The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-08-23
A LION RUNS 100 -
 YARDS IN 2 SECONDS.

Tn the September American Maga- inc. Stewart Edward White writes a most interesting article on lion nunt- ing. It is based on experiences ne recently had on g. years hunt in All rica, during which he saw over sev- enty lions. An extract from the ar ticle follows:
 ..To the man not temperamentally qualified. lion shooting is dangerous enol1gh.-s The. lion, when. he takes the offensive, Intends to get his afl- .tagonista Having made up his mind to that, he charges home, generaily at great speed The realization that it is the mans life or the beasts is disconcerting. Also the charging lion is a spectacle much more .awe-in- spring in reality than the most vivid imagination can predict. lie LOOKS very large, very determined, and has uttered certain rumbling, blood-curd- ling threats as to what he is going to do about it. It suddenly seems most undesirable to allow that lion to come any closer = not even an inch! A nasty, nervous shot misses
 "An unwounded lion, charging rom a distance, is said to start rather slow ly, and to. increase his pace only as he closes. Personally I have never been charged by an unwounded beast: but I can testify that the wounded animal comes very fast. Cunn1nghame puts the rate at about seven seconds to the hundred yards. Certainly l should say that a. man charged from fifty yards or so would have little chance for a second shot, provided he missed the first. A hit seemed, in my experience to check the anil nal, by sheer force of impact. long enough to permit me to throw in an- other cartridge. A ioness thus took four frontal bullets starting at about sixty yards. An initial miss would probably have permitted her to close.
 Here, as can be seen, is great source of danger to a Hurried or ner- vous beginner. He does not want that lion to get an inch nearer; he fires at, too long a range; misses, and is killed or mauled before he can re- load. This happened precisely so to two young. friends of MacMillan. They were armed with double rifles, let them off hastily as the beast started at them from two hundred yards, and never got another chance. If they had possessed the experience to have waited until the lion had come with in fifty yards they would have had the almost certainty of four barrels at close range. Though have seen a lion missed clean we'll inside those limits.
 From such performances are so- called lion accidents built. During my stay in Africa I heard of six white men being killed by lions, and number of others mauled. As far as possible I tried to determine the facts of each case. In every instance the trouble followed either foolish ness or loss of nerve. l believe I should be quite safe in saying that from identically the same circumstan- ces any of the good lion men-Tarle- ton, Lord Delamere, the Hills and oth- ers-wouId have extricated themselves unharmed.
 stThis does not mean that accidents may not happen. Rifles jam-but generally because of Hurried manipu- lation!-one may unexpectedly meet the lion at too close quarters; foot may slip, or cartridge prove de- dective. So may one fall downstairs or bump ones head in the dark. Suf- f1cient forethought and alertness and readiness would go far in either case to prevent bad results.