davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06

side, and it was evident that some
thing was attacking our donkeys. 1t
was pitch dark, and we fired several
shots in the direction of the sound
before we discovered that the attack
ing beasts were hyenas. We did not
mind having donkey killed instan-
taneously by lion, but we had not
bargained for the poor beasts getting
mauled by hyenas, so taking a lamp
we went out to see what had hap
pened My donkey had got off with
a nasty bite in the hollow of the hind
leg above the hook, and we had him
taken into the camp at once. The
other was completely disembowelled
and must have been killed instantly.
We could not find any dead hyenas,
but we were pretty sure that Ons or
two must have been hit. Seeing that
if the lions did come to the dead don
key there would not DE much chance
of hitting them on so dark night,
we pulled the carcass right under the
skerm or fence round the camp. and,
to prevent hyenas dragging it away,
tied a rope to one of it's legs, and
passing it over the fence, fastened it
to a heavy water barrel inside the
camp. We sat up for bit and got
few shots at hyenas, and then we
went to bed, telling the sentry to keep
sharp lookout and to let us know if
lions came to the carcass.
Some time after 1 awoke to find
Abdullah bending over me, with my
rifle in his hand. He was frightfully
excited, and all could get out of him
was 'Libah, sahib, libah!" ("Lion, sir,
lion!") Jumping up l rushed out just
as my companion fired two shots into
the darkness. The first thing l saw
when l got to where he stood was that
great piece of the skerm round the
camp had disappeared, leaving a
broad gap. / could not for moment
think what had happened, and then it
struck me that when the carcase had
been dragged away the water barrel
must have got hitched against the
inside of the interlaced mimosa
boughs and the whole lot had gone to-
gether. 1t was frightfully dark out
side, and we stood peering out for
some time without being able to dis
tinguish anything; but after a few
minutes we could hear something
tearing at the flesh quite close by.
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06

I shot, but so badly that l wasted
seven bullets at different ranges
without touching her. The first six
did not seem 10 annoy her at all, but
the last hit the ground just under her
teeth, and either the bullet so close,
frightened her or stone hit her, for
she sprang off with snarl and
flourish of her tail and, putting on the
pace, in minute or two ran clean
away from us. l was terribly disap-
pointed and annoyed with myself, and
l thought of course. that everything
was over for the day after all this
shooting; but Abdullah, who was al
most weeping, hardly gave me time
to get my wind a little before he
rushed me back again. AS we ran
round the place where we had first
seen the lioness, fine lion appeared
walking slowly out of another thicket
and plunged thorugh an opening in the
bushes to our right. We ran round an
outstanding bush to head him if he
broke out, and met a lion facing us. Just
as l fired l heard a moan to the right,
so was sure it was not the same lion.
This one staggered away at the shot
and fell stone dead close by.
Death of the Jungle Lord.
Abdullah cali ID up jana and the
pony boy, and they soon had the hide
off and tied on the pony. I thought
all the time that Abdullah knew all
about the other one, but as he seemed
to be going right home. asked him if
we had not better go and look for it,
and he replied that it was the same
lion all the time, and that | had
missed it the first shot. l did not feel
quite sure about it myself, but the
moan in the bushes could only have
come from a wounded beast, so told
him we had better go and look any
way He evidently thought it was
waste of time, but when we got back
to where the lion had been hit we
soon found some blood, and going
quietly down little path between the
''irgin' bushes we came round cor
ner almost on top of the lion. He was
stone dead. | was very pleased at
scoring off Abdullah, as he had shown
such evident disgust at my shooting.
We met one of our party on our way
back to camp, and told him he might
run across the lioness if he followed
our track back to the place We had
come from. An hour after we got
back to camp he came galloping up,
having seen two lions, curiously
enough both males, and had shot one
with a better name than either of
mine.
1 have at another time described
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06
Reading the Lion Tracks.

Abdullah still insisted that there
had been lions round the camp, and
a little later we found the spoor of
one big lion by the body of the half
eaten hyena. The ground was very
stony and there were no other tracks
to be seen, but one lion could hardly
have dragged the donkey and heavy
barrel away so quickly, so there were
probably more. The other hunters
had got hold of a man at the village
who said he knew where the lions
always lay, so they went with MIN.
Soon after they left. Abdullah, who
had been hunting about, came and
told me that he had picked up the
track of one lion on soft ground a lit
tie way from camp, and that we ought
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06

sits bolt upright, turns its dreadful
looking face on its tormentor and
shoots out of the top of each horn a
waving scarlet, sting-like thread
AS rule the enemy retreats in gre at
fright, believing it is about to re
bounced upon, bitten and stung to
death. Yet, in sober truth, the artful
caterpillar is practicfng bluff. It's ter
rible face is a false alarm" fer it can
not bite or sA<ike nard enough to in
flict a wound, ~ the two sting-like
scarlet ts--eads wave about in the air
without Ell T'-7 any poison.
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06
PeriIS of the Man Eater.

My first experience in tracking lions
was early in 1892, and the night be-
fore was rather an exciting one. After
hunting elephants unsuccessfully for
about a month, we were on our way
south, when we arrived one day at
some villages where the natives had
been very much bothered by five lions
which were said to be still in the
neighborhood. A girl had been killed
two days before, and an enormous
amount of damage had been done
among the sheep and cattle. The first
day we camped there two of our party
had shooting zerebas made at the viii
lage to which the lions generally
came, and just before sunset they
went off there.
l tied up our two donkeys just out
side the camp, on the chance that the
lions might come and look us up. Just
after dark we were having dinner in
the tent when there was scuf1e out
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06

leads a life Of incessant bluff. While
very tiny, it looks just like an ant.
Later on in life. when it is too big
to pretend to be an ant any longer, it
takes to sitting on leaves with its hid
eous brown head and its bullying tail
stuck upright over its back and its
front legs projected forward in such
an attitude Of menace that spiders and
ichneumons dare not venture near.
"That must be dragon" they would
say if they could speak. IF go near
it it will surely tear me to pieces" Yet,
if they had the sense to look a little
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06

The thousand-leg is another defense
less creature that relies on bluff. In
this case all the bluff is in it's ugly
legs. Considered as legs, they are
weak, ungainly limbs, easily broken
and frequently in the creatures Why
when it tries to crawl through crev-
ices.
But all the world is afraid of those
legs. Girls and boys run away from
them, and every insect thinks that it
must be an uncommonly ferocious and
terrible bug to have such frigAtful
limbs.
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06
Bv Lord DeIamere

Foremost among the great hunt
ing authorities of the English speak,
ing world IS Lord Deldmere. He IS
credited With being the heaUjest kill
er IN the party which bagged the
record number of A frican lions some
fer gears ago. In East Central At
RIGA his proweSs IS familiar to every
native. Not long ago locality beset
Witb lions sent delegation four
hundred miles TO call ON Lord DelG-
mere to ash him to come and oOipe
ont the destroyers of their cutie. In
this article he UiUidZy contrasts the
theory and practice of lion hunting
IN the region (which Er-PreSident
Roosevelt will 1nUdde.
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06
THEY WORK A BLUFF

of the insect world are just as smart
and effective at bluff as men.
Take caterpillars. Now, caterpil-
lar is one of the most defenceless
creatures in creation. AS a general
rule-for there are a few exceptions
it cannot bite, or kick, or strike, or
sting. But its enemies are so numerous
that it is compelled to resort to some
trick of self-defense, and as it has no
weapons, it practices bluff.
The caterpillar of the lobster moth
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06

A penniless man, who struts about
in fine clothes, making people think ne
is a man OF money and position, is
practicing the art of bluff. Bluff, to be
explicit, is the art of making much out
of little. of causing people to think
your brains or your position much
greater than they really are.
One would have thought that an art
like this belonged to human beings, be-
cause it requires some intelligence to
LIuff successfully. Yet many members
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06

quite unable to move. All the life in
him seemed concentrated in his eyes,
which glared at us furiously. Another
shot put him out of his misery. The
first shot, very bad one, had grazed
the spine just in front of the withers;
another quarter of an inch higher and
it would have missed altogether.
This lion was quite maneless, ex-
cept for few long hairs on each side
of the neck, and his teeth were worn
down quite short, so he was evidently
very old. He was in very good condi-
ton, notwithstanding, but his stomach
was quite empty, which accounted for
his going so far before lying up. We
had to stop at the main camp for the
night when we got there, and did not
follow up our camels till the next day.
l have described this track rather at
length because it is a good example of
many similar days.
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06

Agitation regarding the pay of
French military officers has had some
effect. for the minister of war has
asked for an extraordinary credit of
$40O, 900 to supplement the pay of the
officers, which has not been increased
since 1870. In that time nearly every
grade of state official has had his sti-
pend raised, but the sub-lieutenant has
had to make both ends meet as best
he could with six francs a day and
the lieutenant with eight
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06
Omissions Of History.

Romulus, having built Rome, was
constructing wall around It.
What's the use of putting wall
on the north side?" jeered Remus.
Evanston will never try to break in"
Then ensued the first boxing contest
in the new city, with the result, as all
the world knows, that Remus was per-
manently knocked out
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06
HospitabIe,

She-And did you enjoy your AT
rican trip, major? How do you like
the savages?
He-Oh, they were extremely kind
hearted! They wanted to keep me
there for dinner.
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06

steal forward until the lion Is sighted
or ringed in a small clump of bush.
Then, when all is over, and the skin
is being taken off, how pleasant 1t is
to sit in the shade, listening to the
excited talk of the natives, and let
ting your nerves quiet down again
after the hopes and fears OF the morn
ing. You ride home to camp with the
lion skin behind your saddle, while
one of your men after another gives
his version of the mornings proceed
ings in a hunting song. On the other
hand, when you get shot, and miss
after a long and difficult track, it
seems as if any number OF lions killed
in the future will never make up for
the loss of this one, which is always
the biggest lion, carrying the finest
name you have ever seen. The ride
home to camp is then a silent one, as
no lion means no sheep for the men,
and they are correspondingly down
hearted
The first thing to be done in track
ing is to find fresh spoor Natives
will often bring news of spoor, but
unluckily the average villagers idea
of a fresh track is ratsAr hazy. l
have several times gone a long way
to find at the end track several days
old. On one occasion two natives
arrived, saying there were fresh lion
tracks in river-bed, luckily not more
that half mile from camp, but when
we got there the fresh lion tracks
turned out to be the spoo" of two n.y.
enas, at least a week old.
The spoor of the large spotted
hyena is not unlike that of a lioness
on certain ground but the difference
can easily be told, because a hyena
has claws like a dog, whereas the re-
tractive claws Of lion are always
sheathed and leave no mark. The bCSt
way to find spoor is to look for it
yourself with good crackers. Should
there be any villages near camp
which lions have been in the habit
of raiding it is very necessary to get
there as early as possible in the
morning. If once the large flocks of
sheep and goats and herds of camels
which have been shut W in the vii
lagos all night are let out, the ground
all about is a mass of indlStinguiSh-
able footprints, and every rath from
the village is choked with long strings
of beasts going off to their feeding
grounds. Hitting off a lions spoor
under these circumstances is almost
impossible, and the dust raised by the
herds is very disagreeable.
Besides villages, any well in the
neighborhood is good place to look
for spoor. If a lion is about there
ought to be no difficulty in picking up
his Snoor within a daY or two
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06

Respect for the past IS not bigotry,
and we are to beware of the danger
Of changing too much, as well as that
Of not changing at all.-Sydney Smith.
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06

Two of my men got badly mauled by
a lion, so our camp had to stop where
it was till they could be moved. After
time one of them was able to walk
about with his arm in sling, and the
other was getting on well, so one night
| decided to leave the big camp next
day and go with two or three camels
to some villages only days march
away. Early the next morning Ma
homed Moor, the headman, started
with the camels. | stopped behind to
get some breakfast. Just as we were
going to follow, Councilman, who had
gone up the river-bed close by to get
some water, came running back to say
that a lion had been down to drink
at one of the shallow sand wells in the
night | started at once with Abdul
lab and two other crackers, telling my
pOny-boy to follow on as soon as he
could get the pony saddled. When
tracking, | have always found it the
best plan to have the pony led some
distance behind. The boy ought to
have no difficulty in following the
tracks of two or three men and a
lion, and if the pony is kept close
up, it is sure to stamp or blow it's
nose at the critical moment.
When we got to the well there was
the spoor plain enough in the sand,
but rather blurred by some rain which
had fallen at daybreak. This made
the tracking a little difficult after we
left the river-bed but when we had
followed it slowly for some distance,
we came to a place where the lion had
lain down under a thick bush, evil
IDENTIFY to shelter from the rain, as the
spoor after this was quiet distinct on
the top of the damp ground. This
made us think we were in for short
track. for it must have been light
when the lion went on again from
here, and lions generally lie up short
ly after the sun rises; but this day
proved an exception, because 1t was
cloudy and cool through the forenoon.
Trailing the King OF Beasts.
The spoor now led us along a sandy
path. where we could follow it as fast
as we could walk When it turned off
into the bush we quite expected to see
the lion at any moment; but not bit
of it-he wandered about through
endless clumps of mimosa ard "irgin"
bushes. as if he did not mean to lie
up at all.
The track at last led us down a
little sandy watercourse, which it fol-
lowed for some distance. Up to this
time we had had no real difficulty
in making it out, but now came our
first serious check. The nullah turned
off along the side of a stony ridge,
and, instead OF going along 1t, the
lion had turned up the hill. We had
cot the general direction thu the lion
had been going in, but this was no
good to us, as on casting forward in
the same line to the bottom of the
other side of the ridge where there
was some sandy ground, we could find
no sign of his having passed In that
direction. We spent some time hunt
ing about, growing less hopeful as
time went on. A man following a
trail by sight certainly has an enor
NOUS advantage over hound hunting
It by nose, because time is of nc
particular object to him, and every
direction can be tried in turn. After
making out cast forward we went
back to the little water-course, and
followed that down for some distance
hoping that the lion had turned down
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06

HE best piece of
lion tracking | ever
saw lasted five full
hours and is SO
memorable in sew
eral respects that |
purpose to use it as
an introduction to
that general method
of lion hunting.
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06
Battling Ways of the Jungle Folk.


sometimes brough to light by spoor.
Not very long after the date of the
story just related, one of our party
went to a place where two lions had
been killing regularly, and sat up two
nights for them with donkey as bait
The lions must have left the district
for a day or two while he was there,
as there were no fresh tracks to be
found anywhere about. The day after
he came back to camp | happened to
ride out in that direction. Soon after
we started we came on the spoor of
two lions, which led us along path
till we came to the shooting zereba.
The night after he had left, the lions
had walked over the very spot where
his donkey had been tied up in the
middle of the path.
A little later, again, | happened to
be at a place where he had camped
few days before. A lion roared near
my camp several times in the night,
and next morning l heard he had
taken a sheep from village close by.
We picked up his spoor in river
bed near the camp, and after follow
ing it for some distance came to some
wells. The lion had drunk twice, and
between the drinks had laid down
under the fence of shooting zereba,
which had been made to watch the
water. After drinking the second
time he had gone away.
Now and then when tracking you
come across places where lions have
killed, and if it is on sand or bare
soil, you can tell everything that has
happened almost as we'll as if you
had seen it. We were camped once
on the edge of river-bed and thick
covert ran right down to the back of
the camp. One night there was a
tremendous scuffling in these bushes,
so in the morning / went out to see
what had been going on, and found
that two lions had been chasing a
warthog, which had just saved it's
bacon by getting underground. 1t
must have been very near thing,
as the lions had ploughed great fur
rows in the sand at the mouth of the
hole, showing they had pulled up pref
ty sharp. Warthogs generally go to
ground when pursued, and as there is
no second opening to the burrows, and
presumably no chamber at the end
where they can turn, they always go
in backwards. This has actually been
seen by sportsmen who have been
riding after them with spear.
should think this pig can hardly have
had the time to do this. Perhaps he
got damned in head first, as he re-
fused to be smoked out when we tried
it.
BY permission of Longmans, Green &
Co.. New York.
Copyright, 1909, by Benz. 3. Hampton)
River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-05-06
Driving the Lion to Bay.

The shape made 1t n easy place to
drive, for little way out from the
The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1909-04-26
TAFT WILL ATTEND
CHICAGO CONGRESS
Several Washington Jurists Viii
Participate in Conference On
Criminal Law.

CHICAGO. April 26.-President Taft
has promised to come to Chicago on
June to attend the national conference
on criminal law and crininology, which
opens on that date. if Congress adj
journs in time 20 permit him to leave
Washington 1t also is announced that
Governor Deneen will attend. and has
accepted the position of temporary pre-
siding officer.
The conference viii be unique from
the fact that there viii be no set
speeches or long addresses. All Of the
work win be divided among separate
sections, each subject being referred to
the section to which it properly belongs.
1t is expected that there will be be-
tween 250 and 800 subjects submitted for
discussion, and fully that number of
leading JUrists, criminoiogists, penolo-
gists, psychologists, alienists and crimi-
nal lawyers viii be in attendance.
Among Washingtonians who will go are
Judge w. H De Lacy, of the Juvenile
Court; SUPREME Justice WendaII P
Stafford. John Joy Edison, and Arthur
Macdonald
The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1909-04-26
HOUSE
TO GIVE MAY FETE
Annual Event Will Be Held Thurs
day, Friday, and Saturday
of This Week.

The May Fete, which has now come
70 De recognized as an annual spring
event at Neighborhood House, will be
nelo Thursday, Friday. and Saturday of
tnis week at 45e and 46s N street south
west. This three-day fete, which con-
Guides the work of the clubs and
classes for the winter, is given by the
eniidren and grown-ups of the house
TO their friends. and the program which
they offer this year is especially at
tractive
FOLK plays, games, and dances will be
the features. stage has been erected
In the kindergarten rooms at 456 N
street, and the little girls of the Peace
Clup VIII present "Jansel and GreteI, -
play from the German folk lore
dramauzed by Eugenia Paul Jefferson,
with music by Mrs. McDuffie.
The boys will entertain their friends
IN the open air in the yard at 46S N
street, where a stage and bleachers
have been erected. The little bows will
appear as the Knights Of King Arthur.
The older boys will present a historical
pageant.
The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1909-04-26
WOMEN Of INDIANA
START NEWSPAPER
Daily Will Run During Tenn
perance Campaign in In
terest of 'DryS."

EVANSVILLE, Ind. April 26.-It was
announced at Mt. Vernon today fhat
the temT GRANGE women of town would
start daily paper at once, in The hope
OF carrying the county for temoerance
in the local option election which VIII
be held May s.
The local option campaign now being
waEed there is one of the hotties ever
held in the State, and the feeling Is at
intense heat.
The temperance women Of Mt Yer
non. the county seat. fearing that the
saloon men might carry the day, have
entered into a contract with b. o.
Handy, a publisher, and will start a
daily paper in the interest OF the
edited by the women, who promise to
make it red-nOt from the dag starts.
The price of the paper is to De ~ cents
q week. and it may be run perinaneI iy
after the local option election IN The
interest of temperance In other COun-
ties that are soon to vote.