Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-10-10
lions bark every night but have
pavar eaau him ~--.-


It is a fact that most tigers are
exceedingly inoffensive. AS rule no
human being can have a fight with
IA tiger unless he seeks 1t.
We might think that the maneater
Is among the lordliest and most
courageous Of his kind, but this Is
not the case. The young and strong
among beasts of prey prefer to kill
wild animals or subsist upon the cat
tie or dogs of the Indian ryot.
1t Is most likely to be the old and
enfeebled, whose legs are losing their
strength and whose teeth are worn
nearly to the roots, that suddenly
make the discovery that 1t is even
easier to kill man than wild
beast The testimony on this point
lis conclusive both in Asia and Africa.
Mr.. Brass says that as a rule the
maneating tigers are aged animals
that are no longer able to follow
their accustomed prey. Driven by
hunger, they attack man and soon
acquire the habit Of preying upon
him exclusively until their career is
stopped, as 1t usually is, by bullet
or a trap. The maneater Is as
cowardly as he is cunning and will
flee before an armed man, discrimi-
mating with wonderful sagacity be-
tween him and the helpless cattle
herder or native woman.
Such vigorous war has been waged
upon maneaters in India that in
large districts they seldom come to
notice. In fifteen years there has
been only one Of great fame in My
sore.
He was known as the Benkipoor
tiger and for a few months he caused
great loss of life. The government
offered a large reward for his de-
struction, and after a number Of
tigers had been shot and brought
forward as the maneater. the real
Simon pure. a lame old male. was
slain and the killing of men suddenly
ceased.
White men are now quite numer-
Gus in tropical Africa, to which the
lion is chiefly confined. Wherever
one or more Of the animals degener-
ates into a maneater a grand hunt,
led by a few whites, Is at once or
ganized and nothing else Is done or
thought Of till the criminal Is de-
stroyed.
No one has a moments peace un-
til this perpetual menace Is put out
Of the way. II a native Is compelled
to go out into the jungle he feels
that he Is taking his life In his hands.
A rustling leaf or a bird moving
in the underbrush sets even a white
hunters heart beating with a sense
of danger. The bloodthirsty monster
may be sleeping miles away beside
the remains Of his last victim. but
the rapidity and uncertainty Of the
maneater's movements intensity the
dread he causes.
While 1000 East Indians were
building the Uganda railroad under
the direction of about 100 English
men, three maneaters suddenly caus-
ed a suspension Of work for a fort
night. Four of the coolies were
seized at their work and dragged
into the jungle.
On the evening Of the first attack
two white men were sleeping In a
freight car with the door open, for
the night was hot. A lion leaped in
to the car and bore off one Of the
men, whose half eaten body was re-
covered next day. Not till every lion
In the district had been hunted to
death was work resumed.
The chief food of the African leop-
ard is monkeys and the smaller ante
lopes, but now and then one turns
maneater He Is then regarded as
even more dangerous than the lion,
for he turks in the branches Of the
trees, hidden amid their foliage, and
drops upon his unsuspicious victim
who is following the path beneath.
The fact that individuals among
these most formidable Of the beasts
sometimes include men in their cate
cory of food supplies only intensifes
the war that is being waged upon
them all. The whites who know
them in their native wilds say the
day Is not far distant when they will
be seen only in the geological gar
dens and the museums.