The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1919-07-21
BEN LILLY MOST
FAMOUS HUNTER
AT Sixty-FNe He Leads All Uncle
Sans Professional
TrapperSs III
SAVES ST0CKMEN HUGE SUM
In the Last Six Years "OId Benz Has
Killed 1867 Mountain Lions and 65
Bears, including Several
Grizzlies.

Washington, D. C.-Uncle Sam en-
ploys approximately three hundred
| professional hunters and trappers to
cXterminate predatory animals in the
range country. Among these, the
champion lion hunter is "Old Man Ben
Lily" who at sixtySllve yenrs of age
still leads all the rest. He remains
active, as daring and as certain in
drawing bead as any Of his asso-
GATES, some Of whom are young enough
to be his grandchildren. Lilly is a
giant for work. lie is able daily to
tire out two or three sets Of dogs in
rounding up some range "varmlnt."
According to the bureau of biological
survey, under which this determination
work is done, Old Man Lilly in the last
six years has killed 1G7 mountain lions
and 60 bears, including several griz-
zhes. The official account, just issued,
concludes: "Mr. Lilly is um0ssuning
and diSinclincu to talk about his eXpe-
riences, and on that account no &C.
curate record is available concerning
his total number of scalps, but it Is
very large"
Leads Temperate Life.
Mr.. Lilly attributes his physical
prCwcss and activity to his outdoor
life and to the fact that he never used
tobacco or intOXicants of any kind He
furthermore has followed q fixed rule
OF never hunting on Sunday. This rule
has given many wild animals being
pursued a new lease of life through
being able to make their getaway"
on the Sabbath. On one occasion,
however, he tracked huge mountain
lion for weeks through three states
and finally cOrnercd him. His hounds
were beaten off and the beast attacked
Lilly. His rifle was knocked from his
hand Armed only with q 4-inch peck
ct knife, he battled for some time until
one desperate plunge of this weapon
at the animals heart reached it lust
as the hunter became so exhausted
that he fell beside the dead lion.
The records assert that Mr.. Lilly
knows the range country so well and
Is so familiar with the routes, habits
and haunts of the lions that OCCASION
ally he kills three within half an hour. |
He knows just where to set trans in |
the canyons and coves, while he is able I
to pick out the most advantageous !
spots to lie in ambush awaiting the
approach of proving beasts Born of /
o good family enjoying prosperity, Lilly I
in his teens responded to the call of /
the wild and became a freelance hunt !
or. Loaded with a G0-pound pack, he !
broke his way through the Louisiana !
in search of game from |
bears to wildcats. AS a rule, every
time his rifle cracked some animal |
dropped, and his fame as a sure shot |
has spread throughout Louisiana, Tex
as. Arizona, New Mexico and northern
Mexico. He was one of the guides
selected to accompany the late Colonel I
Roosevelt in his hunt in Louisiana
which made the ''Teddy Bear famous.
His circle of friends among western
Is extensive and appreciativc.
Saves Stockren Huge Sum.
On the accepted basis that a wolf
Kills $1,000 worth of stock q year, q
bear and mountain lion $500 each, and
that a coyote and bobcat each do $50
worth of damage, Lilly has saved the
western stockmen substantial
Altogether these predatory
animal hunters have killed 70,713 such
beasts in the last three years. The
lirect saving thereby is estimated at
learly $5,500000 a year to the stock
men of the Rocky Mountain section.
The total kill consisted of 60,473 coy
'tes, S,004 bobcats, 1S9 wolves, POI
lions and 1877 bears. The
)elts of these animals sold for approx
mately 100000 which was used by
he government to carry on the work
n addition to animals killed by trap
ling and shooting, millions of rodents,
'rairie dogs, rabbits, foxes and wood
bucks have been destroyed by the !
m