The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-03-29
'PAllVT'.El|RiLAyE.
.....DAR.l||]N|CLA LAD.
Incident Il 81 Of \ Many Years Ago
Recalled by d Death.
NERVE SHOWN BYTNO MEN

|
NERVE. SHOWN. BY'TWO MEN.
| Entered Dan Of Panther Armed Only
With a Torch and I Rifle Of the
n Old Style and Killed the 81
Mrs. Phoebe Lane eighty years old,
Monday, March 23d.s Her death recalls
an incident wherein were shown the most,
| recklcss daring and the most remarkable,
exhibition Sof nerve since the time when
Israel Putnam bearded q wolf in it, den
Indeed, that incident is tame by compnri-
son. as the sequel will show. y N Al 81
Several years before tho breaking out
OF the, civil war hunter. Jonathan
Adams. struck tho trail Of an animal IN
/ Big Hollow, two miles from tho present
Village Of Long Eddy, N. that ne
thought must be a bear. Judging BY its
tracks I'M the slowly melting, first track
ling snow OF the season. until. In cross
ing his track, he discovered he was be-
Ing followed by the same animal. ne
|. then knew no had been traili ng. ana WIS
now being trailed. by d very i8 large
panther, tho most cautious, Gu inning and.
vicious animal 5of the forest. As night
was rapidly approaching he " deemed It
prudent to turn his footsteps homeward,{
while carefully watching for his pur.;,$
suer,3 hoping to- get q shot ut him ere u
grew too dark for q safe aim. The next
day, with his brother iliam and q dog,
the hunt was SS5 continued, Ss T hey a soon
drove the animal TO cover IN his den in5
a cave at a. ledge near the head of the
Hollow. They thought TO drive him out
never hunted before and & refused to
tackle It, III n s.s2 a5 3 }
panther from his lair. But he seemed to
have no objection to smoke. for after
spending several hours In building fires
sinsthe entrance to the cave the animal
showed no signs Of discomfort. Getting
a quantity Of brimst one they burned that
with no better effect. They then rea-E
soned that the panther could retreat al
long distance or that * the smok 8 was
taken up I'M the Screvlces OF the rocks
and they must devise some Their means ans
of capture. W It'll rs large rocks as they
could handle, they literally walled him
IN and returned home, telling their neigh-S
sbors OF their adventure. and that at 10
% clock 4 the n ext & day they would con- %
8tinue their forts to kill the animal
A BIN u 4StdOI, Sspsi
Jonathan Adams was the best shot. In
tho dark, IN the country. He could snufti
candle nine times in j ten md never
missed ii d eer when stalking them by
torchlIght at q pond. He a said y to his
brother. II you will 90 with me and
carry n torch 30 Its light will constantly
shine on my gun barrel, we will go into
Having implicit confidence in s S his
Sbrothers ability to do this, William as-
scented and a suitable torch was pres
pared. 53{ hi 5i8.{ i;E$
AT the appointed time It was astonish-
Ing to see what a crowd a thinly settled
country could produce on short ! notice..
The news had spread Sin every direction
for miles. Il Of men, young men and boys
by the score, all armed with implements
of defense. rifles, shotguns, axesT hatch
cts, and even pitchforks, accompanied
with several dogs, awaited the coming of
the Adams brothers. brief consultat-
stion was held but an mphatic protest
was made by the old men to the Adams
plan OF procedure. II the animal were
wounded instead Of killed at the first
shot, there could DO no second Is As there
was but one barrel to his rife It meant
the death8of one, II not both. men. Well,
they replied, II you have a better plan,
drive the animal out. Very we'll. let him
try 1T. The entrance was opened aand
the deg sent In. In less than five minutes
he returned with his scalp 81 as neatly
eliminated as though done by a redskin.
ONE SHOT,
Il The torch was lighted and tho Adams
brothers commenced their peri ous jour-
either. Jonathan knew he could kill the
panther. and William was sure he would,
IT was q singular coincidence that their
grandfather served in the war of the Rev
,olutonS under Israel Putnam These men
possessed nerve equal to that famous
which they crawle don their hands and
knees the walls OF the cave 3 narrowed
down abruptly to less than half Its size,
just within this smaller cavern lay the
panther, intently watching the APPROACH
Ing torch, his eyes shining like two large
diamond as he dashed his sides with his
tall. Both men saw him at the same In
slant and paused. Jonathan took DELHI
crate aim and fired. At the click OF the
trigger both men began a hasty retreat,
AS they neared theNentrance an excited
outsider shouted Here comes the pan-!
ther!'s and ran. followed by the crowd.
Many stumbled and fell headlong in their
crazy flight. IN a few blankey explosives
from the Adams brothers restored their
and stopped the stampede, Two
men volunteered to 20 into the cave and
They soon returned, report
Ing that as the entrance to the inner
cavern was too small to admit them, they
could glve8no In formation saa to the con-
dillon OF the panther. S
2s LADS PLUCK,
53jsWhereupon a small lad but fifteen years
old, tying q rope to one ankle, to be- held |
tnut by the outsiders and pulled back
quickly at signal given by him, IL
no found the animal too dangerous to APP
proach, with a torch In one hand and a
In the other, started into the cav
ern to investigate, saying II a large dog
could get to the panther he could. He
found 1T dead. the ball from Adams rifle
having entered Its eye and passed out
the opposite side OF its head, Tying the
rope about Its neck and giving the agreed
upon signal, the dead animal was Quickly
hauled out. while no followed at his leis-
ire, Upon his appearance no was ustllyt|
cheered as the hero Of the occasion. but
tho two men who had preceded him were
luIte crestfallen when told there was
room enough for the largest man present
10 pass into the panther,s den. It was
kr,a1 Of Ind nd hal n