Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-05-15
LIONS OF lNoUiRINe MIND.
They Take Deep Interest In a New
African Railroad.

be watching the progress Of civiliza-
ton with deep interest, and nothing
has done more to arouse their curl
osity and wonder than the. trains on
the Uganda railroad.
NThis railroad from the Indian
Ocean to Victoria Nyanza is 5S4 miles
long, and between the terminal points
are thirty-nine stations. The line Is
managed on the system Of the Indian
railroads, and most of the men In
the track, train and station services
are East Indians.
The Indian station agent Is babu
and he leads lonesome life. Simba,
for example. where the lions have
been making special study Of the
railroad system, has only station
building. a water tank for the en-
gines and a side track, this being
one Of the places where trains pass
each other on the single track road.
The trouble began at Simba, eleven
months ago, when the traffic mana
ger at Nairobi one morning received
this astonishing telegram from the
babu at Simba:
A lion has been bothering me for
three nights. He comes up on the
station platform and goes to sleep.
Then he walks up and down and
scratches on the wall and door and
tries to get into the Office. Please
send cartridges for Snyder rife by
the first train for my protection. I
have blank cartridges. but they are
Of no use against lions.
This profound observation has the
earmarks of sober truth. Whether
the lion desires to buy a ticket or
whether fellow feeling for the lone
some babu induced him to try to cul-
tivate his acquaintance Is not known,
but 1t is quite certain that blank car
tridges were not appropriate ammu-
ton, and that ball cartridges were In
demand.
1t is to be supposed that they were
promptly supplied, but, II so, they
did not make deep impression upon
the lions. for In August another hair
raising telegram reached the traffic
manager, as follows:
August II, 1:45 a. m.
Urgent. To Traffic Manager:
A lion is on the platform. Please
Instruct guard and driver of train to
proceed carefully and to make no
signals In the yard. Tell the guard
to advise passengers not to get out
here and to, be very careful himself
when he comes into the Office.
It is not quite certain whether the
babu was chiefly solicitous for the
safety Of the guard or whether he
thought that the lion might take ad-
vantage Of the open door to come
into the office. However this may be,
the distress signal from Simba had
the Immediate result of starting a
British sportsman in that direction.
He took the next train for Simba,
and under the water tank he and the
railroad men erected a platform
about ten feet above the ground,
where the nimrod spent several days
waiting for the visitors. His patience
was at length rewarded.
The first animal he saw was a
lioness, that came walking out of the
scrub, very likely for the purpose Of
quenching her thirst at the little
stream that was leaking from the
tank. When she was within $50
feet Of the platform the hunter put
a cordite bullet into her and stretched
her on the ground. il
The hunter did not leave his perch.
for he thought that something more
would be doing. He was not mis-
taken. A little later two lions came
out of the high grass and were soon
in great mental distress over the
strange attitude of the dead female.
They kept circling about her body,
now growing, then whining. They
hit the body with their paws, and at
last began to drag it away, perhaps
with the idea of awakening her.
Just then a bullet ended the life
Of one of the brutes. and the other,
wounded by the second shot sprung
into the bush.
For half an hour the sportsman
awaited on the platform any signs
of life in the bushes, but detecting
no movement he descended from his
perch. He had hardly reached terra
firma, however, before the wounded
lion burst out of the scrub and struck
the hunter a blow with his paw,
which tore the flesh Of his arm to
the bone. The hunter was knocked
to the ground, and the lion, which
was evidently growing weaker, rolled
over on the grass and then dragged
itself back into the bush, where its
dead body was found little later.
The hunter gave up watching for
lions and sought a hospital at the
coast and the poor babu was left
again in the wilderness, not exactly
monarch Of all he surveyed. He told
the train hands every day that he
could not sleep nights and his nerves
were badly shaken.
There was nothing doing, however,
for several weeks after the great day
when three lions had been laid low
within a few rods Of the station.
Then came another nervous tele-
gram: /
Extra urgent-Track hand was
surrounded by two lions while return
ing from signal box. He climbed a
telegraph pole near the water tank.
He is up there yet. Order train to
stop there and take him aboard. The
traffic manager will please make
necessary arrangements.
The track man succeeded in reach
ing the station before relief arrived.
For several days the telegraph wire
was burdened only with routine des-
patches Then another episode was
proclaimed In the following shape:
To Guard and Driver Of Down Train:
Carriage Of secretary Is on the sid
ing, where he shot a lion just now,
and others are roaring on Makindu
side. Driver must proceed without
oi upols apd Ston anpina Onnostta STA