The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1901-08-11
AN ANGRY LEOPARD.
Tried to Escape on Board ship and
Scared the Crew Badly.

with the arrival of the British steame
Bucentaur, which lay off Quarantine YES
teroay, inward bound from Calcutta, cam
the news OF novel experience of sea
1arlnS life and the story of a DANCE
Whlch the ordinary seaman ought to re
Joice does not fall within the list of thos,
which he usually is called upon to face
Inc presence of a loose leopard would b,
rnwelcome enough in any company, bu
to have the fierce brute breaking out OF
his cage on board ship on a dark night
must be even more trying to the nerves.
Captain and crew of the Bucentaur put
IN strenuously busy hour before they
had the animal once more safely secured
and the ship carpenter next day was 90,
| to work on a cage which should be sub.
1 stantial enough to permit all to sleep in
| peace.
! The leopard in question, which appears
| to be little the worse for his long voyage
save in temper, is a splendid specimen.
/ He is consigned to a Mr.. Burke. of Phila-
delpl ia. and detailed instructions were
given for his care when he was put on
board. Among other delicacies thirty-five
live goats were shipped for his benefit of
which, it may be mentioned, only five re-
manned last night.
that reused his appetite or whether il
was the nasty dip of the open sea that
turned his stomach the first night out,
the leopard grew more and more restless
as the shore dropped astern.
The cage in witch he had been sent
down from up country was fimsy af-
fair, knocked together by natives, but the
captain of the Bucentaur, Newman. was
assured that the bamboo bars were ex-
traordinariiy tough, and that, as it had
brought the huge animal so far, it could
ne trusted to hold him safely throughout
the voyage
The men were careful, however. to sat
isfy their curiosity at distance and not
TO go too near the cage. AS the night
wore on the brute kept up a continual
howhng, and all attempts to quiet him
seemed only to rouse his fury The YES
sci was pitching good deal, and there
was cry OF alarm the leopard sud
denly either fell or flung himself against
the front of his cage. The bars Welded.
but did not break; but now the brute was
fighting mad
All the men off duty quickly gathered
around, and the animal began to tear at
the woodwork, ripping off great spIinters
with his claws. II was seen that some
thlhg soon would give way If he was left
to himself, and an attempt was made to
peat him back into a corner where the
cage was set into the angle of a bulk
head But the Pickering lights and the
men around him and the noise of the
wind and sea had goaded the animal to
frenzy. ~
The cage was roomy, since no other
space could be allotted TO him for ex-
ercise on board, and he romped around
it VI Iousiy, irving again and again TO break
loose through a weak spot Every man |
VINO could be spared was called forward |
10 Iend hand IN binding on planks and |
spars to stinen the sides Of the cage n |
was no pleasant task making cross pieces (
secure and Tightening ropes close mn |
Withln reach Of those murderous claws |
the owner of which threatened to be out |
among them at every minute; but at |
iensth the last Knot was tied. and the |
prison. Even the goats bleated more
freely when the work was done, and an |
nands were piped aft for grog-New York
Press. IA