clock that
the unconscious hunter was found.
When discovered the clothing was al
most totally torn off the upper part of
his body, which was terribly scratched by
the birds, and the. flies had begun to set
tie about the wound. Not less than fifty
buzzards were around him, hopping side
ways or roosting in the trees.
Laskar was carried home and medical
assistance called. 1t was found that the
arm was held to the body by only small
piece of flesh, which, however. had for
tunately contained the principal arteries
and veins, saving him from bleeding to
death.
Throughout the following week of delr-
ium he was constantly fighting buzzards,
swinging his right hand across his body
from time to time, showing the way in
which he had protected himself from the
vultures.