The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-17

dto1s went INTO II, and neTCe wiz ANIMALS
| abounded. The panther stlll lurked in the
mountain Businesses, the Canada lynx was
by no means uncommon, and there were so
many wild cats that I have heard many
a night made hideous around the drilling
camps by their yells. AS for bears, they
were so common that after we got used to
Things out there we never thought It worth
while mentioning the fact that we had
met or scared up bear in the woods.
Il had lively experience once with
panther In that region. I was driving
| through the woods over a road that had
been cut into a new territory. The road
was SO bad that it was dark long before I
got to the place where 1 was going and
| began to feel uneasy. I knew that some
driliers were at work in the woods some
| where along there, and 1 gave a shout
thinking they might hear me and take me
INTO their shanty for the night. My shout
was answered, as l supposed, by a man in
The distance. 1 repeated the call several
times and was answered each time the
answer coming from nearer and nearer
| Inc last response to my call was quite
close, and then 1t struck me that the
voice did not have much of human quail
Ivy. didn't shout again, but the voice In
the woods did, and then there was no mis-
taking it. A panther had been responding
TO my call, as is the habit of that fero-
cious and treacherous beast, and before I
could think of what was best for me to
ing on the roadside not ten feet ahead of
| my horses, which began to snort and
plunge. The next second the panther
sprang and landed square on the wagon
tongue between the horses, and there he
crouched, his eyes glaring straight at me.
me horses tried to run, but the heavy road
Luh OF StunpS and roots, prevented them
drawing the wagon at any great speed In
ther piunging about, though, they broke
loose from the wagon, and away they
went The panther chung to the tongue,
ana never moved those glaring eyes from
me. My hat and clothing were saturated
with crude Oil from working about the
pumps. In desperation I struck a match
ana set lire to my hat, waving it and
yellng at the top of my voice. The fire lit
up the scene. The panther glared at the
pIaze, ms long tail waving to and fro but
II dld not brighten him away. I threw the
burning hat at him. He jumped from the
wagon tongue, but crouched at the road
Slde, sui intent on me. Then whipped
OIL my coat and set fire to that 1 waved
IL, yelling like an Indian According to all
mad ever read about panthers, this one
should nave instantly turned and rushed
away In terror, but he was evidently not
one of the kind you read about for instead
OF neelng IN terro from the blaze he rose
IN one grand bound, passed straight
| through the fire and landed on nv chest
| with his great forepaws. Fortunately for
mat was more than the fierce beast could
stand and with shrek of pain and baf-
| ned fury he leaped from the wagon and
| bounded INTO the woods. The burning coat
caught on the brush and was torn off the
| panther but the smell of singed hair and
nesh the disappearing beast left behind in
| ulcated mat he had not got away I'M
| scathed. heard that panther's wells for
| long time, each one, however, growing
| fainter and fainter, in the distance lost
no time in hurrying on as fast as I could
| go in the darkness. had not gone far he
lore l met a couple of the drillers, who
| had heard the cries of the panther al
| though their camps was mile away and
| mad come out to see what was going on
L didn't find my horses until next day
| and never Travelled that road again at
| night.
To this day, II you should ever go over
INTO the Cherry Tree Run district Of the
! Oh creek region, you will be sure to find
| somebody who will remember how I set
! a bear on fire once in that district. and
| set two or three miles of creek on fire in
DONG 1t. You may never go over there
though, so I'll tell you about it myself
/ Folks may not know il, but bears can
SWIM Ike ducks. 1 don't know whether
they can dive or not, but If they can. nv
| bear made the mistake of his life bv NOT
diving and swimming under water from
one bank to the other of the stream he
| had ventured into. Good paying territory
| had been found and number of good
wells put down in the vicinity of Cherry
| Tree. Trout fishing was excellent In the
mountain streams of that region oil not
having yet been produced IN sufficient
| quantities along them to mingle with the
| water and spoil 1t for fishing l was an
| enthusiastic trout fisherman, and one dav
| in June a fellow operator and I went for
a days fishing almost to the headwaters
Z n n he2 1nan
into Cherry Tree Run. 1t had got along
toward dark by the time we had fshed
! down to the mouth of the creek We vera
| loaded down with trout, and about as
nearly tired out as two vigorous young
fellows could well be- In fact. we were
so near tuckered out that We concluded
to camp at the mouth of the creek for the
| night rather than trudge the three miles
| that lay between there and our shanty At
ter hearty trout supper we built a big
camp fire and lay down on the ground near
1t to sleep. The fire threw a glare clear
across Cherry Tree Run, which was wide
| and deep there.
II wasn't long in falling asleep. never
knew what woke me, but woke some time
In the night suddenly and wide. The camp
fire was still burning brightly and as I
lay there looking at the broad pathway
OF light it cast across the Run, 1 saw the
water where the light rested upon 1t sud-
aware that some big object was swimming
the stream and coming directly toward
where was lying. 1t was a spooky sort
of situation and, to tell the truth. 1 was
scared; so much so that couldn't stir I
lay there scarcely daring to breathe, with
my eyes fixed intenuy on the approach
ing object. 1t pulled deliberately across
the stream, and by and by reached our
shore, where 1t crawled out of the water
| and up the bank. Then I discovered that
1t was an enormous bear. He paused a
moment and then moved toward the camp
fire either prompted by bear curiosity or
attracted by the scent of our trout, bears
being particularly fond of trout
''The spot where we had camped wasn't
more than twenty feet from the Run. The
appearance of the big bear and his impu-
dent advance upon our camp broke the
spell that held me. 1 sprang to my feet.
grabbed blazing stick from the fire, and
hurled it at the approaching animal who
was then almost within arms reach of
me. The brand struck the hear IL 7 La1