The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-10
BIG PANTHER VANlSHES.
LAST APPEARANCES OF 4 TERROR or
THE ARKANSAS BOTTOMS

| Il guessed We killed at our camp the biggest
panther that was ever killed in Arkansas' said
the man from Arkansas as he put his gisS down
| on the table
| Il don't know about that said another Of the
party. 1--we killed some pretty big ones myself
in my day. How big was he?-
Il don't know exactly" said tho frst man.
we never got chance 70 measure him. Every
body in the bottoms, though said he was the big
gest ever seen in those parts"
Well now. it's funny you didn't measure him
when he 90 big" said the other panther killer.
did you shoot him yoursolf?"
Well not exactly" said the man from Arkansas.
Tho fact In no was 90 big that he was killed with
dynamite"
BY this time the man from Arkansas had COM
pieeiy lost the confidence Of the party around the
table and this last statement was greeted with
laugh, Nevertheless several OF them said together
| Tell US about IL Did you have dynamite gun
| over in the swamps?"
WELL" said the Arkansan- at was this way.
was working in a lumber camp over In the bottom
and the talk Of the whole camp was the big panther
hadn't been there two hours before heard some
fellow say something about Big Tom, and just
supposed Big Tom was one Of those swamp angels
that are handy with Winchester and don't take
any talk from anybody. Bull found out that Big
Tom was tho nAmo they had given 70 . panther
that was roaming around in that noighborhood
never could learn Just why they called him Big
Tom, and never could find out Just how big he
was One Of the natives that had tent and
some lines and nets over on the lake pretended
to have seen Tom and he said the critter was the
biggest ever seen in Arkansaa They don't have
80 many OF them now as they used TO over there.
Before the ievees were built they could stay in the
woods the year round, but the ievees
coming further and further down the river and
going higher and higher 90 that where there was
place for the water 70 got through II made a big
lake out Of the whole country and either drowned
out the big game or drove II Oil 70 the ridges That
was the reason everybody supposed Big Tom was
newcomer This fellow over on the lake said
he shot at Tom and hit him. but guess he was
like all those other fellows In Arkansas: they
never will admit that they have wasted bullet
People kept coming into The lumber camp and
telling us about Big Toms killing their pigs and
whata terror he was to the country. know Tom
must have been mighty bold or he would never
have shown himself 70 so many people He would
go anywhere there a shotc or anything else
fat and juicy TO eat II he had 70 walk rightinto a
mans cabin. One day two little girls were out in
the brush near their cabin picking blackberrics
when ono EN- sees something yellow looking in
the bushes Before she had time 70 boiler big
panther walks right out into the clearing, looks
at them, opens his mouth and howis and then
turns around as much as to say now 60 tell your
pa about il and walks back into the brush The
two little girls were scared out of seven years
growth and they didn't have any more black
berry pie in that house that summer II was
Big Tom, and the little girls said he was as
long as dugout though l guess they were too
badly scared TO have their senses about en-
Funniest thing. though was the number OF times
that boast was shot at There wasn't man in
the bottoms that didn't say he had put bullet in
him and II he carried EN- all in his CARCASS he must
have been weighted with about hundred pounds
OF lead and no piece Of IL bigger than Winchester
bullet The keeper Of the fishing clubs house
over on the lake came near getting him once in a
bear trap lie saw his trap had snapped but
there wasn't anything in IL When he got UP
close he saw something lying on the ground about
three inches long and covered with hair. There
was little blood on the Jaws Of the trap but few
hairs was all they had got Everybody agreed
al once that this was piece OF Big Toms tail and
in few days fellow turned up that swore he had
seen Big Tom and that the end Of his tail was gone
we fellows at the lumber camp let Tom alone
as long as hele us alone. Our cook had fat shoc
in pen at the camp that he was going TO kill |
Just as soon as the weather got good andt we were
expecting frost every night One night heard
something moving outside sleeping quarters |
and thought somebody must be after our shote. |
got up and without striking light pulled open |
the clapboard shutter that served for a window |
and looked out in the direction of the pigpen. |
The moon was shining and there saw panther !
That looked to me as big as well, won't say |
for you wouldn't any Of you believe me- II was |
the biggest beast I've ever seen in the woods and |
I've spent my life In them. And in his bloody Jaws
he had our shote. II was Big Tom, there was no
doubt about that He was the only panther in
Arkansas that would come into our camp and
\ t,,.t
toes to corner to get my rife. when Tom looked
up and saw me He divod into the brush but he
carried the shote with him. and bet he stopped
not hundred feet from the camp and ate il
THE next morning told tho boys about what
had seen when the cook walked up with the
intelligence that the shote was gone. We decided
that we would organize panther hunt for that
very evening and hunt Big Tom to his lair We
got together all the natives in the bottoms near U.s.
for some Of them thought they could locate the
beast
Our camp was way of In the woods, but we
had tramroad running from the railroad to the
mill and the handcar came over every evening
after meeting the train. We were Just getting
ready to start when tho came The foreman
had been to Memphis and he brought back a quar-
ter of beef and some dynamite You see We had
to build some more tramroad In order 70 get at the
timber and we had struck kind OF mound of birt
that was the toughest thing I've ever seen. TWAS
like that buckshot soil that they face
the levees with, only II was tougher We had to
get through il some way or stop work at the mill
1t would turn any shovel that was put into it, and
when you stuck pick into il you felt like you had
the pick in piece of rubber. II you cut It with
an axe the cut would close up before you could
raise the axe again. We lost weeks time on il,
and then the foreman decided to blow his way
through ID with dynamite and an ha aet oH 10