The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-09-26
3LUFFT0N BOYS
FIGHT A PANTHER.
From the Reaufort Gazette.

inc DeduiOII 1dNSllSs
Two young men of this neighbour
hood, whom we will call Jim and Dan
for short, got the idea in their heads
one night last week that they would
take coon hunt. So they repaired to
the stables and. after some search for
the horse-trappings and not being able
to locate them concluded to take it a
la Comanchie-neck, halter and bare
back They mounted, called the dogs
and started out for coons, and found
coons and more nor coons." as the
sequel will show. Success attended
and six coons were bagged in a little
while. Thinking that was fun enough
for one night the hunters started to
retrace their steps. On reaching
Palmers avenue, about two miles from
Button, the dogs struck a new scent
and let out on the back trail. Think
ing 1t was a fox trail, the boys gave
chase. After running the trail for
somewhere near three hours in "a zig
gag manner, the dogs brought the an
imal to bay in a pond on the Moor
field plantation, five miles from town.
Dismounting and making their way
through the brush and water the hunt
ers came up with the dogs circling
ground and growing in a most terrific
manner. The boys stepped back and
armed themselves with good stout
limb each, not having any firearms with
them. Jim, having a little more sand
than Dan, took the lead. He reached
out with his stick and gave the ami
NAL a punch. When he did so, the
animal sprang round and seiz-
ed the stick. The onslaught
was so fierce and unexpected
that it hurled Jim on his face, wrench
ing the stick from his grasp. The
dogs closed in and engaged the whole
of the animals attention, giving Jim
chance to regain his feet. He i'm
proved the opportunity and, rearming
himself, returned to the conflict. The
dogs backed off and were again cir
cling round and barking. The animal
singled out the largest and best fight
ing dog in the pack and sprang at him.
The dog got the best hold, as he caught
the animal by the nose, then, as the
boys said, you ought to see the hair
fly. They could not tell which was
dog or which was animal Jim, being
afraid his dog might be getting the
worst of it, watched for chance and
seized the animal by hind leg and
called Dan to catch hold of the dog.
which he was not slow in doing. The
beast. finding he had an enemy Behind,
| loosed his hold on the dog and turned
on Jim, springing for his throat. Jim
| loosed his hold of the leg and by
| jumping back and Selling the animal,
succeeded in grasping it. by 7the throat
| with both hands. Now they were roll
| ing and tumbling in the mud and wa
ter with the animal using its power to
seize Jim with its teeth and, in the
meantime, making use of its claws
| by ripping and tearing Jfm's clothes
and decorating his flesh about the legs
and thighs. Now Dan was not idle.
lHOh, no! He was dancing round in good
| Indian style, brandishing his club and
! occasionally giving vent to a whoop
| that would have made a Sioux turn
green with envy, but he was watching
| his chance and when II came he took
all the advantage and gave Mr.. Ami
NAL about two tons to the square inch
on the head with his club. That
| knocked the fight out of the animal
enough to quiet him long enough for
| Dan 20 repeat the dose. So between
| Jim, Dan and the four dogs they soon
| had it hors de combat. Jim says that
when Dan hit that first blow he was
somewhat tired, and greatly relieved.
| 1t took the combined efforts of Jim
and Dan to drag the carcass to the
dry land. 1t measured six feet and
| six inches from tip to tip, was of a
/ reddish brown color with short hair.
! Some of the old hunters pronounce it
a. catamount, while others claim 1t to
| be an American cougar or PANTHER.
We should think that the latter would
| be most likely, as the catamount is Of
| a grayish color, its hair is long, and
| it scarcely ever reaches over five feet
| in length.
Whatever it was it gave the boys a