The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-11-17
DIFFERENT WAYS To KILL a CAT.
North Carolina wild Cats and Their
Fighting Powers.
From The New York Evening Post.

good cats, OF domestic habits, dignified
demeanor and soelable disposition. Tabby.
stretched at ease upon the hearth-rug be-
fore an open fire, is a manifestation of
bliss which 1t is wholesome TO contem-
plate. But Tabby's relative, whose home
is the wilderness, where it has been de-
prived of those social advantages which
turn the Felis rufus into the Felis domes-
ticus, has little about it which can be
regarded as lovable. Therefore. when Cy
Ricketts, pointed out the signs which were
as Enthusiastically wildcat as they were un-
mistakably recent, l took Cy's advice and
proceeded, with the utmost diligence and
vigilance, to keep a eye out.
l carried my Winchester repeater, and,
for that trip, 1 had induced Ricketts, to
substitute my double-barreled shotgun for
his usual weapon-his much-loved old
Kentucky rifle. Our immediate surround
ings were eminently wild-cauy. We were
on steep and heavily timbered hillside,
not densely but abundantly covered with
underground, and showing, at frequent in
teryals, huge out-croppings of the rock
structure of the mountains. Under such
circumstances, one is inclined to be
trifie apprehensive, though there is no spe-
cial occasion for any fear. The wildcat
Is seldom an aggressive animal, and, like
the black bear and the rattlesnake, II
considers discretion the better part of
yalor, though any one of the three will
put up very good fight if the alterna-
tive be not clearly offered. Within the
quarter of an hour which followed our
discovery, l saw from one hundred and
fifty to two hundred wildcats on rocks
and limbs of trees or crawling stealthily
through the underground.
But at last one broke from little thick
ct within fifty feet Of US and shot up the
hillside. His flight was so rapid and so
well concealed by the foliage that we had
no chance to shoot, and there was MOTH
ing left for us to do but to continue keep
ing "a eye out" A. few moments later
Cy stopped and pointed TO a ledge a little
above us. Thar he is, Cap'n," said Cy.
Dye reckin We kin knock him over? I
could If had tn OF gun here" AS the
beast was within fairly easy range, / re
piled that I would at least intimate to
his cat-ship that we objected to the scru-
tiny with which he was favoring us. The
crack of my rifle was answered by a dis
cordant howl and there came hurting to-
ward us, over the face of the cliff, a dark
object which seemed to approximate in its
bulk the dimensions of a yearling calf.
The dark object proved to be dead cat,
and I was not a little surprised to see
how much smaller the beast was when 1t
as It came down that ledge.
That night, as we lay in front of a very
jolly camp fire on the crest of the Blue
Ridge, l asked Cy for a cat story Cy fill
ed his pipe, and / watched him as he
reached for an ember to light it with, for
the position of Cys head, as he lit his
pipe, was always an accurate indication of
his mood. If he was detected, the head
dropped forward. If he was elated, the
bao haa md he Fao
ed skyward. If he was in a Humorous
frame of mind there was a quaint twist
of the head to one side. This time the
twist was very marked, and l knew that
Cy was going to enjoy his recital whether
/ did or not.
"Irn tell ye bout that fust cat l ever
seed. / was jest boy-a long-legged,
spindle-shanked gawk of boy, with jeans
britches an tow shirt. Pap was clean
in some new land up in tn side o. tn
maounting, an / started jest afore noon
with little mess o. rashuns fer his din
ner The was jest Some sSde-meat an
cornbread tied up in a big red Handkerchief.
l don't guess l was thinkin' o. much,
when all of a student looked up,an thar,
a. settin on the end of a OIL fallen log,
was the bigges' wheat ever seed. Skeer-
ed BY jings, you kind bet l was sl1eered.
l was too skeered ter run looked at tn
cat, an he looked at me. linen lie begun
ter git up. slow-like We know, shown his
teeth an snarlin'. I jest didn' know what
ter do. But he KEEP gittin bigger n big
ger, an then up with that red bundle o.
rashuns an flung it at him as hard as
hard as / cd fling, an let out a yell fit
ter wake tn dead. / reckin he wer worse
skeered than / was, fer when l flung that
bundle he lit out inter tn woods like a
streak O. hghtnin'. Pap he heerd me yell
an come runnin' down ter see what was
tn matter. The want nothin' hurt, 'cept
the cornbread got some broke up when it
hit tn log. But, by jings was powerful
glad to see Pap"
Cy sat and chuckled over the recollection
and l knew. because he RETAINED from
any comment on the experience, that he
had another yarn to follow.
Ibid anybody ever tel We how Bill jim
kins fit tn wilcat?" was the question
which followed Cys internal agitation.
Bilrs experience being new to me, Cy pro-
| ceeded.
I'VE know that gin'rally when us mount
ing fellers goes on a bar hunt, we goes
fer high OF time bout as much as we do
fer bar. Not but that thes some fellers
that goes off alone sometimes, and someI
times the's jest couple of 'em. But
the's more fun when the's half dozen er
so. An then she's purity likely to be a
| right smart of corn likker along. Les see
hit must a been moren twenty-five years
ago. l warn't long. l never was much ter
go on them sprees. But the was more
bar in them days than the is now, an
along in the fall, alter the corn was in,
crowd Of fellers set out fer bar hunt
an a big drunk. The amt mush doubt
about the drunk, but the didn't get no
bar jest nacherly believe that the most
o. the time they wouldn't a kowed a. bar
from range hog.
"I'hey was gone about three days, an
come in late in the night. To or three of
'em was goin' ter Bills house ter sleep,
an the balance of EN- went home. The
want any of EN- no ways sober, but Bill
he was drunk'n any of 'em. AS they come
along by BINS fence, one of EN- seed
suthin a shinin' down in corner. Then
they made out it was the eye o. some kind
| O varmint a-hidin' in thar, an some of
ABE VOIt