davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05

for the timber on the other side of the
bend in the river. l was beginning to
feet bit winded, and was not sorry
when further angry yelps and growl-
ing showed that the cub had again
been brought to bay. Getting up as
quickly as possible, found that the
dog had been having rough time Of
1t. He was scored badly down the
side, and instead of being a white
terrier was ghastly red one, though
for the time being it did not appear
to inconvenience him much. He was
vigorously barking and jumping
around lot OF loose boulders, among
which the leopard had evidently taken
refuge. l could not. however, induce
him to go in. and although l have
had several good terriers for this kind
of shooting none of them cared to go
to ground after such game. l began
to fear should have to give him up.
but got together a lot of the driest
herbage l could find, and making a
couple OF squibs by extracting the
powder from two cartridges. l went
to work to try and make him bolt,
90 hA' SOsSA "co nv VSiy loi sc. Sut-
ting as long a stick as l could find,
l took a page out of my pocket diary
and rolled the squibs in it, binding
them to the thin end Of the stick,
which l bandaged thickly round with
dry grass and leaves for yard or
more and then pushed 1t in where the
leopard had entered and ignited it
well all around, also heaping more
dry stuff about the opening SO as to
make as much smother as possible
The smoke soon began to escape from
the crevices, though the leopard did not
appear to take any notice of it; but
as soon as the fuses began to fizz and
sputter, 1t was more than he could
stand, and out he dashed, almost up
setting me in his rush. l had, how
ever, picked up my carbine and fired
at him, Just as he was disappearing
into the cover. distinctly heard the
pat Of the bullet and WIS about to
follow, when I saw that the poor dog
demanded my attention, SO picked him
up. The scratches we're ugly ones.
and could see that II l did not at
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05
Getting the Cubs.

But this time the two cubs had re-
covered from their surprise, and as
the old leopard appeared to be done
for / gave one of them q bullet in
the chest, the other turning tail and
scampering OF into the bush with
Snap" twho had got loose) at his
heels. whilst l stepped into the open
and let the one had wounded have
another ball. catching him in the orr
fice Of the ear and killing him IN
stantly. As | approached them the
old one rolled over. and | was about
to fire at her again. when l noticed
that her eye was already glazed, and
1t would only be wasting ammunition.
After a hasty glance of admiration l
left them as they lay and hurried after
the yelping terrier, who from the
sound appeared to have come to a
halt, though l could hear no snarling.
Before. however. could catch up, the
leopard must have made another start
The scrub was thick just here. and the
everlasting "wait-a- bit" thorns retard.
ed my progress considerably, besides
Furnishing me not little. Still l
pushed on into the open veldt just
in time to see the two making across
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05
A Back-Watcr Town.

at was one of those sleepy. one
horse back-water towns, like Squash"
said Representative Burton, describing
at IA Hot Springs dinner a town that
he disiked.
Squash is the limit. A gentleman
arrived there the other day and wanted
hair cut He found the barber shop.
and, after shaking the barber vigor-
ously, managed to awaken him.
How long will it take you to cut
my hair, barber?' he asked.
Not long boss, said the barber.
And he rose, yawned, and stretched
himself. Then he called upstairs to
his wife:
Hey, send the kid down to the
Sun office to tell the editor l want my
scissors just as soon as he's done edi-
tin the paper. There's a gent here
waitin' for haircut
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05

out finding any more signs, although
felt satisfied that there were some
leopards in the neighborhood, so
could only postpone my search until
the morrow. In the morning l got
.fioat once more. and dropped about
four miles down to the place l had
turned back from the day before
This did not occupy long, and ! was
soon fast again in a kind OF back
water, with my traps once more on
dry land. I was eager to follow up
the leopard. which l was confident
had gone down. not up. the river; in
deed. had hardly proceeded a quar-
ter OF a mile before | found pug
marks, and quite fresh ones. too.
where he had gone down to drink
This time the heavy rains had not
washed all trace of spoor and scent
away, and my dog was able to pick
1t up easily Seeing that my carbine
was all right and everything in it's
place to my hand, l followed Snap"
with some dificulty, for l did not
want him to come to an untimely end.
which might not be improbable II I
was unable to keep him back some
where within bounds.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05

the Transvaai Beers, whose filibustering
raids across the border were getting
worse and worse.
To cut my story short however. and
get down to a fast series Of single
handed leopard kills, after following
the Dragons up as far as Mafeking
to no purpose, l returned to kimber-
ley and the Orange river. l conceived
the idea of constructing raft and
thus transporting my few necessary
effects, camping on the banks as in
clination led me, or. as l fancied the
locality favored sport. l had had too
much experience among floating logs
whilst numbering in America not to
feel at home at this kind OF work;
and all in all, though did not travel
FAR, l spent one of the most exciting
n)ps ever had. All along either
Side OF this fine river is a wide belt
of "wait-a-bit" thorns and bush tim
Der, ON which lovely green beetles
played in great profusion. l caught
numbers, every one of which brought
me in Sd in Cape Town. for jewelry
purposes I had seen beetles set up
In . similar fashion in Rio de Janeiro
ness; as also, we used to get alligators
teeth down In Alabama and Florida.
but these creatures have got SO scarce
now that it hardly pays to hunt them.
Having got everything fixed on my
raft, and as the river hereabouts was
familiar to me, had no difficulty in
making a landing, as l had proposed
some 20 miles further down, passing
the ford to Hope Town on my way.
Among other things I had with me
hammock and poncho which l had
used out in the Banda Orientale, both
of which, besides being of the greatest
use, went into very small compass.
After taking a cup of coffee without
milk and a snack or two of spring-bok,
I literally turned in, with my carbine
beside me and my dog curled up at
my feet, to be lulled to sleep by sounds
as familiar as those heard on a sum-
ner day at home.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05
. with a lot of rock and boulders. look

with lot Of rock and boulders. look.
ing a very likely place to hold such
game. l went to the veldt side to
found fresh pug-marks, not only of
one, but Of three, leopards; evidently
those of an old one and her cubs.
This at once accounted for the de-
meanor of the one l had got, and as
leopard with young, or for the mat.
ter of that any animal almost in such
circumstances. requires extra care in
tackling, I called the dog to heel.
whilst I cogitated a bit what course
to pursue. Examining the tracks,
put the cubs down as half grown. I
also made a detour of the clump of
bush and satisfied myself that the
game was at home. Returning to the
spot where I had first marked them,
l followed them in slowly, Snap" be-
ing taken up with a piece of string.
He soon commenced to get very ex-
cited, and l could myself smell the
taint which always hangs around the
lair of the carnivora. be they birds
or beasts. The spoor was easy enough
to keep. as the path had been used
many times, and the leopard, dragging
her prey along, had beaten it down.
had my carbine ready for rapid shot,
for / felt sure we were coming close
to, and had hard work to keep the
dog from breaking away. Luckily the
wind was in my favor and all at once
came right in sight Of the leopards,
the old one and two cubs, almost as
large as she was, basking in the sun
in an open space in the glade. I don't
think she saw me, as from where l
stood l was completely hidden in
dense foliage, but she stared hard in
my direction, half rising to her feet,
the tip of her tail twitching from side
to side, or, more correctly speaking,
beating the ground. 1t was as pretty
a sight as had ever seen, these beau
tiful cats, but had not time for such
thoughts. One OF the cubs attempted
to play with the bobbing tail. and
this seemed to irritate her. for she
turned and gave the offending young
ster tap with her paw that sent him
sprawling. In doing SO she gave me
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05
Blinded by a Sand Storm.

As the sun rose 1t speedily dissi-
pated the river mist, and a little way
out on the veldt and beyond the tim
her, 1t was as sultry as ever. l could
0y some small specks away to the
sQuthward, and as fresh bit Of veni-
N9 would be an agreeable change.
I xtarted after what l knew would
furnish me Herewith. II could man
age to circumvent them. This was not
particularly dinicult, for l could keep
myself covered by one ant-hill or an
other, and I got my buck all right,
sending the rest bounding away with
tremendous jumps. The ominous
darkening of the horizon had not es-
capped my notice. but almost before l
was aware OF 1t the hot sand came
singing like SO much small shot
against my face. In such cases, the
only thing to be done Is to throw
yourself fiat on your chest and hold
your breath till the hot blast has
blown over. The sand storm did not
last many minutes, but the thunder
storm Immediately burst in such
way as 1t only does In South Africa.
and l speak from experience both of
this, as well as other parts or the
world. 1t was over almost as soon as
1t came, and for short space the
sandy veldt looked like a sheet Of
water, which, however, was sucked up
in no time, the sun bursting forth
In all it's splendor and drying me.
drenched as l was, before l could get
my buck back to camp.
After skinning my buck and making
the hind portions into ham, and get
ting a meal Of fresh meat, I set out
along the bank of the river to see II
could hit upon any leopard spoor.
had not gone far before came to the
remnants of porcupine. Leopards
appear to have a great partiality for
the flesh of these animals. and as
they are compon enough along the
OlAEe river, 1t doubtless accounts
foisthe presence of their prosecutors.
I hunted for The rest Of the day with
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05

back and dressed the skin there and
then. before 1t should get covered
with hyblows.
lost no time, however, in getting
back to the spot where had killed
him, for 1t struck me there might be
something more than I knew about in
his having had his attention diverted
from myself and the dog. So I cast
about once more. still going along the
river, letting Snap" who was well up
to the work, do the hunting. whilst
now and again l added a brilliant
beetle to my collecting box. Passing
two or three gullies without making
anything further out, l began to think
that 1t must have been the whistle
of an antelope that had attracted the
leopard's notice. He showed how
ever, the same intentness of gaze as l
remembered in a jaguar l once killed
under somewhat similar circum-
stances, and whose dying roar brought
a second one on my track in less than
no time, giving me stiffish scufle. 1t
Is in cases such as these that the sci
ence of woodcraft comes in handy.
careful notice OF surrounding signs
and actions usually enabling one to
come to a correct conclusion. had
been keeping fairly close to the river
bank. for l held to my theory that
there was another leopard not far
from where I shot the last; so turned
about. after a couple of miles. and
worked back along the margin of the
bush, near the veldt. carefully beat
ing any likely-looking spots Half way
or SO back was a dense mass Of thorns
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05
Special Round Trip Homeseekers'
Rates to New Mexico and Texas.

On the first and third Tuesdays OF
each month, during the entire year.
the Colorado & Southern Railway will
sell round trip Homeseekers' tickets
to great many points In New Mexico
and Texas at one fare plus $500 for
the round trip. Final limit twenty five
days, allowing liberal stop-over privil-
eges. For detailed information. rates.
etc, call on the Colorado & Southern
agent. or address T. E. Fisher. General
Passenger Agent. Denver. Colorado
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05

The 1909 National Encampment Of tho
Grand Army of the Republic will be
held in Salt Lake City. August 9th to
l4th. An unusually attractive folder in
red white and blue. replete with infor-
and the Rocky Mountain region. is be-
ing distributed by the Passenger Do
partment of The Denver q Rio 4rande
Railroad. One feature that will be of
particular interest to Grand Army men
is the reproduction of speaking like
nesses of all the Commanders in Chief
from b. F. Stephenson the organizer
in 1866 to Henry Nevius the present
Commander. This is the first time that
this set OF portraits has been assembled.
The familiar faces of John A. Logan.
Ambrose f. Burnside. John r. Hart
ranft. Russell A. Alger. John c. Black,
James Tanner and many others appear
in this interesting series
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05
Following the Leopard's Spoor.

The spoor led along the bank for
some distance close to the river. at
which the leopard had occasionally
halted. either to drink. or to watch
for a stray fish, for these latter they
will scoop out with the dexterity of
a raccoon, as l myself once saw. In
fact, they will eat almost anything
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05
Alas. How True!

II often wonder" remarked Mr..
Stubb in solemn reflection, IF the last
man on earth will have the last
word"
"Of course he will, John" laughed
Mrs. Stuff.
But why are you SO sure?"
Because the last woman will give
1t to him. Chicago Daily News.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05

a nns broadside and fired, dropping
her at once, though she scrambled to
her fore feet in an instant / could
see that her hind parts were para
lyzed; she was shot through the spine:
and as she turned to gnaw the wound
l quickly got another cartridge in and
hit her through the neck.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05
Totes,

81 hear that the new tenor is .
great success-that he can hold one OF
his notes for half minute"
That's nothing; I've held one Of his
notes for over a year."-Judge's La
brary.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05
BlissfuI Tour,

Pearl-They say Switzerland is an
Ideal country for honeymoon tours.
Ruby-lt must be. There is a tun-
mel twelve miles long-Chicago News.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05
First Shot Brings Him Down.

Once or twice raised my weapon,
only to lower it, feeling it was safer
to wait. On sudden he raised his
head, as II some sound at a distance
had arrested his attention, for he
gazed right away into space. This was
my opportunity-not very fine one
certainly, for there was quite a net
work of small branches intervening
but l got pretty fair sight and let
him have it. Down he came almost
before l could jump to one side, with
thump that would have stunned him,
one would imagine, even If the bullet
had not smashed his jaw and gone out
through the top of his head, bursting
an eye in its course. He was as dead
as a door nail, and a beautifully
marked full-grown young male, his
teeth being perfect. AS I was only
about q mile from camp, got his skin
OF at once, and taking the skull went
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05

Leopard
Hunting
Alone in
BeChu-
analand
BY Percy Sel0us

)ME years ago, l
I oun n d m y S e ] I
stranded in Bech-
uanaland. where |
had followed a force
of irregular cavalry,
raised by Col. Me
thuen. for operat-
ing, should the ext
oency arise. against
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05

Pie has gone up in Chicago. This
will prevent it from going down In the
same locality.
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05

that moves-young birds, and for the
matter Of that old ones, too, when
they can surprise them. A cat which
has run wild at home is a fair exam
pie Of what the leopard Is on Q very
much larger scale.
The dog now came to a point at the
foot of q tree, and after some search,
for the foliage was very luxuriant 1
could distinguish the leopard lying full
length along a branch, his head be.
tween his paws, his eyes being just
discernible, and that was all. I,could
not get good shot at him, the angle
was too acute to fire with safety at
his head. and unless l got directly
under him I could not see him at all.
whilst the limb he was stretched out
upon practically protected him at all
vital points. Now and again he would
Just crane over a little and then draw
back before l could get a proper
sight, making all the time a snarling.
purring noise. Under the circum-
stances 1t would have been risky to
have attempted a shot, SO was COM
PEELED to wait until he gave me some
sort of a chance. To have had him
come tumbling down wounded was not
a bit to nv fancy
The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-06-05

tend to them at once might losp
him: l therefore carried him back to
camp and washed, stitched, and
dressed his wounds. I returned after
wards, to try and follow the leopard,
but could not find any further trace
of him, except blood marks. l there
fore went and skinned the other two.
and made up my mind to leave the
cub l had wounded until the morrow,
l tracked him up next day and found
him dead. about quarter of mile
from where | had fired at him.
This reminds me of an escapade
had with one of these creatures some
time previously. further south. AS
Is so frequently the case. l had been
much disturbed during the night by
prowling animals, which | found out
were leopards. l was eXasperated by
the loss of my best dog, and made
up my mind, If possible, to get a fine
skin and avenge his death at one and
the same time: so making a hurried
breakfast and leaving my two katfir
boys in charge of the skerm, l set
out with the only dog l now had left.
The spoor. which was plain enough
in the sand, led right away towards
the river, which on either side is bor-
dered for quarter of mile or SO
with "wait-a-bit' thorns and under
brush. After going mile or more my
dog showed special eagerness, and
pulled up at tree, the bark Of which
was all scored by the claws of leop-
ards and was evidently used by them
continually for stretching their talons.
A lot of porcupine quills also lay
around. showing that the leopard had
recently made meal, of which ! was
glad. for l thought l should be more
likely to ind him lazy and lying up,
and hence easier to manage. A little
further on came to kloof or ravine,
which l had to descend and ascend.
The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1909-12-24
FROM MARY'S
COOK BOOK

Scrapple.--To make the genuine
article. buy from your butcher the
head of a pig with the heart, liver,
kidneys and lean bits that are left
after cutting up the animal. Do
not use the fat parts that are
thrown aside in cutting up the
meat, nor yet the lungs. Take from
the head the teeth and as much of
the jaw bone as possible, and cut
off the gristly ears and snout.
Throw the meat into a big kettle,
cover with water and cook until all
the bones in the head fall out.
Strain the liquid into another pot
and keep warm on the back of the
stove while you remove every last
piece of bone from the cooked and
fragmentary meat. Search care
fully for bones, having found. dis
card. Now add the meat to the
strained liquor and place again
over the fire. Season with salt,
black pepper and sage, then when
boiling stir in corn meal and buck
wheat flour in the proportion of
two of cornmeal to one of buck
wheat. until the entire mass is of
the consistency of mush. Pour into
deep pans and set In the cellar.
When ready to use, slice and fry.
The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1909-12-24

husband, home and children, and
develop and use any natural men.
tai talent she may possess. A WON.
an must be great before she can
conceive great men and women.
Women must have some outside
interests to balance domesticity.
The mental functions must have ex.
preston as we'll as the physical.
Why is it that the majority of wom-
en- confined in the insane asylums
are farmers wives? Because the
deadly round of physical monotony
ruins the nerves of women. Nine.
Schumann-Heink is the mother of a
large family and still follows a sue
cessful career, and is supremacy
happy.
When good women once have the
use of the ballot, the saloon will be
a thing of the past. Carrie Nation
will bury the Ratchet. Theo. Roose-
welt is not wholly civilized; he is
too fond of killing, anu his views
on the woman question are too rad
ical
] say to all women, love, marry
and become mothers. If You have
talent in any line, develop it, and
when the children are old enough,
make periodical trips away from the
home. MARY A. REID.
The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1909-12-24
BALLOTS OR BABIES? WOMEN DIFFER

Mrs. Josephine Dodge Daskam
Bacon, famous woman authoress,
declared recently to correspondent
Of The Press that woman's mission
n the world is to produce good
men and good wOmen-good men to
10 the worlds work and good wom-
en- to produce more good men,"
She declared that to be the only
way women can find happiness.
She herself gave up her work as a
writer with an income of $4,000
a year to follow out her precepts.
Many women agree with Mrs. Ba-
con. Many do not. Here are two
letters written The Press:
y She Wants Vote.
To the Editor of The Press: I
nm interested in babies, and
brought to manhood and woman
hood seven of them.
But the world is not composed of
great men or women, but of ordi-
nary human stuff, common clay, as
some say. No doubt the famous au-
thoress did nObly in the abandoning
of $4,000 per year, and all to de-
vote herself to family duties, but
many mothers have been as self
sacrificing in regard to dollars, and
many noble women who were never
called mother have made careers
The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1909-12-24
lAStory for|
IChildren'sI
iPlaytime ell
HOW BOBBY GOT HIS ENGINE

My, but Bobby was IRISH. He
was conscious all the while of the
whole quarter which he had in his
coat pocket as he climbed on the
street car. He had earned this
quarter sweeping snow off the
front sidewalk for father, and his
mother had given him two Car
tickets and allowed him to journey
downtown all by himself to spend
that quarter. Every now and then
while he was on his way he slipped
his hand down in his pocket to see
If his wealth was still there.
All the afternoon he wandered
about looking at windows with
their array of Christmas toys, and
strolled down aisles lined with
dolls, engines, wagons and won
derful tracks with freight and pas
senger trains. There were so many
things he wanted, and his 25 cents
wouldn't go round
At last in front of the and 10
cent store he paused, and had fully
decided on buying a tin engine in
the window when he spied a small
boy crying beside him.. He soon
learned that Santa Claus always
forgot to come to his home, and
that he did want that pretty toy
engine so badly. Bobby thought a
minute, then set his little chin
resolutely.
Come in the store with me" he
said, land you can help me spend
my quarter. Maybe we can get
that engine"
1t was happy Bobby who sat at
the supper table that night. In an
swer to his fathers questions as
to what he had bought with his
quarter he told about the poor lit
tie boy and his delight at being
given the engine.
And Bobby was surprised to find
an engine beside his stocking
Christmas morning.