Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-08-04

In Hongkong an Englishman had a
| tame leopard. 1t was brought into the
| dining room by coolie to be exhibit
! ed to the owners guests. Excited by
! the smell of food. the leopard refused
| to go out when one of the women, who
| did not like his looks, asked that it be
| removed The coolie took hold Of its
| collar and began to haul it out. 1t
seized him by the neck, bit 1t through
| and in a minute the coolie was dying.
| covered with blood, on the dining
room floor.
The Chinese leopard ranges as far
north as the Siberian tiger and. like
the latter, seems to grow larger the
farther north it is found. The color
| of these northern leopards is very pale.
the spots are large and the fur is very
long.
The natives of all countries are unan-
tmous in declaring that the leopard is
| more dangerous than the lion or tiger.
They have no fear Of the lion, provided
| they are not hunting for 1t, for it will
not attack unless provoked, but a
leopard is never to be trusted.
In Africa a number of natives were
firing the reeds along a stream. One of
them. a boy, being thirsty and hot,
stopped down to drink. He was imme-
diately seized by a leopard. The boys
brother, with an admirabl aim, hurled
his spear at the leopard while the boy
was in his jaws. The point separated
the vertebrate of the neck, and the
leopard fell stone dead. But the boy
could not recover. The leopard's fangs
had torn open his chest and injured the
lungs. The latter were exposed to
view through the cavity of the ribs.
He died during the night.
Leopards are essentially tree living
and nocturnal animals. Sleeping in
trees or caves By day. they are seldom
disturbed. They do an incredible
amount of mischief among cattle,
calves, sheep and dogs, being especial
ly fond of killing and eating the latter.
They seize their prey by the throat
and cling with their claws until they
succeed in breaking the spine or in
strangling the victim. They have a
habit of feeding on putrid flesh. This
makes wounds inflicted by their teeth
or claws liable to blood poisoning.
Nothing in the way of prey comes
amiss to them, from a cow in the pas
ture to a fowl up at roost-
In the great mountain ranges of CEN
trail Asia the beautiful snow leopard is
found. 1t is a large creature. with
thick, woolly coat and a long tail like
a fur boa. The color is white, clouded
with beautiful gray. like that of an
Angora cat. The edges of the cloud
ings and spots are marked with black
or darker gray. The eyes are very
large, blush gray or smoke colored.
1t lives on the wild sheep. ibex and
other mountain animals. In captivity
it is far the tamest and gentlest of the
large carnivora. not excepting the pu-
ma. Unlike the latter. it is a sleepy,
quiet animal, like a domestic.
The West African leopard skin is
more handsome than the Asiatic. the
spots being very distinct and clear. He
and she-they usually go In couples
are fond of hunting environments and
around native towns. where they pick
up goat and now and then a baby.
One night was camped in a native
town and after I had retired the ma
tives, as was their custom, were sitting
about a great fire asking my caravan
all sorts Of questions. for the African
savage is the greatest gossip in the
world Suddenly a child's cry rang
out, followed by great clamor. Rush
ing out to discover the cause of alarm.
1 was informed that a leopard had
stolen from the darkness and quick as
a flash had grabbed a four-year-old
child and made off with it. The child
was seated in the midst of the grown
men and women. The latter could
only lament their loss. They knew it
was useless TO try to pursue the beast
into the dense bush.
The leopard is so bold that even in
daylight he will wander about a town
or a white mans premises. 1t is not
rs all unusual to get a good shot at a
leopard from a bungalow veranda or
4 mud hut door.-Pittsburg Dispatch.