The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1909-06-10
SHOOTING LIONS EASY As
KILLING DOMESTIC CATS
Says Girl Who Has Lived Near
African Junqles.

african JungleS.
New York, June.-Miss Viola Meade,
q Battle Creek, Mich, girl, who has
spent ten years In Africa, Is In New
York on a visit, and has taken the
wind out Of the "dsring and danger.
Gus" part OF the Theodore Roosevelt
hunting expedition. She was incor'
rectly interviewed on the steamship,
Miss Meade asserts, when she arriv.
ed and was described as 80 fearless
lady lion huntress."
81 am not a lion huntress," she
said at the Cosmopolitan Hotel,
land l wish to correct some Of the
strange Impressions which Amer.
leans have OF the country which
have adopted as my home. Mr., E.
8. Clegg, to whom l am engaged, is
q mining engineer In Africa and a
hunter. l have done some hunting
myself, but my private opinion is
that there Is really very little genuine
sport about hunting In Africa.
"Mr. Clegg and his men friends OF.
ten 60 out and they kill hundreds OF
the so-called dangerous beasts. They
do run some risk Of getting fever and
they are often Ill after they return
from these trips, but that Is all |
have seen exciting,
at Is easy to kill all manner oil
beastsi II you 60 In the right districts.
But what good are they after you
kill them? Shooting lions is Is easy
as 1t would be shooting domestic
cats In New York. The slaughter OF
these animals is so easy, assure
you the natives never try to kill
them except to keep them from coIn-
ing up to their very doors and steal.
Ing their chickens or children.
"The natives are not q warlike or
vicious people. They are as gentle
and docile as the quadrupsds which
roam over our valleys and fields.
We make servants Of them. The
boys are employed because We can.
not get the women. They stay In
the 'kraals' and do the hard farm
work. A native is ranged in impor-
tance according to the number OF
wives and daughters he has working
for him. II be is very we'll to do be
may have FIVE or six wives and
many daughters. Each husband is
required to pay 81 gold per year for
every vile he maintains. A vile is
worth ten head OF cattle.
"The English Government does
not permit the natives to carry
arms, but, Of course, there are some
guns concealed In 'kraals.' 1t lie i'm.
possible to keep the natives OF such q
large country from owning them,
but lately they have used them only
for killing edible game. The natives
are not. however, such q carnivorOus
race as you In America commonly
suppose. They drink lutjals, which
is made from a very small corn. It
is not as Intoxicating as your beer,
but It effects those simple-lived peo-
pie quickly, and the Government
constantly endesvors to suppress It's
manufacture.
"There are many erroneous i'm
pressions In America about the vast
wealth which is to be picked up In
Africa. l would not advise you to
60 there seeking your fortune unless
you are we'll fortified with financial
backing. Money is only made after
long years OF hard work. In the dis
trict where have lived, around Bula.
vayo, the climate is fine, being some.
thing like your Southern California
or Florida. Farming is uncertain
until you have learned the many
snags. Mining is the great thing,
but gold, diamonds and rubies do
not lie around waiting for you to
pick them up. Miners there work
harder, I think, than the miners Of
your western country, and the
chances Of failure are equally great.
at is all frontier life, and II you
are not willing to give up the refine
ments Of your highly civilized life,
Africa is no place for you"