The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-09-27
A PESsMySaF

A PESSIAfIsM.
| How fond illusions are dispelled
| AS years go fleeing by
Our good old hero, Santa Claus
He was the first to fly
Inen. one by one, receptions fed
Till nearly all we know
Is comprehended in list
Of things that aren't so.
How brave in youth we seek the truth!
And when at last tbs found,
LIS or blossom rudeIy touched
whose petals strew the ground
Inc wisdom that is Wanted most
/ BY mortals here below
| is but recognition of
me things that aren't so.
Washington Star.
| Tigers in India.
| Last year 1885 tigers, 1870 panthers
| and leopards, 1000 bears and 2OS6
/ wolves We're killed; of snakes-tlie real
/ scourge of 1ndia-no record is possible.
ana unfortunately, comparatively few
aer destroyed. However deplorabie and
costly is the taking Of human and cattle
IRE, the descent upon promising croIss
by deer and pigs and monkeys would
be even more serious to India, ana more
/ expensive to the natives, were IL not fer
tn etiger, panther and leopard TINS
| tormldabl trio of tn cat family and
practically police agricultural india
| where 1t pushes into the jungle, and
make it possible Cor the poor native TO
exist through cuitE sati., N of his fields.
80, after all. it is ues-ion whether,
! speaking very broadly tigers are not
| more beneficial than harmful. Cndoubt-
| edly the depredations of the tiger. are
| over-estimated because it is so feared
! that wherever it prowIs invariable
panic spraeds widely its discredit.
On India's last Years death list, 2,549
were credited to wild beasts; and While
| all oS these are laid up against the
tiger, panthers and wolves, especially
panthers, should oe charged with a
very considerable share. The fact is
that the panther and leopard--which,
| except as to size, are about alike in
spotted pelt and temperate as much
under estimated as the tiger is over
| estfma ted. The smaller leopard devotes
itself more largely to goats and pigs
and monkeys, while the panther attacks
| deer, gaur, cattle and man, for the pam
Their also, on occasions. becomes
| man eater and when it does it is a
4 fury Unsuitable. Partners are holder in
attack, more active and more generally
vicious than tigers; yet they inspire
nothing like such awe among the ma
| tives. Indeed, 1 have seen natives rally
to the defense of a dog, of which Loop
| ards are particularly fond, when, had
the intruder been tiger, they would
have been paralyzed into inaction by
very fear.-Caspar Whitney in 1.-THE
tober.
The MAN Eater
The "man-eater' is the jungle night
mare of India, and numerous are the
| theories to account for it's abnormal
| appetite. Commonly it is said to be
an old tiger, which has found game
| too difficult to bring down. or a sickly
tiger which has reSorted to man kill
| ing in its weakness as the easier
method. The consensus of opinion
among experienced hunters and OBJ
| servers is, however, that a man-eater
| is an ex-cattle killer which in conflict
with herders, who are often quite
! brave in the defense of their cattle, has
| discovered how much less work it is
to kill a man than cattle. for the cattle
killer is usually fat and lazy. Nothing
has been found so far as 1 have dis
| covered, to suggest appetite for human
| flesh as the impelling motive, or that
| man-eaters reject all flesh not human.
tigress inherit the man killing pro-
penSity. Rather is it a case of con-
1 tempt for man bred of familiarity,
and more often the. lust lays hold of
the tigress, very likely because in
foraging for her cubs Gas she does IN
til they begin to hunt for themselves
at seven months) and in their defense,
| she has come more frequently in con-
4 tact with man: or it may be because
| the female is more numerous than the
male, or because by nature the Slyer
and more vicious, Certainly she is a
fiend incarnate, when every second
y
two which do not move about with
| her until six weeks old; and no doubt
| her disposition is not improved by the
necessity of concealing the youngsters
from the tiger, who else would devour
them.-Caspar Whitney in 1.-THE Trail
| of the Tiger" in Outing for October.
Equal Rights.
A man from the north who recently
visited Washington became possessed
of the desire to visit Mount Vernon.
Boarding the electric train that runs
from the capital to the home of Wash
ington, via Alexandria, the visitor had
comfortably ensconced himself in one
of the rear seats of a compartment.
when the conductor tapped him on the
shoulder, saying, Excuse me, but this
compartment is for colored men,
This was the northerner's first ex-
perience in a lin Grow" car. why"
said he, surprised, 1.-The seats forward
are all occupied.
Cant help that, sir, was the reply;
you mustn't sit here
The northerner smiled. See here,
conductor" said he, I'm from the
north. and haven't the prejudice of you
people in the south. I don't mind sit
ting here with negro
maybe. you DON'T replied the con-
ductor,. but the niger might object"
-Harper's Weekly.
What He Did to Hamlet
A group of actors at the RlayeIS
club were once engaged in discussion
as to the ability and impartiality of
certain professional critics of the dra-
ma, when the late Maurice Barrymore
referred to a certain Denver journalist,
who was widely known for his dramat-
ic criticisms. Hayward said Mr..
BARRYMORE, was certainly one of the
ablest of them He wrote most learn
edIy with the keenest analysis of ev-
ery phase of the actors art, and, above
all with no little wit. I am Just re-
MINDED of what was perhaps the
briefest dramatic criticism ever penned-
It will probably outlive everything else
HAYWARD did 1t ran about as follows: