A few years after gold was discov
ered in Montana, I found myself for
the second time in my life in the vi
cinity of the Prickly Pear • Canyon,
through which now passes the North
ern Pacific railroad.
.There was not a cabin within'one
hunMrcd miles excepting a ranch where
I remained for two weeks. In the early
(toys this was built by a squaw man,
who, at the time of the Fur Company
Which had several posts on the Mis
souri, was quite a power in that coun
try. He was a sinister old man, and
Was liked by no one, though his un
popularity did not last long, as he was
kiltta by1 an Indian boy—but, to come
back- to, my story, the present owner
v ^anch and I were talking of
some of. our hunting experiences. The
conversation bad turned to mountain
•hwMR 'ab lately there were many in
the vicinity.
ft* ranchman, a few days previous,
had lost a valuable colt, it being killed
by one of these prowling creatures.
The colt had been drinking at a stream
pot over live hundred yards, from the
ranch, when a powerful lion sprang
from an overhanging tree upon the
little animal’s back. The old mare
was feeding only a short distance from
the colt at the time, and, hearing its
cry of distress, rushed forward and
attacked the panther with such ftiry
that the Iattei was compelled to sneak
off and leave Its prey, but not until the
poor colt’s neck had been broken,
causing it to die instantly.
Barly In the spring of that year this
same ranchman, who was a hardy fron
tiersman, had been out for two days
hunting up some cattle which had
strayed off during a windstorm. The
fellow was Just coming home, and saw
bla wife and little six-year-old girl
down by the old cabin, then used for
a cow-shed. The mother was milking
a cow close to a haycock by the barn,
an& the <*Ud was playing near her. It
Wad’a murky morning; the mist had
not yet cleared away.
"'ttie father, after turning his horse
Iqoae, wq^.Juat ln the act of throwing
away some water from the basin in
which he had been washing, when he
caauaKy looked In the direction of the
old cabin; and, to his horror and con
sternation, he saw a pair of panthers
looking down as they crouched in the
haycock and were preparing to spring
these pretty creatures, but they were
very shy, and to approach within shoot
ing distance it required great caution
on our part.
We all rode horses and had splendid
mounts, not knowing what moment wo
might fall in with some of Sitting
Bull’s warriors, and it depended more
on fast horses than arms. We kept
together as much as possible, but be
came separated in chasing the game.
Not that we followed them on horse
back, for we had picketed our horses,
and were "still’’ hunting. Each man
for himself tried to approach the game
by stealth.
It was an exceedingly hot day, and
the heat from the prairie was rising in
what appeared to be tremulous waves
above the bunch-grass and soap-weed,
making objects in the distance of a
thousand yards look aB if they were
trembling in the glow of a Are. I was
crawling toward a group of half, a
dozen antelope and dragging my rifle
after me through the grass. None of
my companions were in sight. The
game were very restless, and I was
anxious to locate the other hunters, so
as not to stray away from them, for
the pleasure of hunting antelope was
not so great that I wished to take
chances of meeting any Indian single
handed. Therefore I decided to risk a
long shot and get away. My gun was
a navy carbine and I could carry a
great distance. Although having a
more modern gun, my carbine was a
; great favorite of mine, having used
1 It more and making some excellent
shots, it very naturally was preferred
by me when hunting game.
The antelope were about six hundred
yards off, and that seemed to be as
near as I could approach. I tried all
sorts, of maneuvers to arouse the cur
iosity Of-the game, such as flagging and
waving my moccasin feet in the air by
holding my feet over my head, but all
this seemed to no effect. So I raised
my carbine sight and fired at the fore
most one, which was facing me. At
tfie report of my rifle they all wheeled
about, and I saw the one nearest me
had been hit; his leg was dangling as
If his shoulder were broken.
Just at that moment I saw some
thing which made me start in wonder
and surprise and stand gazing after
the retreating game. In the uncertain
light it looked to me as if another an
I
tpBS&LL FROM THE HUNTER’S REVOLVER CRASHED THROUGH ITS
4 BRAIN.
_L
T7~-1
upori the unsuspecting mother and I
child. There was not a minute to be
loit; he must act at race, or it would
big^ too late. Quick as thought and with i
tt» nerve and alertness only an old
frontiersman can show, he grabbed his
Winchester, which was standing
against the door, and. fearing the
larger of the two beasts, which was
tn advance, would spring before he
eonld shoot, took a Quick aim, without
raising hte rifle to his shoulder, and
f' And. The panther was in the very act
U of; springing, and as the ball hit him
he fell in a heap at the mother’s feet
the oow started off In a mad run, kick
ing over the pall In its rapid flight.
The wife and child were speechless
w)U> fright, and stood trembling with
fear. The dead panther’s mate skulked
off, but not until It had a ball In Its
hide.
After reassuring his wife there was
no .more danger the ranchman started
In pursuit of the wounded panther,
which was limping and making slow
progress toward the forest on the
mown tain side. After a short chase the
hnnier overtook the beast and killed
her by firing two more shots from his
rifle. This narrative made me after
ward keep my eyes open and on the
lookout, should I happen to run across
sap. mountain lions during my sojourn
fy this region.
y fow days after our conversation I
wjh In a small party hunting for an
which, the ranchman said, al
tbohgb they had been very plentiful,
weft now becoming scarce In the neigh
IwbSbl We bad seen a small herd of
telope had jumped upon the one with
the broken leg and was making off with
It It filled me with astonishment, and
I was bound to unravel this strange
mystery; so, quickly running to where
my horse was picketed, I mounted and
galloped after the antelope. As I
gained on It I was enabled to solve the
problem and understand the strange
scene. A large panther had jumped on
my game, seeing It was disabled, and
was carrying It off toward the moun
tains. Reining In my horse, I dropped
another cartridge In my rifle, halted for
a moment and sent a ball after the ani
mal. It dropped my game, which I
soon had across my saddle, and made
a quick run to camp.
When I reached the spring near
which we had picketed our horses I
found only one of my companions had
returned. I told httn of my experience.
He laughed and said, “Oh, that's a fishy
story!” But I soon convinced him of
its truth by showing the marks of the
panther's teeth in the neck of the an
telope, which It had broken.
We were both very hungry, and
knew the others would be when they
returned, so started a fire and began
cooking. The rest of our party came
In about an hour afterward, and to our
surprise we saw one had a mountain
lion’s skin behind his saddle besides an
antelope. It seems he had been hunt
ing north of me two or three miles, and
was stalking a small band of antelope,
evidently part of the bunch I had come
across, which had been separated by
the mountain lion. Ha had noticed
something moving among the antelope,
which they seemed to avoid, and about
their color, but paid little attention to
it, as he was trying to get a shot at
one of the creatures. They were very
wild, and this seemed almost impos
sible to do, but after several attempts
he succeeded in shooting a buck, after
which he took the shortest route to
camp.
The trail followed a washout to the
edge of a little sandstone bluff which
l'ose from the prairie in irregular forms.
The bunch grass grew in patches and In
| great profusion. As he was riding
along the trail something seemed to
move through the bunch-grass. His
horse snorted a few times, and seemed
uneasy, which, from a sense of caution
more than fear, caused him to draw
his revolver and carry it in readiness
for an emergency, he being a partic
ularly good pistol shot from the saddle,
an excellent rider and a man of great
experience. In passing along a turn
in the trail under the edge of a sand
stone ledge, he was suddenly startled
by hearing the growl of a large panther,
which was crouching in the act of
springing upon him. It took but a
second to realize his position. The
horse sprang forward with a bound j
which would have thrown many a man I
from the saddle, though he be an ex
cellent horseman. The mountain lion 1
had risen and was flying through the j
air as the ball from the hunter's re
volver went crashing through his brain,'
and in a second it was writhing in
agony upon the ground like ah enorm
ous cat in its death agonies. As she
fell two young panthers ran to the en- j
trance of the cave where she had her
den. |
This was probably the same animal
which had tried to carry off my ante
lope a few hours before. The moun
tain lions, or cougars, are known to be
very savage and ravenous, and require
plenty of meat, especially when they
have young, and large quantities of
prairie chtcken are destroyed by them. I
The rest of our party, who had re
turned to camp, had only succeeded in
bagging a few Jack rabbits and some
prairie chickens.
The next morning we went to the j
cave and endeavored to catch the cubs,1
but all to no purpose. They were evi
dently feeding upon the skinned car
cass of their mother, but on our ap- •
proach slunk off Into the cave. j
Married Under a Tree.
Dean Swift was walking on the Phoe
nix road, Dublin, when a thunderstorm
suddenly came on, and he took shelter
under a tree where a party were shel
tering also—two young women and two
young men. One of the girls looked
very sad, till as the rain fell her tears
began to flow. The dean inquired the
cause, and learned that it was her wed
ding day. They were on their way to
church, and now her white clothes were
wet, and she could not go. “Never
mind—I’ll marry you,* said the dean;
and he took out his prayer-book and
then and there married them, their
witnesses being present; and, to make
the thing complete, he tore a leaf from
his pocket-book, and, with his pencil,
wrote and signed a certificate, which
he handed to the bride The certificate
was worded as follows: “Under a tree
in stormy weather, I married this man
and woman together; let none but Him
who rules the thunder sever this man
and woman asunder.—Jonathan Swift,
dean of St. Patrick’s.”
Forgot Their Dignity.
The old gate keeper of Virginia
Springs in speaking recently of the
early days of that resort, told of a din
ner given by Henry Clay to his friends.
The dinner was solemn enough until
almost dawn, when the cloth was re
moved and the pipes passed around and
a negro fiddler brought In. Then Hen
ry Clay, the great statesman, and Ru
fus Shoate, the lawyer, stood up before
the company, and while Clay danced a
Kentucky breakdown, Choate danced a
New England pigeonwing.
Qalte Proper.
"How is this, Rosa; you are still In
mourning, and yet you mean to go to
the masked ball?” “What does it
matter? I am going as queen of the
night, all in black.”—Kolner Tage
blatt.
WHAT WOMEN ARE WEARING.;
The princess of Saxe-Melnlngen
chose a skirt and cape of a pretty
cloth, lightly checked with powder
blue. The skirt was bound with leath
er.
. The princess of Naples while In
England distinguished herself for her
exquisite toilets. At, the .Buckingham
state ball she wore a dress of mauve
satin, with court-train of velvet' The
skirt waB embroidered In steel and sli
ver.
Pretty capes bought by the Princess
de Ligne and other titled women are
heliotrope Scotch plaids or made of
heliotrope Scotch tweed lined with
mauve brocade and, of reseda tweed
checked with white, with collar revere
and lining also of white.
Gowns for the season In Scotland
are now being considered abroad and
many valuable hints may be gathered
from the descriptions of dresses chos
en. by fashionable women. Princess
Victoria of Wales has ordered a cape
of navy blue tweed, with reversible
lining of red, circular In shape, with
strapped seams and a smart hood.
There seems an epidemic of yellow
and one of the handsomest gowns of
this color was recently worn by the
duchess of Marlborough. Pearls, steal
sequins and turquoise beads were
wrought In a design on the skirt. Lady
Londonderry wore at the same function
a pale-green brocade, while a French
visitor was striking in ruby Chinn
crepe with gold embroideries and n
tiara of rubles and diamonds.
DAIRY AND POULTRY.
interesting chapters for
OUR RURAL READERS.
How Successful Farmers Operate This
Department of the Farm—A Few
Bints as to tha Care of Lire Stock
and Poultry.
Temptations.
ND it came to pass
that about this
time of the year a
certain man findeth
himself without
shekels, and he
casteth about that
he may have the
wherewithal to
purchase food and
raiment, for no
man wnulrl lend
him more until he first paid what was
due.
And as he goeth up and down upon
the face of the earth, seeking how he
might get gold without labor, he pass
eth by the place of the man who sell
eth milk.
He stoppeth in the street, for behold
he heareth the sounds of strife, and
when he goeth into the house of the
milk dealer he flndeth that the milk
dealer refusth to take the milk that
the' farmer had brought, for it was
sour, and the farmer was exceeding
wroth.
Then this man goeth into his home
and saith to his wife. "Eureka,” which
being interpreted means, I have a soft
snap, and he ‘telleth her to go unto the
physician, and get an omer of a certain
kirtd of acid. Now ah omer is ten
cents’ worth. •’
Then this man getteth ten boxes and
writeth on each one Sweetaline. and
.he putteth a tenth part of the omer of
his acid in each box, and goeth unto
the land of the farmers.
And when he meeteth the farmer,
whose milk had been sour, he showeth
him one of the boxes, and telleth him
to kut a tenth part of the substance in
the box into the milk, and it will keep
sweet for the space of three days.
And the farmer paid the man an
ephah, which Is ten omers, and he did
unto his milk as the man saith, and
behold it was sweet unto the third day,
as the man had said.
Then after three days, cometh again
this man and sayeth unto all the farm
ers, why now trouble you yourselves to
keep clean the vessels wherewith you
carry your milk to the city, or where
fore do you labor scrubbing your milk
pails? Behold, for the sum of an ephah
I will sell unto you a substance which
will keep dirty milk clean.
light, comb large, but evenly serrated;
It thin near the top, all the better:
hackle well striped, but none In saddle;
Undercolor of hackle and saddle may
be light gray or white; wing bows
should show more purple than red, as
too much red shows signs of being bred
from a bricky hen. To him mate exhi
bition females having light brown pen
ciled with darker brown on back and
wings, all one shade, free from shaft
ing on back and brick on wings. These
hens should have the large comb, lying
over, but firm and strong on the head,
so it does not lie close to the eye and
face. The cockerels raised from this
mating are the birds to use for breeding
females the next year. By breeding
Brown Leghorns ir. this manner we
have two distinct lines of blood, and
they should never be crossed. The Buff
Leghorn Is the most recent acquisition
to the Mediterranean class. It is a
beautiful bird, and one that will win
its way wherever bred. Buff-colored
birds have many admirers, and those
who have bred them are pronounced in
their praise of their qualities. Besides
having the general characteristics of
the Leghorn type, the Buff Leghorn
cock has rich buff-colored hackle and
saddle, in shade from lemon to cinna
mon, but of even solid color in keeping
with the rest of the plumage; the back
and wing bow exactly match the plum
age; tail is of the same general tint,
FEATHERS OF BROWN LEGHORNS,
but richer, deeper bull is preferable, the
standard giving for tail a rich,' deep
bull or copperish bronze. ' The remainr
der of the plumage is of a slightly
lighter shade, but even in color
throughout, with no semblance to a
patchy or mottled plumage. White and
black feathers in plumage are objec
tionable; solid white or solid black
feathers will disqualify the bird. The
hen is of the same color as the cock.
Chicken-Eating Hogs
A chicken catcher in a herd of hogs
is most exasperating and expensive,
writes T. L. Irwin in Texas Farm
Journal. One such will soon transform
JINGLE-COMB BROWN LEGHORN COCK.
And some of the farmers hearkened
unto the man, and bought of him, but
others said: “We will not do so, for
behold we have read that this substance
that you sell Is poison to children.”
But there were enough farmers, who
cared not for the children of other peo
ple, to buy large numbers of boxes of
sweetaline, and the man got gold, yea
much fine gold, for he selleth his stuff
unto this day.—National Stockman.
Standard Varieties of Cblekens.
In mating Brown Leghorns opposites
must be considered. Should the male
be fine in all points except comb or leg
select females strong in this point to
mate with Jjim. . The most successful
breeders use a double mating, one pen
to produce exhibition birds of each sex.
Fine birds, both cockerels and pullets,
can be bred from the same pen by using
slightly different types of females. The
same male often will breed the finest
of both exhibition Cockerels and pul
lets, but it is a rare case to have a fe
male breed both sexes of a remarkable
quality. When two pens are used, at
the head of the pen mated to produce
the cockerels place a fully developed
cock with no serious fault, standard
color, especially strong in comb, lobe,
hackle and saddle, a dark undercolor
preferred. To him mate hens of a
shade, darker than standard, with
Btnall, evenly serrated standing combs;
a trifle brick on wings is no objection,
as it will give a brighter color on wing
bows of the cockerels. Shafting on the
back will also help that black stripe
in the saddles. The pullets raised from
this pen will be too dark for exhi
bition, but they will be a great help in
breeding cockerels the next season. The
male at the head of the pen mated to
produce the pullets should be from a
bullet strain, and bred directly from
; an exhibition hen. His color is a trifle
a whole herd Into ravenous chicken
eaters. Being troubled In this way I
tried the following: A leather blind
wide enough to cover both eyes and
long enough to come well over the face
was cut from an old boot leg. The
chicken thief was then caught, and
pulling the ears forward, the top cor
ners of the blind were fastened to them
by means of pinchers and rings, such
as are put in the snouts of pigs to pre
vent rooting. This blind will not pre
vent the hog from seeing his legitimate
food, but it does prevent him seeing
chickens unless they are under his
very nose, and then if he attempts
pursuit the chances are that he brings
his nose in violent contact with the
fence or some other obstruction. A
few such lessons and he concludes that
he is no longer partial to chicken. A
mouth of "leather specs” cured our
most ravenous thief, and by blinding
only th$. ring leaders the whole herd
was soon as docile as well behaved
porkers should be.
Where shade cannot be secured from
trees for your fowls, try planting a
patch of sunflowers'* Very soon the
ground will be completely shaded and
it will be noticed that chickens prefer
sunflower seed to any other.
Don’t be afraid to let your poultry
aunt for their food. They enjoy the
job and it is healthier for them.
Wanted—To learn of some one who
has invented a hen’s nest, that but one
hen can get on at a time.
It will make a better sale for eggs
If you will wipe all dirty ones with a
cloth before marketing them.
Give the horses a tew potatoes now
and than.
SHE KNEW HOW TO CURE.
Dot She Diagnosed the. Cue Bather
"Even novices In medicine run to the ^
experimental, as I have occasion to |
remember,’’ tells a citizen whose word
is never called in question, says the
Detroit Free Press. "I visited an old
aunt of mine this summer, and, while
reveling in rural enjoyments I fell out
of a cherry tree. There seemed to be
a general jarring and shaking up of
the system that I thought demanded
the attention of a doctor, but aunt
prides herself on knowing more than
half the men who practice medicine
and is committed to the old school of
economy. She would bring, me round
all right. It would be a shame to
send for a high-priced physician just
to relieve a few bruises. Of course
I was sore internally, for that was to
be expected. The first remedy admin
istered was catnip tea, which I took
with that rebellious spirit begotten of
childhood experiences. Then wild
onion poultices were scattered judici
ously over my person. Failure of re
lief caused my feet to be soaked in hot
water and wood ashes, the lye distilled
becoming so aggressive that I kicked
the bucket over and repudiated the
treatment. This was accepted as a
premonition of brain fever, and a red
hot mustard draught was applied to
the back of my neck. To the same end ,.
my head was thoroughly soaked in 4
spring water. I entered a special com
plaint as to my side and a poultice of '
grated horseradish was the answer.
In response to a demand for Borne ex
hilarant I was given sassafras tea. 1
was disposed to insist on brandy, but
this was another brain-fever symptom,
and more spring water was called into
requisition. At length I surreptitious
ly hired a neighbor to go for a reput
able physician.”
“Did he effect a cure?”
“Oh, yes. I bad a broken rib."
VAGARIES OP GENIUS,
Macaulay Liked to Bmiih the Wine
* Oleteee,
Macaulay, the historian, always used
to eat £is Sunday dinner klofte and at
a restaurant; When he had finished,
he generally -built jip At pyramid of
wine-glasses, which he 'delighted to
see topple over, says ah exchange.
When he left the restaurant ;hq,, /used
to pay liberally for the broken glass
as well a8 for the dinner. Cowper,
the poet, was a great had for pets. At
one time he possessed a squirrel, a cat,
two dogs, several canary birds, a starl
ing, a jay, a magpie, two guinea pigs,
three hares and five rabbits. When
ever the soldierly duke of Epernay
saw a hare it made him sick, and once
he kept his bed for a week after one
of these little animals touched him.
It is said that Rembrandt, the greg^—.
artist, loved his pet monkey next t3T
money; that he shed tears when tha
creature died and painted a portrait oT\
it from memory. Tradition has it that
Philip, the duke of Burgundy, devoted
much of his time to contriving trap
doors in his house and grounds for the
purpose of sousing unwary strangers
in water holes underneath them. Car
dinal Richelieu loved cats as much as
he hated children. When he died his
favorite Angora cat refused to eat and
soon died also. When traveling, Han
del, the composer, used to order din
ner for three, If very hungry for five
and then eat the whole himself. Pigs
were the favorite pets of Harris, the
poet. He used to teach them to follow
him about and one of unusual intelli
gence he taught to drink beer out of a
mug.
HOW ABOUT YOUR CHIN?
Drunkards usually have a circular
line about their chins.
Square chins, with little flesh, denote
firmness and good executive ability.
The owners make good haters. ‘:
Broad chins signify nobleness and
large dignity, unless vertically thin,
when If thin, bloodless lips go with
them you will find cruelty.
The chin, taken in connection with
the rest of the face, is almost as good
an index of character as is the thumb.
Slovens have wrinkles around their
chins.
Owners of long, thin chins are poet
ical, unstable and delicate in constitu
tion. If thin about the angles of the
mouth the owner is liable to tubercu
losis and is generally short lived.
Protruding chins characterize men
and women of the get-there type. Suc
cessful people usually carry their chins
thrust forward, with compressed lips.
If this style of chin is heavy and swell
ing it denotes lighting blood.
A retreating chin shows lack of force
mentally, morally and physically; the
owner is of the yielding kind, soon dis
couraged, needs protection and has
small executive force. The develop
ment of other facilities usually makes
up for this lack.
Medium chins, with a suggestive bi
furcation in the center on the order of
a dimple, with small mounds of flesh
on either side, characterize generosity,
impulsiveness and a cheery nature. The
same size chins, with a dab of flesh un
der the center of the lower lip, indicate
meanness, selfishness and brutality.
A small, well rounded chin indicates
a pleasure loving nature, and if dim
pled, all the more so, for dtmpled
chins belong to coquettes. People with
dimples love to be petted and liked, and 1
are fond of admiration and praise, i
They are generally fickle. Usually the T
oowner of this chin is healthy, recuper- /
ative and long lived.
The difference between a planet and
a star is this: A star shines uy its own
light; a planet by light reflected Irens
another body.