Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-03-17
A LADY LION-KILLER
A GENTLE, DIGyIFIED LITTLE wO-
MAN, MRS. A. GARDNER by NAME.
A MODERN DIANA AFTER MARRIAGE.
Her Husband Being an Enthusiastic
the Woodswomnn and Went With
Him to Stay wild Beasts.
Correspondence of the Dispatch

Correspondence of the Dispatch)
LONDON, March 1.-The lion of the
hour is lady who kills lions, and who
has had many thrilling escapes from fall
ing a victim TO her hunting ardor All
England is talking OF the bravery OF this
Diana Of to-day, by name Mrs. Alan
Gardner. by nature a reserved and rather
quiet woman who. prior TO her marriage,
no more thought OF boarding the lion in
his native jungle than OF assaulting the
| relocated sentry at the gate of Buck
| irgham Palace.
Alan Gardner, the husband OF the hero
inc OF the hunting-feld, is brother to
Lord Onslow. formerly Governor of New
Zealand. The absorbing passion OF Alan
| Gardner's life has been the killing Of big
game. and when he married the pretty
daughter OF Sir James Blyth. Baronet, he
had no intention Of changing his habits
and becoming a domesticated man. On
the contrary he proposed to introduce
| Mrs Gardner to the fiercest inhabitants
Of the widest jungle that the world con-
| tanned, and well has he carried out his
| plans.
The wife soon became as enthusiastic
| n huntress as her husband was a hunter.
She accompanied Alan TO New Zealand,
where the two cut loose from civilization
and penetrated into the remotest regions
i'm the search for game; together the two
shot lions in Somaliland; in Spain and on
the Rocky mountains the rifles of the pair
rang out. until the trophies Of the chase
that accumulated in the pretty place they
call home when i'm England comprised the
finest collections of horns and skins to be
found on the British Isles.
Thus far Mrs. Alan Gardner has come
| through her encounters with wild beasts
without a scratch Of claw or mark or
| teeth That she will always be as for
tunate is not possible. for the stories that
have been told of her intrepidity in the
hunt show that she IS absolutely fearless
when on a shooting expedition. From the
| numerous hunting episodes related by her
admiring husband, for IT is extremely
| difficult to induce Mrs. Gardner 10 talk
| OF her achievements one Is selected that
| Is especially thrilling.
The husband and wife were hunting I'm
SOmaliand O mountainous, and, for the
most part, unexplored country in the east
ern part of the African Continent.
IL is a wild place, wild in the nature
Of its formation and in the nature OF It's
inhabitants besides being given up to a
large extent 10 wild beasts. This latter
feature of the country just suited Mr..
and Mrs. Alan Gardner, and they pene-
trated into the Interior, killing small game
as they went, and looking daily for mons.
One morning they came across the
tracks Of an animal that they knew at
once could be none but the king OF
beasts. All the morning and part Of the
afternoon they followed the trail through
the densest Of African forests until at
last the odor Of decaying flesh. poisoning
the warm bright day, apprised them that
the lions lair was near. a deep growl
came threateningly from the bush near
by and Mrs. Gardner shot I'm the direc-
tiOn OF the sound. The answer was a
terrific roar that crashed through the
forest In company with the noise Of the
rifle Next instant there came flying
through the air a huge lion. with eyes
ablaze, claws outspread, and snarling
laws. 1t was a situation 20 paralyze
the nerves of a strong man, bue Mrs.
Gardner never finched or wavered. In
telling the story afterwards, Mr.. Gardner
saidi
"My first impulse was 10 shoot at the
big brute. but a quick glance at my wife
showed that she was perfectly cool, and
/ determined to let her nave the WhOle
glory Of the kill. The spring OF the lion
was a true one. and it would have gone
hard with us had Mrs. Gardeners aim
failed. | must confess that l was more
nervous than she. as she fired at the
big head with the brlstling name. The
bullet entered the lions eye, penetrated TO
the brain, and killed him instantly.
"a quick jump alone saved my wife
from being knocked down and perhaps
seriously injured By the falling mass. that
landed almost directly where she stood.
We brought the skin back with US. and il
can now be seen at our country home"
As for Mrs. Gardner. she says she had
no time to feel afraid The leap came
so suddenly that the instinct Of self-pre-
servation alone was sufficient 10 keep her
nerves strong and make her aim true.
A regularity OF the nature of this
modern Diana is the ease with which she
transforms herself from a huntress Of
wild beasts to a quiet and dignified coun-
try lady. No one is more popular at the
social functions where Mrs. Gardner is
lionized. 1t is found difficult 10 reconcile
the appearance of the modest little lady
Of the gentle face and graceful figure with
the stories Of big killing and narrow es-
canes from death in primitive forest at
the claws and teeth OF fierce beasts.