University of South Carolina Libraries
KING OF BEASTS. A More Formidable Beast Than the Lion is the Buffalo. Chicago Tribune. The bulls, of all the species of the genus "bos," are most savage and dangerous at time's. The Romans knew no better sport than to see a powerful bull of the common domes tic species toss a lion, unless it was to see him toss a man; and bull fights are still the mos: loved diversion in all Spanish. and Spanish-American countries. The American bison used to be a fine fighter, the only indig enous animal which could whip him being the grizzly bear. But unques tionably the fierce'st and most formi dable gladiators of this geaus are the buffaloes of Asia and Africa. Experience has taught the lions of Africa discretion, and they never hunt the buffalo singly, but always in pairs or companies. The buffalo is far larger and more powerful than the lion, .and one good toss of his long, sharp, powerful horns, which frequently. exceed twelve feet from tip to tip, is usually enough to kill the so-called "king of beasts." In fact, one buffalo is almost a match for two lions. Once when Sir Sar uel W. Baker was hunting in Africa he found the dislocated skeleton of a buffalio lying intermixed with the bro ken bones of a lion. He concluded from appearances that two lions had attacked one buffalo, and that the buffalo had killed one of them, but had finally succumbed to the oth.. Maj. Vardon and Mr. Oswell once saw a buffalo bull carry on success fully a fight against three lions until he suddenly dropped dead from the effects of a wound which Major Var don had previously'given him. The Asiatic buffalo is smaller and less muscular than his African cous in, but he has his full share of prow ess. He is more than a match for the tiger, which declines the combat un less urged to it by hunger. Even the domestic buffalo usually will whip the tiger. The Indian driver of a pair of large buffalo bulls plunges unhesitatingly into the darkest and most tangled forest, aware that th'e tiger probably will not attack him when thus accompanied, and that even if it should his team would make short work of the ferocious beast with their massive horns. It is said the buffalo sometimes kills the ele phant, its mode of attack being to thrust its horns into the elephant's belly. This may happen sometimes, but can hardly take place often, as the great weight and strength of the ~ elephant make it when enraged a foe which neither the buffalo nor any ' other animal can withstand. Buffalo fights and fights between buffaloes and tigers are main features in the entertainments of Indian princes. Most species of wild animals usu ally get along pretty well among themselves, but fights between buffa 10 bulls are frequent and eadly. The victor in such contests always rancorously pursues the flying van quinshed and tries to hook him in the rear. Sir Samuel WV. Baker once came upon a pair of old bulls, which, while fighting, had got their horns interlocked so they could not get loose. Having a rifle of great effec tiveness he killed them both at one shot. The buffalo is not only one of the most redoubtable of fighters but is also the most ruthless and ferocious, whether its antagonist be man or some other animal. "Many animals charge when infuriated," says Sir Samuel WV. Baker. "but they can gen erally be turnedl by the stunning ef fect of a rifle shot. even though they may beC not mortally wounded: but a buffalo is a devil incarnate when it has once decided on the offensive. Nothing will turn it. If not killed it will assuredly destroy its adver sary. There is no creature in exis tence that is so determined to stamp out the life of its opponents. Should it succeed in overthrowing its antag onist it will not only gore the body S with its horns but it will endeavor to tear it to pieces, and will stand upon its lifeless form and stamp it with its hoofs until the mutilated remains are idisfigured beyond recognition.: It ~ 'is this ferocity of the buffalo which makes buffalo hunting so exciting - and so perilous a sport." Experienced hunters are always very careful not to stand in front of a buffalo which has been felled by a bullet and is apparently dead, for af ter every sign of life is gone it may spring to its feet and deal destruction in every direction. Bron Harnier, a Prussian, shot a buffalo on the White Nile several years ago. His native servant had just take a position near :he head of the animal. which was apparentlydeadwkenit sprang to its feet and knocked the man headlong. Baron Harnier's rifle being unloaded. he courageously clubbed the weapon. and tried to drive the buffalo off. The animal turned furiously upon him and stamped and gored h;m to death. The missionaries who found his body also found the carcass of the buffalo lying near it. and a little further way the body of his servant. No land animal. except possibly the elephant, loves water so much as the buffalo. In a wild state it fre quents swamp ground, wher- it wal lows in the water and plasters itself with mud. Its coat of mud, when hardened in the sun affords it pro tection from the great gadflies, which especially in Africa, cause it much annoyance. The buffalo does not lose its love of water when domesticated, and its practice of lying down in ev *v stream it come to, even when hitched to a cart gets it may cudgelings and cursings from its Indian drivers. The buffalo's usual way of afford ing sport is as the hunted. The Singhalese of Ceylon train it to be a hunter. A favorite game of the Singhalese is the swamp frequenting waterfowl. The waterfowls are ac customed to buffaloes being near, and do not fear them. The Singhalese, therefore, teach the buffaloes to browse slowly toward the game, while a man with a gun creeps un discovered behind them until he gets within easy shooting distance. Wild buffaloes are highly gregar ious. When a herd containing a number of calves is threatened by lions or tigers, the bulls, if there be time, arrange themselves in a circle around the cows and calves, present ing a solid array of horns; and the enemy must be pretty hungry if he will then attack. Herds numbering five or six hundred used frequently to be met with in Africa. Like other wild animals, they were able to hold their own against savage man armed only with his bow and arrows and other crude weapons. But like the livn, the rhinoceros, the elephant, and all other large game, they have been rapidly exterminated since Eu ropeans introduced the practice of hunting them with firearms. It sel dom happens that a herd of more than ten or twenty is now encounter ed. "In a few years," wrote W. H. Drummond almost thirty years ago, "a buffalo will be as scarce as an ele phant is now." His prediction has al ready almost been verified. .A THRILLING RIDE. How Two Eminent Jurists Were Held up in an Automo bile. The following is from the Colum bia State of Friday: The recent experience of Judge WV. C. Benet of this city, Mr. P. A. Wil cox of Florence and Mr. E. A. Jen kins of Sumter in being held up and fired upon by Nick Britton for at tempting to pass him in a motor car on the p)ublic road near Alcolu, wvas automnobiling under newv and unex pected (difficulties. The incident was referred to in The State yesterday. Judge Benet was asked yesterday ror a statemen: of the matter. He $aid that he and Mr. W'vilcox were at Manning and wished to get to Sum ter in time to see Judge Purdy be lore he left home. No trains were scheduled for that time of day, so they engeged an automobile from Mr. Jenkins. who is an expert driver and keeps machines for rent at Sum ter. Hie went to Manning for them in a splendid new Pope-Hartford. The party left Manning late in the afternoon and were making a rapid run. They encountered a great many vehicles of various kinds, some of them containing farmers and their families. All of these drove to one side and allowed the machine to pass until Mr. Jenkins caught up with Nick Britton, who was driving in the same direction. Britton, seeing the automobile approaching him, drove his horse to one side of the road and stopped. He then got out of his bug gy and began waving them down .ith his left hand. No attempt was made by Mr. Jenkins to stop and the man in the middle of the road level ed his pistol at them and continued to wave his left arm violently. As the machine continued to approach Br'tun shot several times over their hea-!s. This brought them to a stand still, but without any apparent reason Britton fired several more shots, which like the others, not being aim ed at the party, went high and did no harm. Mr. Jenkins then got out and went Forward to where Mr. Britton was -.anding defiantly in the road, across a swamp branch cursing and swear ing that no automobile should pass him. Mr. Jenkins had a quiet talk with Britton and he put his pistol in his pocket. A judge and a lawyer in the automobile may have been a strong er argument than pistols. Judge Benet had nothing but praise for Mr. Jenkins. He was not only cool, but competent and consid erate of all whom he met or overtook and twice got out of the automobile and led excited horses past. He was particularly careful whenever he saw any lady or child with a vehicle. The journey was continued and the splendid machine rolled into Sumter on time, having covered the distance of 20 miles in one hour and 20 min utes in spite of all delays-bad roads and others. The Rights of the Road. Judge Benet, in commenting upon the incident and the entire trip; said that there should be separate road ways for motor vehicles, as the ordi nary vehicles which travel the public roads have the right of way and that the machine should turn aside for the wagon or buggy instead of those ve hicles giving up their rights of way for the motor car. While not approving of the violent action of Nick Britton, Judge Benet says he sympathizes with the people who are frightened and endangered by passing automobiles. Wouldnt Commit Forgery. London Tit-Bits. Among the candidates for appoint ment to a vacancy on the police force of an Irish town was one Patrick Murphy, whose appearance before the mayor was hailed with cries of "He can't write!" The mayor said he was only there to take down the names of applicants, who would come up a fortnight later for examination. A friend set Murphy in a fair, round hand to copy "Patrick Mur phy" and kept him practicing at it assiduously. When the eventful day arrived, "Take that pen," said the mayor, "and write-write your name." As Pat took up the pen ex clamations arose: "Pat's a-writin'! He's got a quill in his fist! Small good will it to him! He can't write with it!" All were dumfounded when Mur phy recorded his name in a bold, round hand and the mayor declared, "That'll do." but one of them shout ed: "Ask him to write somebody else's name, yer honor!" "Write my name, Murphy," said the mayor. "*Write yer honor's name!" ex claimed Pat. "Me commit forgery and goin' into the police! I darn't do it. yer honor." Dangerous to Kiss a Dog. St. Paul. Minnesota, Dispatch. Can a woman kiss a dog once a ay fo'r 30 dlays? A\S the result of a .act on1 this subject at Moutnain Lake one woman is seriously ill, five oth :rs are tunder a physician's care, three dogs are dead and other dogs are exhibiting strange symptoms. Ial came ab)out from a wager made by John Ange lhardt, a wealthy church member. to six women promi ment in aidl society work in the church. At a meeting of the aid so ciyt Aangelhardt was much amused at the custom of one of the members o frequently kissing a favorite pood le on the mouth. His merriment pro voked the women. and all declared they were in the habit of kissing their dogs and thought it a nice custom. Angelahrdt then made the wager that the six could not kiss their dogs once a day for thirty days, the act to be performed immediately after breat. The women took the bet. if they succecdcd, Angelhardt was to pay them a second time for every thing sold at the coming annual church fair. If they failed, they were to make for him a duplicate of every thing sold at the fair. After the kissing had gone on for ten days two of +he women became violently ill and the others also suf fered. One held out until the 29th day. Angelhardt, it is announced. will i:ot hold the women to the bet, but instead has made a liberal dona tion to the church. King Alfrunso and American Girls. Bo.on Record. The Rev. Thomas Van Ness, who ha.; traveled much in Spain and who ha- a rich fund of stories of that .-.ntry, tells this anecdote of King Alfonso: A certain member of the Spanish court was urging upon his majesty the advisability of his marriage with a certain princess, when the young king interrupted him. "No," he said, "I shall marry an American. First, because the Ameri cans are all rich, and that will please you. Second, because they are all republicans, and that will please many of my people. Third, because they are all beautiful. And that will please me." One young woman was killed and about 6o persons were injured, half of them seriously, in a wreck on the Erie railroad, four miles north of Paterson, N. J., on Monday. The train was running at about 6o miles an hour when all four cars of which it was composed were 'derailed, it is believed by the falling of the rear cross beam of the tender. The engine of a regular passenger train of the Central of Georgia rail SOUTHERN THE SOUTH'S GREATEST S' UNEXCELLED DINING CAR THROUGHIPULLMAN SLEEI TRAINS. CONVENIENT SCHEDULES ( WINTER TOURISTS' RATES points. For full information as to rates, ri Railway Ticket Agent, or R. W. HUN' SEAB AIR - LINE NORTH - SOUTH Two Daily Pullman V Between SOUTH a FIRST-CLASS DINI The Best Rates and RC Via Richmond and Norfolk and Stear Nashville, Mempi Louis, Chicago, NE Points South and Souti land Jacksonville an< and Cuba. POSSrrIvELy THE SHc N O RT H Atl *SIEFor detailed informatio> man reservations, etc., app board Air Line Railway, or. Passenger Agent, Columbia C. F. STEWART, A SAVANN. N- Dessert N ire Attractive T use gelatine and - F id hours soaking, 4 Z ,etening, flavoring 4.'muiris and coloring when n T. - JellmO produces better results in two minutes? Everything in the package. Simply addhat water and set to cool. It s perfection. A su prise to the housewife. No trouble, lesser pense. Try it to-day. Flavors: Lemon, Orange, Strawberry, Raspberry. Che4lat and erry. At grocers. 10e. road wen: through the bridge spanning the Chattahoochee river, at Colum bia, Ala.. on Monday. killing the en gineer an, fireman. It is stated that the baggac and mail car went partly over the chasm made by the falling locomotive and that it was held in place only by the coupling to the second-class coach. It is stated that President Roose -velt, who for weeks has been hopeful that some definite action might be taken a: the present session of con gress on the railroad rate question, practically has relinquished the idea of securing legislation on the subject this winter. It is reasonably certain that he will not call an extraordinary session of congress to meet in the spring, but, unless he changes his mind, he will call congress together probably next October. The southern portion of Hot Springs, Ark., was sewept by fire on Saturday, the losses being carioushly estimated at from $1,000,000 to $2, ooo,ooo. Three charred corpses were found among the ruins and it was though that as several persons were reported missing the death list might be increased. The fire was the worst ever experienced in Arkansas. RAILWAY! VSTEM. SERVICE. ING CARS ON ALL THROUGH )N ALL LOCAL TRAINS. are now in effect to all Florida >utes, etc.; consult nearest Southern -. ', Division Passenger Agent, Charleston, S. C' QARD - RAILWAY. - EAST -. WEST. sibuled Limited Trains nd NEW YORK. ING CAR SERVICE. >ute to all Eastern Cities Washington,' or via. rers.-To Atlanta, ls, Louisville, St. ~w Orleans, and All twest--To Savannah I all points In Florida RTEST L-INE BETWEEN ID SOUTH. a, rates, schedules, Pull ty to any agent of The Sea Jos. W. Stewart. Traveling , S.C. sst.Gfeni. Pass. Agt., AH, GA.