The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1899-02-13
CLAWED BY A TIGER.
a FEARFUL EXPERIENCE IN THE
WlLOS OF BURMA.

'A-''A At'h'iAf MUNSTER
Burma was most disturbed country
from 1852 till 1856 | had my share OF
rough work for was detailed to survey
and explore the country with view tc
opening it out by roads, writes Henry
Stone in The Wide World Magazine.
was quite young and owed my posi-
tion to my knowledge Of surveying and
civil engineering, which 1 had learned nt
school at Woolwich l was surveying
line for road between Prone and Ran.
gun ! cannot give details, as | have not
my diaries by me, but one day some viii
layers came to ask me to shoot some ele
plants that were destroying their dhan
(paddy ficlds)
asked them if the herd was a large
one. They said yes, but that If the two
ringleaders, who looked like twins, were
killed the rest would go back quietly into
the yOmahs.
was not particularly busy that day, SO
! agreed to go out. | had "a long trudge,
and, sure enough, I came on the two in
separables and accounted for them both.
But the day was overcast We strayed
erutically. Finally night came on, and
our men acknowledged that they did not
ought to have mentioned that Moung
Goung Gee, an independent warrior, hall
soldier and wholly "a dacot, was in arms
at this time and appeared here and there
from time to time, Wherever he met our
troops he was defeated, Of course, but as
rule he only attacked outlying towns, tor
turing the people and leyying blackmail
wherever possible His whereabouts, how
ever had not been heard of for some time.
and as There WIS no hope of our getting
back to my headquarters we lit fires and
composed ourselves to sleep
| suppose IL was between . a. m and 3
a. m. when we were sayagcly awakened,
and before we knew for certain whether
the whole thing was fantastic dream OF
not VIC were securely bound and taken off
to Goung Gees headquarters, about six
miles off.
We had an interview with him next
morning He said he had long wanted to
catch sahib Of the detested English and
would mcte out to me a punishment so ter
rible that it would effectually prevent 9th
ers from wandering into his country. As
for those with me, he said they had been
warned what their fate would be if they
assisted the kala-logue.
He ordered them off for instant torture
L
horrors that followed. Their memory is a
horrid nightmare TO this day,
About p. m l was walked off a good
six or eight miles through dense jungles
reviled and tortured more or less the whole
way, and at length found myself stripped
and thrust into trap prepared for tiger
"a bamboo arrangement of simple con-
struction My jailers were needlessly
brutal and abused me in every way, hop
ing I'd like the treatment l should meet
from the man eating tiger which hOvered
about near where the trap had been spe-
cially laid
But previously, while a prisoner and
tied to a tree, a Karen girl had, at the
risk of her life, given me a little water,
and l begged of her to send some one hur-
riedly to Captain D'Oyly, who was camped
a few miles off, to hurry to my rescue.
The trap was one of those usually erect
ed for tigers in Burma. 1t was long,
rectangular, boxlike structure made of
bamboos. The portion set aside for the
/ bait was only just large enough for me.
! crouched there dumbly, half dazed with
| horror and quite unable to realize my
fearful position.
1t was Christmas eve, and the weather
very chilly-for Burma. l offered large
] DElteS 10 lily tuSlDulduS 10 lGb lub toCtp5i
| but they only scOtfed at me.
How slowly did the hours pass. The
| cold was bitter, but l must have dozed off
/ all the same, for ! remember being awak-
/ ened by a clammy something crawling
/ over me. My heart leapcd into my mouth.
| 1t was only a rock snake, however, creep
/ ing through the bars and seeking an exit
somewhere. Oh, the ghastly loathsome-
ness Of feeling that cold, creepy reptile
/ gliding over my poor, palpitating body
thanked God when the snake found an
outlet somew here and disappeared.
But shortly afterward the crOwning hor'
rOr came / heard soft footballs first and
then something shifting round the trap
There could be no doubt that it was the
man eater. My heart nearly burst, l was
kept in agony for fully ten minutes, anC
then the beast evidently found the door
for he entered and l heard the door fall
There was a partition of bambOOs between
| him and me, but l anticipated that hi
| would soon demOlish that and then teal
me to pieces as lay huddled up helplessly
1t appeared afterward however, tha
the Karen girls brother had been forced
TO erect the trap and had made the parti
tion of male bamboos Of great strength.
In the darkness 1 could see the great
luminous, wistful eyes of the man eater
The fearful brute finding he could no
get in to me, began to insert his paw
gently, but 1 crept up to the outer bars
and then he could barely reach me. II
did succeed, however, in giving me clay
or two ON my back and buttOck
As he smelled the blood he began t.
gnaw at the bars and would doubles
have made short work of them but ther
was a sudden glare Of torches, confuseI
murmur, and then / felt the worst hal
passed.
The Karen girl, with ten Of the Sikh
out of the 20 which formed my bodyguard
|. came up and bayoneted the tiger, who wa
caught-literally like a rat in a trap. Fir
they dared not as they were only coupl
of miles from GOung Gees camp The
released me-more dead than alive-froI
my living tomb and then improyised
hammock out Of native blanket and cal
ried me to my camp.
En- route l met D'Oyly, who, with
strong force Of regulars and irregulari
was fastening to my rescue. He was dc
lighted 10 see me free and hastened on 1
the hope Of surprising the dacoit leadGl
, The latter, however, was too well serve
and had decamped before my friends al
rived.
/ lay between life and death for 81
weeks, for the shock to my system, a
p well as the exposure to the cold chills of
! December night had brought on sever
attack of fever. But 1 was truly thanh
ful for my seemingly miraculous oscar
fv,t,, tb,f man aafor hpun I ri1at uUdf