Evening star., 1925-06-28
BY HAROLD X. PHILIPS.

adventures than fall to the lot OF tne
wild-animal hunters, who COMB the
iungles of distant lands for living
beasts to fill the geological parks and
travelling menageries back here In
civilization.
To track n maddened tiger or
giant snake-a reptile with sufficient
strength in it's hideous coils to crush
an elephant--to its treacherous lair
and there dispatch it from safe dis
tande with a few bullets from a high
powered rifle, is an entirely di1erent
thing from capturing 1t alive ana tnen
escorting it back over countless miles
to some cage in the heart of a far-on
metropolis.
1t is n game of wits-a deadly
game in which the hunter accepts the
odds that are stacked against him
and. in many instances, offers ms Ire
as q forfeit for miSpiay. Brute
strength brawn beyond the test OF
any human endura nee, poWerful claws
and an innate cunning that is nature 8
worst weapon in the forest Businesses.
fy.to the help of the Cornered beast
But the hunter must rely solely
upon his wits and traps 10 win the
battle. Although he is armed t" de
fend himself by other means In an
emergency, the collector ol Wlid
animals never forgets that a live lion
and If the now contented mammals
and snakes of Washington's Zoology
cal Park could speak. many OF them
could spin hair-raising stories of then
own captures in some hidden den.
But. however impossible it is for
the animals TO relate the stories ol
their subjeCtion, there is one IN
dividual at the Geological Park who
can-Dr. William Mann. its recently
appointed superintendent.
Although Il student of wild life by
choice and by training, DIR. Mann
knowledge was not all wrung from
text books in American universities
He has tracked the denizenS of the
jungles over hazardous trails himself
and trapping them in their lars,
brought them back to the very
museum over which he now presides.
x x x
ITO the remoteSt corners OF the
i world DR.. Mann has pursued his
calling. searching more generally for
rare insects and reptiles, but wherever
he found an opportunity to bag some
larger prize for safekeeping he never
failed to strive for its capture.
lie has travelled with strange bed
fellows and even spent months among
the few surviving cannibal tribes OF
the South Seas, and on more than
few occasions has faced death in the
wilds of uncharted lands.
Even before he entered Stanford
University, in California, DR.. Mann
realized that he would never he salts
fed 10 follow other than Sclentihc
career through life. and during his
years of scholastic work he carefully
prepared himself for his chosen call;
ing. That he prepared we'll is sufti'
ciently proved by the fact that he Is
now the head of one of the world s
greatest museums for the collection of
living specimens of wild life.
Early in his researches DR.. Mann
learned something Of the dangers he
would be called upon to face II he in
tended continuing in his profession
One day he succeeded in capturing
copperhead snake, one of the most
Venomous reptiles of present times. He
was eagerly prying open the reptile S
mouth TO SHOW bewildered classmate
the poison fangs when the creature
suddenly struck. burying it's deadly
teeth in his middle finger.
Right there DIR. Mann showed that
he was fitted by nature for. his work.
He carefully deposited the snake
where it could do no more harm and
got a piece of string. Tying this
tightly around the lower joint of the
injured member, he calmly drew out
a sharp pocketknife and ripped deep
he permitted the finger to drain out
its blood-an experience that would
have caused many men to faint.
The young students nerve saved
him from what might have proved a
serious situation, and it happened that
the snake bites did not even make him
slightly i'll. 1t was three months,
however, before DIR. Mann ever real
iZed he still had the finger. The
ir,tt It-o, t-ir,,y
ing of the blood had destroyed all
feeling in the member and for the
entire three months it remained per-
fectly white. Then the color began
slowly to return as the blood found
it's way back into the withered veins.
The Summer after DIR. Mann was
graduated from Stanford University
in 1911. he joined an expedition DR..
Frederick Baker was taking to the
east coast OF Brazil When the ex-
peaition hnd completed its work DR..
Baker foHnd that he still had suffi-
cient furds left for a scientific eX-
ped1tlon up the Amazon River, and
called FOR limited number of yolun-
teers 10 join him. DR.. Mann was one
of those accepted and successfully
completed the journey through one
of the most deadly valleys in the
world.
members of the expedition came upon
the crews that were then building
the famous Madeira Railroad, d prof
eCt that cost $50. .00o, 900 in money
and between 5000 and 4.eeo lives
While in the construction camp DR.
Mann saw the laborers dying like
flies of the dread black water fever
and yellow fever. Six of the white
men he knew died in the camp in
six weeks.
I 1PON returning to the United
~ States with the call of the out
of-the-way places still coursing in his
blood, DIR. Mann lost no time pre-
pairing for his next expedition. which
was begun in 1912 for Harvard Uni
versity. This trip took him to the
interior of Haiti, where he buried him
self for six months. When he return
ed, however. he brought back with
him a valuable collection of snakes
lizards and an entirely new species
of frogs. one of the species of snakes
was named after him as "A compliment
for his valuable contribution to science
the Manni snake.
The next year found him searching
the WildS of Gucatan and Hidalgo. iT
Mexico. for more specimens. While
in Mexico DR.. Mann had a revolution
thrust upon him. and experienced one
evening an event that was even more
Unpleasant than usual The com
manler Of a company of government
rurales sent word to him at night tina,
a large group of bandit rebels was
on their WY past his hacienda an6
ordered hir1 to remain in the cellar
The federal soldiers and the bandit.
met squarely in front of the hacienda
and after few hours of brisk fighting
the ba nditS were repulSed. When DR.