The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1898-08-06

c DeusI A&aO DeVOureu five
Men and Only With the Greatest
Difficulty Was He Cheated Out OF
His Sixth Victim. as g, ~, .
-~,T -Era.- sssr.,,- - 8
-a@, = &Ea&y Is =
Amateur bicyclist though he was a
frenchman travelling in Java, and who
was completely out of practice, has won
the greatest contest on record by outdis-
tanclng giant tiger in a four-mile race.
Ih,s champion of the world, Joseph
Rosne, Is prominent In French scientific
circles. When he entered upon that mem
orable race he was engaged in a tour Of
discovery, together with the noted French
geologist, Rouselle, and the Dutch
geographer, Moer. g.. 80
too, is a noted character, though in q
smaller circle of course He Is known as
the "maneater of Nieuwenhuys," a dis
trict In the Residency of Banjumas Java.
NleuWenhuys is a settlement in the vir-
gin forest, comprising about two square
mlies OF coffee and tobacco plantations.
II mas a population of twelve white fam
lies, of about a hundred Malays and 500
coolies Twice, in the years 1911 and 1853,
this ancient settlement was almost en-
tlrefy depopulated by tigers. Afterward
the natives walled in their village and
DrOIGCted
against tiger raids. g.. .. u
The several outlying houses, owned by
the Dutch planters, have not been mo-
Tested by tigers for tens of years; in fact
tiger usually turns tail before the white
man, whose ingenuity : and superior
weapons he has learned to respect and
whose white clothes fill him with terror
lie continues, however. to eat Malays and
coolies whenever an opportunity offers,
and that is where the ,''man-eater'' men
toned got his name This particular tiger
has eaten four natives and one Chinese
in the course Of the last five or six years,
his most noted feat being that of gallop-
ing away with a victira-a Malay weigh
ing 100 pounds-in his mouth at full speed.
That happened III the heated season Of
1896. ">-
The explorers were travelling down the
Banjumas-Tassin river says the New
York Press, when, on April 80 last, they
stopped at Nieuwenhuys, where: Mynheer
van den Ouwelandt. the oldest settler,
offered them his hospitality. In the even
ing, when the visitors. lounging on the
porch of the great house, were disturbed
by the believing of wild animals in the
nearby forest, many stories of the man
eater and other tigers that occasionally
broke into the cattle folds were discussed.
1--WE settlers are quite safe, in this
neighborhool, even at the outskirts of the
forest" remarked Mynheer van den Ou-
welandt, "but I would not advise any of
you gentlemen to go near the forest after
dark. I know a great many theorists
hold the superstition that tiger, having
once tasted human flesh, becomes eager
for it, and prefers 1t to all other food
to be wrong and even ridiculous, but my
experience with the Java tiger here and
in other settlements backs up that view.
AS to our man-eater of NieuWenhuys. we
were unmolested by him for a month or
CT oLo tn If hiS
assaults upon {. native. Whether he was
actually fasting during that time that, of
course, I am unable to say. Most proba-
bly, he kept away from the settlement
to get us off our guard. And what Is
most remarkable he succeeded every
time. Though our natives fear the tiger
more than their own particular devils
they are liable to forget all about him if
the danger of being eaten is not always
before their eyes,"
Have you heard of his man-eateIship
of late?" asked NJ. Rosne. with laugh.
HE, or one of his confreres, left his
card at our door only two nights ago,
when he tried to break into the kraal (cat-
tie fold) and succeeded in lowering part
of the hedge before the Waterman could
turn the electricity into the barbed wire
fence" said Mynheer van den Ouwelandt.
Soon after M. Rouselle and Mynheer
Moer retired and little while later mine
host and family followed suit. Rosne
alone remained on the porch. slipping his
tea Mynheer van der Ouwelandt had
furnished him with lamp, by the ltgh:
of which he was arranging the leaves OF
his diary and adding new ones. AS the
subject ne was working on vastly inter
ested the young scientist, he felt no in
centive to sleep and became even more
wakeful as the hours wore on. Finally
to make an end of it, he resolved upon a
walk in the grounds. II will thoroughly
two y,ovce1f ont and then seek NV cO1lch -
he said to himself.
The rest is told in Rosne's own lam
guage:
passing, in the course of my prone
made, an open shed, I saw something
bright and glittering near one of the
walls. A small rounded object it was
Could it be some ferocious animal crouch:
ing there? The curiosity, with which
nature has so richly endowed me, made
me draw my revolver and advance
Pshaw, it was only a piece of metal
Placing the six-shooter on wagon
standing nearby, touched the Flaming
eye of my imagination" It was bicy
Gle bell and the machne-which I ex
amined by the light of the moon-of E
certain swift pattern I had always Sc
much admired. -rs. . d.
II could not Withstand the temptation
to mount it and wheel about the grounds
Then, observing the beautiful road tina
stretched before the house, made for II
before l realized what was doing. Pas
sionate bicyclists sometimes act as If in {
trance, like passionate smokers or NOR.
phine eaters.
''Soon I found myself flying along a,
tremendous speed. Why not? There are
no bicycle regulations in Java. What a
perfect machine it was-a swift runner
easy to steer and yet strongly built
Mynheer van den Ouweland? He would
not blame me for the liberty had taken
Had he not placed his all at our disposal
his horses and carriages and his boat
Why not his bicycle?
1.-The distance between the villa and the
forest was four or five kilometers, Gov.
cred it in an incredibly short space Of
time. How magnificent that green tocear
animated by the soft breezes of the ad.
vancing morning! Giant trees, centurie.
old, in the embrace Of climbing plants ant
creepers fragrant with sweet blossoms
Near by a pool of water, half hidden ir
the bushes, on it's surface lilies and lotus
flowers I leaned my wheel against the
stump of a tree and sat down on the rude
stone bench standing at the further cor.
ner of the little lake. Resting there, J
was falling or into a reverie, when ]
heard a distant noise approaching from
the thick Of the forest. Ny heart jumped
that the cracking and breaking of the
underbrush meant the advance Of q
heavy, yet supple body. Instantly felt
4 overcome by an awful terror.
IT had met the rhinocerous and TIL.
crocodile Of Java-and did not fear them
The first because 1t never attacks human
beings unless driven to 1t. the other. be