The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1915-08-19
CONCERNING VT. cATAMouNTs
Wardsboro Panther Had Successor
in the Hall of Fame.


nal exceptionally truthful, generally
independent and almost always in
telligent, caused us some surprise
and to take umbrage by admitting
uncensored to its columns GER
tain Special to The Messenger" en-
titled Vermont Panther Goes" Not
that the article was not interesting;
not that it was not well written
and worth reading but on the
ground of its untruthfulness in a
vital particular we charge The Mes
senger not only with negligence but
with culpahle utterance Of fiction.
The article in question, suspicious
ly dated Bennington, reports the
acquisition by the Boston Society Of
Natural History of stuffed cata-
mount 1t is further related that
the catamount when in the flesh
Except as TO one of its fore paws)
and on a day in November, 1875 was
encountered by Stephen Perry,
Henry Fits, and Homer Johnson on
the Webster Streeter farm in Wards
boro, Windham county, Vermont,
and then and there by them with
force and arms put to death. AS
lethal instruments the Special TO
The Messenger" mentions one gun,
one bullet, one rope. one club. The
art of the taxidermist then placed
the catamount in such condition
that it was on exhibition in Wards
boro for "a number of years." fire.
quently taken to adjoining towns
for exhibition purposes on occa-
sions Of Fourth of July celebrations
and other public gatherings, taken
to Paris to pose as a sculptor's mod
ell anu finally, brought to Benning-
ton to impersonate the original
catamount that used to crouch above
the signboard of the u Green Noun
tain Tavern A respectable career
and, for all we know9in' githe fore
going details consistent with fact;
but we deny that the deceased was
as stated in The Messenger, the last
specimen of North American Panther
killed in the state of Vermont"
We seek no quarrel with Wards
boro or its reasonable claim to
Glory. We have no quarrel with
Bennington, thrice famous for cata-
mounts within its corporate limits;
but our allegiance to Windsor ooun-
ty and our respect for its Importance
in the civil and natural history of
Vermont lead us to present to The
Messenger certain facts which should
not be ignored. Windsor county
was the birthplace and home of the
Catamount Club, social organiza-
ton dating from a remote period,
which had its annual meeting and
dinner at Downer's Roadhouse in
the town of Weathersfield. In that
tavern, just renowned for the
excellence of it's table through the
long and Industrious administrations
of the late Roswell Downer and of
his father before him, there was a.
stuffed panther which had met it's
death by the hand of man on AS
Quincy mountain. The panther was
and we hope still in the hotels
trademark. Into the presence of this
beast of the forest the members of
the Catamount Club would come at
the close of each club dinner. Two
Of the members most noted for ac-
curacy and abstemiousness would
then be chosen as secretaries pro
tenn. while each of the other din
ers would confidentially communi-
cate to the secretaries his estimate
Of the length of the catamount's
tail. All ballots being cast, the
secretaries would then by tape
measure ascertain the exact length
Of the caudal appendage and bestow
on him who had made the best
guess a prize-a small prize-con-
sisting of the hard cider, rum punch
Of champagne which remained I'M
consumed. 1t is said that memory
of past performances was of no aid
In these contests because the cata-
mount had habit on such occa-
sions Of making his tail appear
either of prodigious length or else
so 'diminutive as to be hardly visible
to the naked eye, and all without
to the club members.
Through leading healthy, normal
lives the members of the Catamount
Club have earned a reputation for
Through dillgent practice
they have acquired a knowledge of
and recognize a cata-
mount when they see one. There
fore it should startle nobody when
we assert that there live in Wind
sor today men in full possession of
their faculties who distinctly re-
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