The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1896-11-27
FIGHT WITH PANTHERS.
rcopYRIGur. 1861

vi dllHoSL any PAN<iSAANo
afternoon, dozen years ago, half the
boys in certain, quiet little New York
village might have been seen making
their way toward small brown house,
almost hidden in vines, that stood on the
outskirts of the town. The brown
house was the home of old Jerry Smith,
better known to the residents of his ma
tive town as Uncle Jerry.
1t was Uncle Jerry's distinction to be
almost the sole surviving relic of the
days when "big game" abounded in
western New York and Pennsylvania.
He had always been huntsman by pro-
fession, although he admitted that he
had been accustomed to scratch the
soil" at odd times when the hunting
was not brisk. But these were not the
days on the memories of which he loved
to dwell, and apropos of which he told
the tales that drew the boys around
him
One day the talk had turned on the
bravery of hunters in facing enraged
Or wopnded animals and their hair
breadth escapes. Uncle Jerry was silent
for a time, then said:
Fer reasonin', sensible courage give
me white man in central. But must
say tibet the most unfearin' man l ever
knowed on was red Injun. Yes, sir,
he was full-blooded Seneca, and ez
great credit to the race ez old Red
Jacket er Cornplanter. He wasn't no
fool, an most allus was keerful enough
in follerin up his game, but once he got
his blood up he'd sail right into bear
er painter jest ez you would into boy
twict your size eff you got mad all
through with him. Eff you've got real
fghtin' spunk you most likely wouldn't
stop to think what was goin' to happen
to you, and that was the way it was
with Phil Turkey an the yarmints he
hunted all his life.
HE was the first Injun got acquaint-
ed with arter comm into the country,
fer he lived jest in the aidge of the Buff
falo reservation, as it was called. His
cabin wasn't more than mile from
where father put up his log house, on the
banks of the old Cazenove. He was
our only neighbor, fer the nearest white
family lived three miles away in t'other
direction. So we seen good deal of
Phil Turkey an his family. He'd come
round the house an set for a spell in
his quiet way, smol1in' his pipe an
mebbe not sayin' a word fer half an
hour. Sometimes he'd bring us bear
meat, too, an he'd allus want to help
eff they was any heavy work goin' on.
So you see he was good neighbor, an
in spite of bein' so quiet he was-good
,,l@ Aaf
white men.
"There was plenty of game here
bouts then, an though / was only eight
years old wen we come it didn't take
me long to learn how to handle gun
tol'ble well. In them days gun, eff it
was handled by somebody tibet knowed
how, could earn a man sight better
livin' than hoe er a ak. You see, the
country he'd just begun to offer boln-
ty fer the scalps Nv wolves am painters.
The bears was fairly thick, too; they
hadn't got thinned out ez they was
later; they was enough Nv them so'st
family thet could keep a couple nv
pigs er few sheep through the sea-
son thought themselves lucky. But I
didn't set out to tell you tibet, but bout
Phil Turkeys fight with the painters.
THE second winter arter we settled
here was uncommon hard for these
parts. Cold set in early, an when De-
cember come they was considerable
snow. We he'd three good samples nv
pork meat in our sty, an was only wait
in fer 'cm to turn little more of our
corn crop into fat afore saltin'em down
in the bari. Painters was prcwlin'
round the house every few nights, an
father KEEP his rife loaded 10 scare 'em
away eff he couldn't shoot 'em. But in
spite of all our watchin' one Of EN-
broke into the pig pen an kerried on