Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-10-14
, TRUE AND THRILLING STORY
Experience of II. :. Rowe With an
Escaped Tigress IN I'm. o Of
the sicrras,

fUf experience Than tuaf WhifU II =
Rowe. If sthe Norris aud Rowe cir
Gus passed through with abe escaped
tigress. Babe. In the SHOWS Of The
sierfas last year. Yet Mr.. Rowe ts
alive to tell the tale. and he gives a
most graphic account n his adSen-
lures
We bought Babe from Jo~dan's En-
gllah Royal circus hat was touring
India and had d~isbanded. She was
two years Of age az the time and
those Who have seen her viii coin
eide with me that she IL the finest
specimen and most m~agni6cently
marked of any Royal Bengal tigress
that has ever been seen in this coun-
try.
. I received her personally at b
dock in San Francisco ana vas i'm
medlately impressed wigh Der royal
beauty. ] took the greatest Interest
IN her and we apparently became fast
friends. In the menagerie she would
gaze after me ana always seem 20
single me out from the animal keep
ers surrounding her. ! lost all
Of fear Of her and would often stroke
her head and hack as h lay in the
cage softly purrlng
She seemed SO playful and go free
from the v%iciousness Of her race,
though I well knew hat animals
% her FIX have absolutely no
Of fear. Unlike lions. they are not at
all afraid Of firearms. and ] doubt
very much n anything could Brighten
her proud spirit Two seasons ago
we were making a sunday run from
Reno. New. 20 Marysville. Cal When
IN the very heart Of The snow sheds IN
the high slerras and about a mile
from Summit, Il cage projecting over
the ends Of the car caught In the
beam Of the tunnel n before the
train could be stopped an entire fiat
car containing dens and cages. were
swept from the train. still the Jar was
not sufficient 20 awaken unaue alarm.
az wee thought that just the steps of
q car mad been swept away.
Arriving at the summit. c. l. Nor
ria ran up ahead 20 see the extent of
the damage and discovered what a
Serious wreck We had The dens con-
taining 'Bnbe." three big Siberian
bears. q den Of snalOE. pyfhuns. bulls.
etc. cpge ~ monkeys etc. were miss
ing. We Immediately made M a.
wreckine crew and with our engine
started down the mountain side. We
soon came across evidences ~ the
wrecked cages. The three bears
were partially devoured and they bore
the marks OF the iiEross, The snakes
weto an dead from the cold and the
monkeys chartered to Us from the
raftera Of the snow sheds. We knew
Babe" could not be very far away
Herbert Rumley advanced through
an opening IN the snow sheds and
came directly upon Babe sitting
upon her launches IN the snow. lie
continued TO advance. firing his pistol
but instead ot r%etreating. Babe"
came forward to meet him and Rum
iey promptly tore for a tree. We dis
cussed the situation and decided Co
bring the shifting den 20 the foot
OF the tree. pass a rope through The
den and place the other end Of the
rope In the hands af Rumley, sta
toned IN the tree top. Animals are
curious and will often initiate mems
actions. 'Habe" calmly surveyed as
al our preparations and when we be-
gan marching around tho foot 81 the
tree. she followed. As l said. ! lost
all fear or the brute. thinking she
was merely playful and would harm
no one.if she thought they were not
afraid. She followed me singly with
her eyes. as She always did In the me-
nagerie.
'To the others she appeared in
different ana l. thinking she was stlll
playful and knowing hat she was
surfeited with bear meat and did not
like the cold under her feet. started
90 walk nearer the tree. ! had ms
back TO her fw u minute and carried
nay repeating rifle VA my left hand.
when the boys Told me afterward
there was Il streak Of tawuy yellow
and black nasb through the sir and
the next moment Babe" had me
plnioued under bier. My arm contain
ing the "a was forced under my
body aud useless. fclt her hot
breath on my racc and for tine FIRST
time felt complete fear of fho brute
Joe Geislcr Wms nearest tu "nahe'
and though : hated 90 sacrifice her
ufe. fhe ffieHthul -eHee-af fear fu4t
lett mo breath enough to caIl tn Joe
O. shoot 90 kiif
Babe's feet sank ln the SNOW and
she could not seom Ca ger the hold
she wishes which wac evidently
my neck. and ] buried my face deeper
boz the tool SNOW She tfIrd 90 turn
me over. and In so doing farc ms
at.reoat b. shreds. I gave myself mp
far Host. and an the long forgotten
thoughts 81 q lifetime rose unhiIden
DAYS the pranks we played ms old