The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-05
OVER A PANTHERS DEN.
Jim TaylOr's Life Was Saved by "A
Swinging Vine.


From the San Francisco Call.
The country along the eastern side Of
the Sierra Nevada. about forty miles be.
low Owens Lake, is about the widest and
most desolate in all California. Jim Tav-
Tor lives there and is known to everybody
for miles. He paid visit to the town Of
Keeler short time ago, and said lie had
just passed through most exciting ad-
venture.
According to Jim's story, he was pros
pecting among the foothills not far from
walkers Pass. One evening" about two
weeks ago his burro kicked ever the wa
ter barrel, and spilled the contents linn
started for spring three miles away,
Inc spring lay near the head of a wild
ana rocky canyon, and Jim had almost
reached the spot, when he saw through
the darkness the form of some enorrno7,s
animal. Jim concluded not TO RIM anv
risks and crawled behind a rock to give il
a chance to pass
AS the animal came nearer and nearer
u smiled the air loudly and Jim crawie6
farther and farther back, never atternnr-
ing 10 ascertain where he was going. IN
III IN ne felt himself slipping down hill
Inc incline was not very steeD.. Inst
enough so to prevent his getting a foot
nold. In an instant Jim was in total
darkness, and realized that he had slim
pea INTO cave, the bottom of which
might be at the center % the earth Ha
continued downward for several seconds
and the incline kept getting steeDer and
sleeper. Faster and faster he went a1r-
pectlng each moment 20 drop off into an
ABYSS, when suddenly his foot hurnrad
against projection, and in a moment /, g
hand caught substance like the truok
or sapling.
Jim hung on, hoping it would hold Rut
no, II sIpped out from among the rocks,
descent
about ten feet, and Jims surprise and
horror he swung off into inky space He
knew then that the supposed sapIing was
q v4.e OF some KIND, one end of which
was fast to the roof of the cavern
How far it was to the bottom ton or
SIDES was something past Jim's finding
For a few moments Jim thought of
dropping of, and then realized thai there
was a sort of hook on the end of the vins
in which he could stand, and nossibiv
manage to hold on, 1t was no troubie
to get into the hook, and he really felt
After standing in this position Jim re-
membered that he had a box of nrairia
matches in his pocket and also fonnS
that his revolver and knife were still in
ms cartridge peIt. Jim concluded to
strike a light and try to find out where
he was.
The fash had hardly pierced the dark
ness before the close air of me cavern
was HlAeu WIN the hOWlS of wild beasts
The match burned several seconds and
looking down Jim saw hardly ten feet he
meath him writhing mass of panthers
They snaried and snapped and jumped a I
him, but could not come nearer than Two
feet Of the end of the vine.
The match burned out and lin lighted
another and another He tried To Sonnt
the panthers and ascertain what mis-
chances would be of killing them They
moved about with the rapiditv of Iebf
ming, jumping over one another. and howl
ing continually. The vine by This tine
had stopped swinging, and Jim Kent aS
still as possible lest il break and dron bi11
into the den of wild beasts When he
stopped lighting matches the panthers he
came more quiet, but occasional hovvs
told that they were still beneath him
For a few seconds there was absolute
silence, and then jim detected a snifFiinS
far above him. Beneath him the patberS
commenced nervous, pacing movement
but uttered no sound. Jim could hear +b1
twitching of their tails and the snaclrirS-
of their jaws and the shifting sound fro-sss
above became louder and louder.
OF a sudden there was a rattlinv %
stones and the humping of a huge sou
body, and Jim felt sure that grizzly bear
had fallen into the FATHERS den He
struck match, and pandemoniun reienad
beneath him. He saw the panthers rush for
the bear. only to be crushed by its heayv
paws. In short time it was master ~
the situation, surrounded by the whole
pack OF PARTNERS, bleeding, dying, dead
JON suddenly felt better, and hoped that