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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Herald, 1908-10-16, Page 3New 1'og Proved its Wildcat and Bear Murat Scotia Swamp. Annapolis. N. S.—Uncle Ned held up a tetter,: took out his big iron rimmed spec- tacles, set them carefully across his nose and read: dear fair i received yor leter will set the Borg for ten dollars he is a good dorg for wildcat fox minks otter or enny track you poot him on he wase trained beefor i got hien sevven bares With hien le sevven years old a give 24 dollars for him wood not sell him but am getting so I kant go in the woods with rumatism if 1 watts yunger i wodnt part with the Borg i send him 0 o d as you want by mister penny -man he will stay in a eanoo skold km if he goze rong he wil go rite he'll ehaoe all draiy wit come baek at nite be careful if are after cats or fox if he smells a. moos or a bare he will leave and go after it if he wuz you jest stay wbar you ar and he wil bring the moos back to you he is a god dorg his name s range range wel wil doze so good by yours truly mr John, MGBain. With a smile Uncle Ned transferred his attention from John. McBain to the "good dorg," a fairly well bred English foxhound of uncertain age and modest demeanor, with a few deep scars on head and ears that represented his diploma as a wildcat and bear dog. "H'ml" he mused, critically regarding the' animwl, who wagged his tail amica- bly, "ten dollars is a. pretty good bar- gain for a really first class hound. I've heard of him before, too. Old John Me- Bain used to be one of the best all around hunters and trappers in Digby county, and this old Range was always called the best dog in Digby county. Wonder way he wants to let him go, and at. such a price." We explained that the old man was really getting too feeble to cruise about the woods and wanted to have his dog in kind hands, but Uncle Ned was still sceptical as heled the way to the canoes for the eat hunt. The late November weather was cold and crisp, and a light dry snow that cov- ered the ground for about three inches promised to make tracking and going easy. Our costumes were regulated by the advice of Uncle Ne. We wore thin underclothing of pure wool. thick woollen gray shirts, necker- chiefs, stout knickers with long stock- ings, and canvas leggings over a pair of ankle Iarrigans, which were made to fit closely by wearing an extra pair of socks. We also wore our canvas shoot- ing coats, which, though noisy, we soon found were excellent for smashing through the killing Nova Scotia thicket, and there ie no reason for especial quiet when after. wild eats with 'a hound. Hardly had we landed when the hound. began to whine and howl and sniff the air eagerly. Uncle Ned 'early lost him by an unexpectedly hard and sudden tug on the chain, but recovered and let the dog drag him ten yards up the carry, where, sure enough, a fresh wildcat track led directly across the path. Uncle Ned hung on to Range only long enough to make sure of the freshness of the track, and the next moment the merry music was echoing through the frosty air: "Ow! Ow! O-o-o.o-owI Ow!" Jack and I started to dash into the thicket after the hound, but Uncle Ned. restrained us. "Hold on, boys; no rush," he said. "Let's see where he's going. May come right around across the trail again, you know. "We'II just sneak along the carry for a while and listen. If he gets too far away we'll follow and keep him within earshot. "No use tramping through these swampe more'n necessary. We're likely to get enough of it before night anyway, for I guess the `best dog in Digby Coun- ty' is a good one, all right." The admonition was well timed, for though the trail did not actually recross the carry, it would certainly have neces- eiteted a forced march of some miles without result had we followed the hound, for that cat's track must have described several figure es with a couple of miles between the sides, judging from the baying of the dog, now faint, now etre tiger. At one time he was entirely out of earshot, but a plunge of half a mile in- to a bleak spruce swamp brought this ridiculous and yet mellow old howling bay la our ears again, and almost be- fore we knew it he was past us not a hundred yards off. Uncle Ned and we hurried over to the track and found that the cat was evidently, getting tired; at least, so said the old man, who judged from. the elighttly irregular footprints. "We've got her sure, boys," he ex- claimed. and a moment after the words left his lips the dog was heard again a quarter of a mile on our right. "He's circling;" said Uncle Ned. "Like- ly, the eat won't leave the swamp, so due might as well wait and see what'll a Nova happen," whereupon the old trapper squatted on his haunches while we, less afraid of forest chinks, or rather leas experienced in woodland precaution.q, fol- lowed his example as to rest, but seat- ed ourselves upon adjoining logs. Nearer and nearer came the deep baying and all at once I thought I heard him puffing at my.,very side. Looking down I saw an enormous wildcat half trotting, half slinking through the tan- gled and snow broken brakes., his ears laid back and his mouth half open. He seemed to take no notice of me, and be- fore I could raise my.303 had disappear- ed in the bush. In a second the hound rushed past as fresh as a daisy, 'and we all followed as fast as tike thdek tangle of fallen logs second growth henllloeks and spruces and soft swamp would permit. Within hdlf a minute we heard the hound. bay "Treed!" with frantic but regular barks: "Owl Ow! Ow!" without rest. Pretty soon Dame a yowl from the cat, followed by a series of howls, snarls and barks which betokened a canine -fe- line scrap of the liveliest description. As we came to the scene of thelbattle there was puss, a big tom, backed . up against a log, like the very image of Satan. He was puffing and had evidently been cornered by the hound before find - i a tree suitable for escape. Now, I read last winter a series of letters by famous woodsmen on wild- cats and Canada lynxes, the purport of nearly all of which was that these annals are poltroons of the worst des- cription. Manly Hardy told us even how they are killed by a man with bare hands; alone. So be it, I question not the fact. But of one thing I am sure, namely, that those cats were not the kind we have in the hi'aritime Provinces, or at least in Nova Scotia, the Lynx gigas, or giant wildcat. However the question may be determined, let it be placed. on record that this wildcat put up an ex- cellent fight, all in and outnumbered as he was. He would make little jumps at the dog and at us if we came too near. He got one good lick in on Range's nose that drew blood, and. he growled spite- fully. No doubt if a wildcat knew its power it could make it very lively for an unarmed man, for a full grown one is about as much like a bunchy of steel springs run by a small cyclone as any- thing. I can think of. Range would rush in and grab the cat by the hindquarters when its at- tention was attracted by one of us, and the eat would turn and swat him well, though he was clever enough to escape in time nearly always. Jack and I 'rich- ly enjoyed the mixup, but we were afraid that Range would eventually pet a strangle hold on the big cat and pos- sibly spoil the skin,, so not waiting for Uncle Ned, who was (hacking at a small birch with his hunting knife, Jack took advantage of a retreat on the part, of the hound and sent a.22 calibre. bullet through the cat's body, unfortunately a trifle too far aft to kill. Uncle Ned uttered an exclamation of impatience. "Sho! Too bad! You'll spoil the skin," said he. "We had him cornered and tuckered, and could have laid him out with a stick. Puss was still game, and though para- lyzed in the hind legs, growled and cuff- ed savagely at the dog, who continued to worry him. Uncle Ned put an end to his struggles by a deft stroke over the head, after which he took the cat and "pulled its heart," an operation neither Jack nor I had seen or heard of, but which is common among trappers of an older generation, who were careful not to hurt their pelts. A:wildcat or any animal larger must, of course, first be rendered hors de com- bat before being handled, but such small game as mink, marten, hares and even foxes used commonly to be killed by pulling their hearts. The animal is eith- er walked down with the snowshoe and then grasped with the left hand by the throat, or a coat or skin is thrown over the head before the grasp. The business end of the game being held harmless by the left hand, the right feels for the heart, which, on account of the strangu- lation, palpitates with unwonted power. Outside the soft skin the heart is seized by the right hand on one of its down jumps, and a pull in different directions by the two hands ruptures the heart `strings, causing instant death. The demeanor of old Range after the quarry was dead was amusing in its staid dignity. Re sat down gravely and watched proceedings with an air of only half interest, as if to say, "My part of the work is done; rd like to make a meal of that cat, but it's not allowed, so why excite Thyself?" His apathetic manner continued as he trotted along in front of Uncle Ned, the chain being hardly necessary to keep him in step. Suddenly his mane bristled and a howling whine came from him as he snuffed the air suspiciously. "Aha 1" exclaimed Uncle Ned under his breath. "See his back go up. That's no cat. Whoa, boy, not so wild! Go on. now, but don't get too skittish!" And he let the dog pull him along in- to nto the swamp at right angles to the course we were taking, Range getting more and more excited with every step. Suddenly he burst out in a prolonged howling bay, a, sure sign of a fresh track of some kind. "A bear, 1 bet you!" said Uncle Ned, and sure enough the next moment the footprints of old Bruin appeared in the light snow- "Shot I thought they'd all donned in by thls time. Mild fall, though; likely they're late this year." ,AS he spoke he released the hound, Who sprang up a slight rise crowned by dwarf spruce, on the top of which ap- peered an enormous boulder cleft in twain by some pltty'ful fie..k"of prehis- toric nature. "Great Scott!" exclaimed the old man, Don'L mean' to toll me tba't's a den? I've looked that pile over fifty trines:' But a den it was nevertheless, a fact at orae nroved by the actions of old Dange, w'ho stood at, the month of the gaping hole in the rook and barked furi- ously. It wasn't five minutes before we got action. Uncle Ned, who Was unarm- ed except for his axe, crept a yard or two into the arch of stone, but presently backed out with an alacrity unusual in a man of his years. "Jerushy! he yelled. "It's a den all right, and by gum the old man's at homoute!doctor! Get yourGo softinthere, boynosed carltridg(Toes Mange.) Sick'eml Take hold of 'em!" I was decidedly in the limelight now, for Jack's .22 was a' bad card of in to a full grown outsidebeard bof a trap, while, besides steel e l - lets for wildcats, 1: carried a handful of soft nosed "Holies' for my 303, with which I now proceeded to fill up my magazine with feverish haste_'. Nor was I any too quick, for good old Range, obeying the command of the trap- per, had rushed into the hole :without a moment's hesitation.,, In a , tele() came a medley of howls, snarls and yelps, borne to us as from the hornof a huge grapho- phone. In ten seconds the hound chive bating out, barking and snarlin and snapping at something that was evidently following him, and as soon as the dogs' entirety was again in full daylight this something was revealed to us in the form of a big she bear, -whose little red and. black eyes snapped viciously, while she; emitted a curious snarling whine" When she saw us she raised nerself to a semi-erect posi- tion and was on the point of retreating into the den when Range sprang fiercely at her throat. Facing him like lightning, she handed him a cuff that would have laid the foundation for his epitaph had it reached him in full force, but the veteran hound had been there before, and gat away with a badly ripped. ear. Aa hebounded back my chance Dame, and 'I pumped a bullet full in the old lady's face. As I did so, and before we could tell what was the effect, a curious scratching was heard at the mouth of the den, and one after the other out rushed two more than half grown cubs. There was a lively and very complicated mix-up of bears, men and hound, in which no one of us dared to use his weapon for fear of making matters worse. I. was dimly eonaeious of Uncle Ned astride a cub bear, a beast like a hound of the Baskervilles being whirled in the air, and Jack doing a tight rope per- formance over a big windfall, the whole picture being suddenly blotted out by an awful bump, the full force of which was concentrated at the very, base of my anatomy, and which in some occult but most efficacious manner, landed me on the other side of a big rock with my slightly clouded gaze directed toward the heavens. ' Uncle Ned was the frrei i,xover fact; perhaps he dedietaeave tee as he strenuously denied afterward' that he had ridden a cub bear. Anyhow his sten- torian "Lively there; bays!" brought us both to our feet.. The first thing ;t saw was one of the cubs going it bell bent up the hill, and I brought up my rifle to stop him when Uncle Ned called out: "Steady, Doc; let the cubs go; they''ll be better next year. Drop the old lady -- there she goes over that log!" I turned in time to cateh e glimpse of the dam ambling off in the middle dis- tance, but as I was on the point of firing Range bobbed up at,her heels and both disappeared from sight together. We scrambled after them as fast as we were able, and as the hound and her wound impeded the bear's retreat we came up to them in a few minutes. She was bleeding badly front her neck, but the bullet had evidently not disabled her to any extent, for she was full of fight. She would free the hound, drive him back with a wild pass or twa and then turn and run, only to be brought up again after going a few yards by the dog at her heels. I waited for a good chance and then let her have it behind the shoulder, when she came down in a heap and for good. We laid her aver a big log for a gloat- ing contemplation and were glad enough to sit down and confine our entire en- ergies to gloating. "Wow!" exclaimed Jack. "Talk about the strenuous life!" With which he pass- ed his flask, that was summarily emptied between puffs. The stat was high in the heavens when Uncle Ned struck through the woods for the end of the carry, where our canoe and lunch awaited us. As we ate great were the. praises of the "best dog in Digby county," and we voted to grant him heraldically an aug- mentation to his title (sincehe bore no arms), dubbing him "The beat dog in Digby and Annapolis comities.'.' ODD CAUSES OF PESli'RTIOPr. Sometimes They Are Epidemic at an Army Post, "4 lot of them are bulging forward, I see, With replies to that question. Wlhatis the matter with the army ?" said a grizzled old sergeant at one o8' the New York army recruiting offices. "The reasons given .for desertions ere pretty close to the mark, po, But there ars some others, "Pretty often desertions become epidemic in a military post. Any number, of things Gan start an epldenitc of desertions and noth- ing can stop it short of switching' the whole layout to anether'post, and even that doesn't always 'Mork. I recall the deserting epidemic that broke out in Fort Sheridan, near Chicago, a foe years ago. Inside of three months only rho skeleton of the command Was left. The thing was started by an outfit of unpopular offi- cers, who fell to quarrelling among them- selves. "One domineering or uninet officer in a post can cause more desertions than bad ra- ttons or crucifying fatigue or practice march duty. Once I knew a little runt of it shave - tail Just out !rani. West Peint to eaust, twen- ty-eight men from one cavalry troop to jump Ngliast Unfigr Our Guaranteed Mortgage Investment Pan. Interest Quarterly DOUBLE SECURITY AFFORDED INVESTORS caenPnl�wfers wrst� for MERCANTILE TRUST COMPANY Or CANADA, LIMITED BANKERS, BANK OF HAMILTON, . - - • HAMILTON, ONL From Whom Any Inquiries May Dat Made HON. WM. GIBSON, S. C. MACDONALD, President 2`3ewsyep the fit -out within two months actor he'd, join- ed down in Arizona. "The death of a well liked officer or even of a very popular enlisted man will often start an epidemic of desertions. Once at a little two battery post in the far Northwest where I was stationed there died a, First Lieutenant who was immensely popular with the enlisted men, and that in spite of the fact that the drink had got him. He was a nue man and he sure was square in his treatment of us bucks in barracks. 1 -Ie wouldn't stand for anybody imposing on the layout, and—well, as near as men can get to loving a man, I guess us fellows loved that fine chap and square officer. "It was a pretty gulpy layout when we scraped out a hale in the ground for that one, tossed him into lt, fired a volley over him and listened to the blubbering kid of a windjammer sounding 'Taps,' "The desertions began the next day. The post was not only lonesome, it seemed al- most uncanny without him, When, a month or so later, the outfit was shifted to this seaboard, we were not much more than ono battery of heavy artillery instead of two, and there isn't any doubt that the cashing in of that officer with the heart and the giz- zard of a sure enough man was the only cause of it. Little unscheduled things will start de- sertions. The reappearance at a post of a former member of the outfit togged out In joyous mufti and showing other evidences of prosperity always has the effect of get- ting the gang a -going. 'Once I belonged to an outfit that was sta- tioned at the Presidio of San 1'ranriskeo One of our men caught on as a faro bank dealer of a big San Francisco gambling house at the wind up of his second enlistment. It wasn't long before he had an interest in the bank himself, and he got the money fast. "welt, all diked out in expensive clothes and wearing the sparks and dingdongs, he used to drive out to the Presidio behind a stylish pacer in a trig trap with yellow run- ning gear. After a few months of that.the oommanding officer of the Presidio had to request that ex -swaddle as a special favor to him to cease his visits at the post. A large number of desertions were easily traced to hvisite. is "Tho gang would look their ex -mate over and become ambitious all of n sudden. It he had made such a fine thing of it In civil life why couldn't they do the same, or mato some kind of a stab at it, anyhow ? So they bopped out of the Presidio gate, not to come back any more, just because they bad seen all those signs of prosperity on a man who had once bunked under the same roof with them. Rumors about the transferring of out- fits, too, is another cause. and in the aggre- gate a big contributing cause to the de- sertion business. Men who "enlist Inc cer- tain part of the country for service in that section don't '--eke to make a long shift to another part with a different climate. More desertions result from the shifting about of regiments than ever appear In the figures. Soldiers who get mixed up with women outside the post gates are particularly liable to jump when their outfits are ordered away. The soldier rarely has the price to pay the woman's way to the new station and be does not feel like leaving her behind, and there's only one thing—so he imagines—left, and that Is to quit. 'Queer, too, the distance some eoltliers will go when they get mixed up with women. The most aggravated ease of that kind 1 ever saw was when 1 west In the Philippines the first time. "With my outfit was a snappy, hustling youngster from Tennessee, a boy not much part his majority, who got the coro'.ral'e chevrons very soon after hitting the Islands for nervy week in campaigning. The kid had all the makings of a fine soldier, and as he was well educated a romm'"sio:f wasn't any too bieh for him to bank if he'd heti of that mind and bad kept out of trou- ble. "But he got all wrapped up with a Fili- pino girl, the daughter of a Filipino presi- dente down Mindanan way, and when 'tve were ordered to Manila to take the transport for the United States he 'couldn't sec the thing of leaving the girl: I believe they'd been married. Anyhow, when we went to Manila, this judgment lacking goasoon stay- ed tayed behind with the Filipino woman, "But he did something even more idiotic than that. When the old man sent a non- com. and some bucks back for the lsid, he was Insane enough to join the enemy—the war was still going on down there—Instead of juet taking to the undergrowth and stay- ing there for a spell until the search for him was over, They got him by the time our transport reached the "takes. "Well, dive know what that Mee looking and bright kid from Tennessee Is doing now? I.3o's doing ninety-nine years on Alcatraz Island for deserting to the enemy the court-martial's sentence was death, but It wee •ehanged to ninety-nine years for him. Did you ever happen. to take a look at Al- catraz ? Well, If you'd ever seen it you'd wonder how a white boy from Tennessee -boy with a heart, even if he didn't have any sense—could let a eklnny, mop haired, nigeon toed. rice powdered F'I1l loo glrI land him at Alcatraz for a dose like that, even if her eyes were fine." o - BABY'S OWN TABLETS - WILL CURE YOUR BABY If your little ones are subject to colic, sin;ple fevers, constipation, indigestion, coons, or the other minor ailments of childhood, .give them Baby's Own Tab- lets, This medicine will give relies'. right away, making sound, refreshing sleep possible. Better still an occasional .dose will keep little ones well. Guaranteed to contain ne opiate or poisonous sooth- ing stuff. Good for the new born baby or the well grown child. Mrs, Ronald L, Seafield, Palmer Rapids, Ont,, says: "Baby's Own Tablets are the most sat- isfactory medicine I have ever used, and I would not like to be without the Tablets in the house." Sold by medicine dealers or by mail at 25 cents a box from The Dr, William's Medicine Co., Brockville, Ont. Some men get to the top and others are laid on the shelf. There is quite a difference, Fear isn't the only thing that will make a woman change color, as witness the seashore tan wearing off. Trackless Trolleys in Ireland. According to the Electrical Engineer a movement is on foot for the introduc- tion of the system of trackless electric. tramways in Ireland, the first contem- plated route being between Donnybrook, in the suburbs of Dublin, and the pretty seaside resort at Bray. The new system, it is said, can be worked inexpensively on the existing roads from power de- rived from the usual overhead wires. The trolley can be made to diverge to any distance required, so as to enable the motor to pass any other conveyance or vehicle in the ordinary course. The project has been submitted to the man- ager of the Dublin United Tramways Company and to the county council. The promoters claim a good return from small traffic, as here is no big sum sunk in the permanent way. P � THE TORTURES OF NERVOUSNESS The Sufferer Feels That Unless Re- lief Comes Insanity Will Follow. There is no torture more intolerable than nervousness. A nervous person is in a state of constant irritation by day and sleeplessness by night. The sufferer starts at every noise, is shaky and de- pressed. Often although in a completely - exhausted state is unable to sit or ire still. For trouble bf this kind absolute- ly the best thing in the world is Dr. Wil- liams' Pink Pills. The nerves are jaded and jangled because they ere being starved by poor, watery blood. Dr. Williams' Pink Pills make new, rich blood, which feeds and soothes the irri- tated rritated nerves. There is absolutely no doubt about this; thousands can testify of the blood -malting, nerve -restoring qualities of these pills. Among them is Mrs. Thos. Ilarpell, Wallace Bridge) N, 8,, who says: "Some years ago I hal& sick and the doctor pronounced the trouble nervous prostration. To de- scribe the tortures of it is impossible. God and myself only know what I en- dured. The doctor gave me medicine, but it did not seem to help me. Then he ordered me away for a change, but I was afraid to go, as I always seemed to fear some impending calamity, and was afraid to spend the night alone, as I used to think each night that I would die before morning. I tried different kinds of medicines, but with no better results, and finally decided 1 would go to my parents to see if the change would benefit me. I went to their doetar, but with no better results. My mother urg- ed me to try Dr. Williams' Pink Pills and got me a box. Of course I did not expect a box would help me, but I con- tinued taking them, and in about a month began to feel better. From that on there was an improvement in my condition every day, and in the course of about three months I was again en- joying the great blessing of perfect health. I gained about twenty pounds in weight and my friends could hardly believe I was the same person. I be- lieve I would have been in my grave long .ago if it had not been for Dr. Williams' Pink Pills." Dr. Williams' Pink Pills are good for any disease due to bad. blood or weak nerves. That is why they cure such troubles as anaemia, indiges- tion, rheumatism, neuralgia, St. Vitus' dance, paralysis, and the ailments of girlhood and womanhood. sold by medicine dealers at 60 cents a box or six boxes for $2.60, or may be had by mail from the Dr. Williams' Medicine Co., Brockville, Ont. Grandma Obsolete. "The word `grandma' is dying out," said a lexicographer, or maker of dic- tionaries, pausing in his labor on the letter G. "By 2000, at this rate, no such word. will exist." "What will take its place?" "Oh, 'nannie,' 'nuns,' lovelocks,' 'dear- est'—some such rubbish. You see," ex- plained the lexicographer, "women think that they have learned to stave off old age. A woman of 50, because she has dyed her hair, a painted face, a figure here distended and there er'amped, thinks that she looks young. As a mat- ter of fact, she looks neither fish, flesh nor fowl. No man can bear the sight of her. But she thinks she looks young, and, therefore, she won't be called 'grandma.' Youth is over for good, you know --beyond peradventure we are done with the long, long dreams of youth 'when a little one is lisping 'grandma' or 'grandpa' at our knees, So this okl fool trains her grandchildren to call her 'naps' or 'kitten,' and getting ittto ner wadded street gown she trine on rheu- matic feet to the Leauty parlor for a Ease steaming.!' ---Chicago Inter-Oeean.