The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1898-03-03
Big Hunt For Strange and FerOciOus
Animai-The s.Varmint' Captured
But Not Amid Rejoicing.


4 most amusing and exciting incident
! occurred near old Skater a few days
ago The report was circulated in the
| neighbOrhood that there was z danger
| Ously vicious animal OF some sort at
| large and that it was perllOus for women
! and children to go from home alone.
| Some said i. WAS n bear, Others thought
| from its track that it was wolf.
| All agreed, however. that the situation
was alarming, as depredatlOns OF
| startling character had been committed.
| A cOIored mans premises had been i'll
| vaded bv the beast and four stout cur
| puppips were killed and eaten. The mon
| ster had been seen at night time on sew
eral occasions on the premises OF one OF
the neighbors. People became excited
and alarmed at the astounding reports
| that had gained cremation 1t was
| thought it was necessary tor the prOtec-
| ton OF the community that Immediate
| steps be taken to get rid OF this terrible
| crpa turp
so the men for several miles around
with dogs guns aud n full supply OF am
| munition met ut the house said to be
most frequently visited by the dreaded
animal A more determined and brave
set OF men never met # their utterances
were to be received as evidence of this
! fact After maturing their plans an q
| each man making IL solemn vow to
stand firm in case Of Il desperate conflict
with the much dreaded monster, IL young
| aud trusty uIan was stationed IA SeutI-
| mel to give the alarm ii hpanimal should
| come Then they retired into the hOuI,
! with dogs and guns to await develop
| mentS and keep warm, as the night was
| perhaps one of the coolest OF the season
In the meantime Their. We're other per
sons who We're at work and planning Tor
much fun They procured ii guanO bag
| and formulated tn" shape OF an animal
about the ~iz' uf an ordinary dog, and 10
carry ont their plans took it to Il body
of woods about half IL mile away,
climbed a large tree and fastened the tic-
ticious monster on the top of large
limb high up. They then took a rag
saturated with spirits OF turpentne,
rubbed the body Of the tree with it, aud
by means of ii string attached they pro-
cpeded to take it through the woods i'll
various directions finally coming up
near the house where the men were wait
| ing in excited anticipation
The Young man placed on guard was
fully in the secret. He gave the alarm
by firing his gun and yelling a a furious
rate, calling Justify for the braves in the
| house to come out and give pursuit.
| The dogs were soon in full cry on the
track made by the turpentine rag. They
We're vocferOusly encouraged and excite
ment ran high; soon they were at the
tree, the dogs acting their part well. The
small army OF men were quickly on the
scene ready to do and to die if necessary
for the protection Of the women and chill
drcn OF the neighborho od from this anda-
ciOus animal which had presumed to
| create SO much terror.
They proceeded with caution before
| making the attack, as they thought it
Wise not toget too near the tree lest the
devilish animal jump out upon some OF
them and do them up. Seeing, as they
supposed, ;he object of their pursuit Sc
curely crouched on Il large limb high up
the tree, the command was given and
the shooting commenced. For an hour
or more the woods and country around
reverberated with the sounds of the rapid
firing of breech loading guns
A halt was called and a council Of war
was held. The monster had not been
brought down as had been anticipated.
One brave fellow ventured the opinion
that he was dead and volunteered to
climb the tree to determine the matter.
While ascending tue tree for investiga
ton he passed hollow. Thinking per
haps there might be squirrels in it he ig
nited a match and dropped it in the hole,
pursuing his Journey upward, soon to be
startled by the blaze of raging fire,
the result of his indiscretion in dropping
the lighted match in the hole.
The situation at this juncture was
quite lnteresting-a raging fire below
and that terrible animal above; the
70 10 T..
himself from the unenyiable position.
His friends called to him to Jump out,
but this was perilOus underta king,
so he hesitated to take the risk. One
gentleman feeling acutey the res pons-
bilty OF the alarming state of affairs,
called to him to pray, but his response
was that he didn't know how. The fire
rapidly increasing below caused him
to solve the problem. Calling to his
friends he said pile up the leaves and
hold the dogs for am coming" Fortu-
nateIy for his safety the tree was thickly
set with limbs which impeded his
downward progress, and served to
break the force of the fall. He landed
safely with no material in Jury outside Of
a good shake up.
Another trouble was now to be met e.
The dogs already in Il high state of ex-
element broke loose and for a time
matters looked bad and excitement ran
high, for they pounced upon the unfort-
innate fellow putting in their work in
earnest. However, they were choked off
by their owners and order was restored
1t was found that no special damage had
been done to the adventurous gentleman,
only his coat collar had been nearly torn
OF by a vigorous and vicious eur and
some marks of his teeth were seen about
his neck, while his pants and lower ex-
tremities had suffered from an attack OF
another cur aided by several noisy and
excited attributes in the form OF lnOngrel
| fee.
On recovering from the shaking up he
had received from the fall and the dogs
it was found that he was not at all salts
fed in his mind as to the character Of
the monster up the tree. He had seen
the large spots on him and witnessed
significant movements of his tail. At
this statement excitement again ran
high. A consultation was held, partic
pated in by all present. Upon mature
deIiberation it was decided to procure an
axe and cut the tree down. which was
done, but no one was found willing to
risk his person in the bOughs OF che fallen
tree.
| linen IL was tfldt EOungSter VINO was
in the secret volunteered to investigate
the situation provided the men with
the guns would stand firm and protect
him should he meet with trouble iE this
, venture. Imagine what a sickly looking
crowd there was when the young man
triumphantly came out with the spotted
guano bag "animal' with its ponderous
tail nearly shot Off and its cloth hide
ridted by buck shot
I Thus ended the celebrated hunt which
will long be remembered by the people
OF that vicinity.
The primary object aud reason for the
origination OF the story that there was
"a dangerous animal at large was simply
to brighten Anew over anxious individuals
Unexpectedly, however, the fright spread
like the contagion of measles and Iarg,