Evening Star Newspaper, December 10, 1922, Page 75

Part 4—8 Pages merican, With IFighting D Love of Human Flesh Is an Acquired Taste Among These Giant Cats—When Once De- veloped, Impels Anim Lengths—Natives Leave Their Dead Unburied. BY ER SHELLEY. Mississippi Hunter. al to Go to Desperate would close. A partition was built | | through the center of the trap and | " 'MAGAZINE SECTION [ riorox | The Sunday Shar, [ rearores | WASHINGTON, D. €, SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 10, 1922. 08s, akes War on African Man-Eaters Fight Lions, in Hope We were living at this time at Forest Glen, about three miles out of Nalrobl. Dogs Trained for First Time in History to of Putting an End to Horror of Nairobi and Saving Hundreds of Human Beings from Death. their glasses keep a close watch for | the lion. Soon we heard the dogs again. Roy Stewart, an American | i from Mississippl, who brought over | They were coming towards us. I the second pack of dogs, was staying | could tell by the sound of their voices with me at the time, and I took him that the lion was up and they were |along to help handle the dogs. | baying at him as he ran, apparently When we arrived at Nairobi sta- | unable'to stop him. tion we found Mr. Bowker was to be| A small hill that covered about an one of the party. He had six or eight | acre of ground stood just out in front |alredales, and it proved to be most |of us. It was covered with huge | fortunate that he brought them along. | bowlders, some nearly as large as a HE African lon, from time im- | tWO Sepoys were placed behind the Teemorial, has been the bitter- | partition with Martini rifles and est foe of the native, robbing | Plenty of ammunition. Bim of his domeatlc animals; | They not only acted as bait to en- despotling him of his game, which he | tice the lions to enter, but were ex- had killed only after long, arduous|Pected to shoot them should they be and Perilous exertion; and ever prone | ¢8ught in the trap. to diacard all other foods in favor of | One of the lions one night entered. buman flesh. Bold raids on camps, | The Sepoys were so desperately and ecoasionally even on villages, fol- low, chce the llon has acquired this taste. ‘The love of human flesh is an ac- quired taste. A lion will battle a man 1o seize his horse or cattle. In the cemetery at Nairobi lie the bodles of twenty-eight white men. experienced hunters, who sought to rid the country about of the terror of the lions. Not one of the twenty- eight was even partly devoured. All, horribly mangled and clawed, had died of their wounds In the hospital. Famished or given repeated easy opportunity to acquire the taste, the lion is unable to resist its desire and will go to desperate lengths for hu- man flesh. The habit of the natives of leaving | thelr dead unburied often gives this opportunity. In large construction work, such as the building of the Uganda rallroad, many natives are employed and deaths number two or three a day. ‘Two young male lions followed the line of rallway construction and were bountifully fed on dead natives. But at length, as work on the line neared completion, more and more of the men were sent to their homes, and when natural deaths became less fre- quent the lions became ravenous for the taste of human flesh. Eventuall driven desperate by hunger, they kill- ed a native. That was the beginning of a series of raids in which the beasts slew, carried off and devoured man after man. * X % % T last the two man-eaters got so 4\ bold and feroclous that they actually broke down all barriers and continued to carry away the men, as if no protection had agalnst them. Eventually they succeeded In bring- ing the railroad work to a complete standstill. All of this time, Col. Patierson, in charge of the work, spent night after night sitting up in an endeavor to shoot them. They seemed to know his plans. Whenever he sat up to wait for them at one camp they always appeared at another. It seemed no obstacle could prevent them from securing at least one man every night. Several military and naval officers were sent to Col. ance and sat up many nights, but the lions continued to get away with | the men. Things continually grew worse. Not a night passed that the screaming of some unfortunate indi- vidual did not rend the night air. At length the entire lot of workmen went to Col. Patterson and told him that they had come to work for the government, but not to furnish food for the lions. They left by hun- dreds. The few who remained slept | on top of the water tank. roofs and | girders. H A trap of rallroad frons and heavy wooden sleepers was built and so de- vised that when the lion entered and stepped on a portion of the floor it been made | Patterson's assist- | | frightened at first that they dared not | shoot until one of the white men on { watch In another place shouted en- ! couragement to them. | When they finally enough courage they | shots, but only succeeded in blowing | off one of the bars from the door, so that the man-eater escaped only slightly wounded. Another man-eating lion turned up {at a small station on the Uganda rail- way called Kimama. It killed many members of the railroad staff, and on several occasions romped up and down the station’s platform, and even climbed on top of the station and tried to tear the corrugated iron from | the roof. | EE | mustered up fired several | | |\ fR. RYAAL, superintendent of po- Y lice, British East Africa, with two friends, Mr. Huebner and Mr. Parentl, in Mr. Ryaal's special car, came to hunt the man-eater. The car was switched off on a sid- ing. They sat on watch untll it grew | late, and, as no sign of the lion was | seen or heard, they retired for the | | | night. Mr. Parenti made his bed on the floor, Mr. Ryaal took the lower berth and Mr. Huebner took the upper. H Shortly after they retired the lion | stealthily crept up on the steps that | | were at the end of the car. | His enormous weight made the car. tilt to one side. The door was a slid- | ing one, opening and closing on roll- ers. The lion got his paws into the | erack, pulled the door open and walk- |ed In. As he walked inside, the car, | in righting itself, caused the door to ! slide back. ! He stood with his fore feet on top| of the man on the floor and reached up In the bunk and grabbed Mr. Ryaal |in his mouth, and in turning around found the door closed. He crashed through the window with the man In his mouth, tearing the sash and frame com- pletely out. He went only a short distance away, and, to make the affair more | horrible, began eating and crunching | bones within hcaring of those in the | car. Many shots were fired into the { bushes close to him, but he fed on | with pertect indifference. | A few days later this lion was | caught in a trap and shot. Officlals of the government later received word that there was a man- eating lion near Simba station. “Simba” is a Swahili word meaning lion, and there were many in that vicinity. There was a large camp of | Kavirondo natives, several hundred in all, cutting wood for the Uganda rail- way. Their camps were about three or four miles from the station and | it was here that the lion was commit- titng most of Its depredations. The government soon received a second notice that six or seven men had been taken in the last ten days. About this time a wealthy Indian ENOUGH, ME of natives that were sitting under| the station’s light, grabbed a man and | again and dragged him farther away. made away with him. Ho went only | The mext morning the mative's re- a few yards across the track, when |mains were found by the river one- he began to devour the man, and!fourth of a mile from where the upon the lion picked up the man prince, who was out on & hunting trip, came In to Simba station and camped. Shortly after dark, and before all had retired, a lion sprang into a circle would act as a spring and the door HERE is a legion of light-fin- gered gentry among us again. | They have | | Tricks of the Nimble Shoplifter Dev Men and women. woefully misjudged the ages- old spirit of “peace on earth, good will toward men,” as meaning that they can go about helping themselves to whatever pleases their fancy with- out 5o much as “by your leave" to the | 1ightful owners. The shoplifter and the pickpocket are here again in numbers. plying thelr annual hollday trade of taking i {lice department, and Manufacturers' Assoclation, by, which the town is well covered. The merchants pay emphatic tribute to | the protection given them by the po- | pointing out that they have to employ fewer store de- tectives here than is done by ‘trades- men in other large cities. * *x kX h’ EN and women are used as stors | detectives. More women are em- ployed this year than ever before. The merchants have engaged those every time any one ventured upon the | tragedy began. track he would growl as he fed. All those in camp who had guns|graph of the dead man and it is a began firing into the grass, where- |gruesome sight indeed. —— yi, b K N/ AN s ; ey “EACH OF US HAD A DOG IN OUR ARMS, LIFTING HIM TO THE TOP WHEN THE LION LET OUT A FIERCE BELLOW—AND, STRANGELY | OUT OUR WAY.” | When all of the pary arrived there | | were sixteen white men, with Mr. Woosman in charge of the hunt, and | ! with two or three white hunters and 'nine K. A. RS (King’s African Rifies). house, and out of the center grew a euphorbia tree. I at once turned to Mr. Woosman and said: “There is no use laying the dogs on again; that is the place the lion is making for.” We W ) Wi h \'/fl Ii Gl A\ ) i /J.’*./ / HIS fearful catastrophe was the!taken, as the bite of these flies is means of causing the government | fatal to domestic animals. I said I |officials to bestir themselves and or- | would be pleased to go with a dozen £anize a hunt to exterminate the man- or more dogs, but that I would not | eater. He said that the tsetse fly Mr. Woosman, the head game want to take the best dogs. I did The chest was en- |ranger, asked me if I would go on not want to expose them to the fly, threly eaten away. I have a photo- |the hunt with the Paul Rainey hounds.|and I would not think of running wasg | them after lions unless I was well | prevalent and horses’ could not bemounted, so as to keep with them. ~—— eloped in C | They were captains of the colored | troops. | Mr. Bowker, Roy Stewart and my- |self, and about seventy-five native i porters for beating out reed beds and |to do general work around camp, | completed the party. We arrived at Simba station and (next morning hunted to the morth. There were many large reed beds {along the river, a favorite place for {ltons to 1ie up by day. I did not take out the hounds that day, as I thought best to save them until we could lo- jcate the particular lion that we were after. We put In the entire day work- | | Ing likely places, but found no lion. The next day Stewart and I went to the car for the hounds in his pack. | As fast as I handed one out he was put on a lead and held by one of the boys. 1 picked a pair of three-quarter- {bred English hounds to hit off the !trail. Their names were Bellman and | Chorister. They had had a lot of ex- |perience and tralled well; were | broken from running all kinds of |game except lion and leopard and | would open on nothing else. | When the good fighting dogs were |in and fighting; they would fight well {also, but without the other dogs they | could not be depended upon. ‘The same might be sald of all the dogs we had with us. and I now i | |had been left at home. 1 was in | hopes, however, that some of the aire- dales would make up for all that was lacking in the way of fighting dogs. | 1 led Bellman and Chorister about | ten yards past the table where we had {eaten breakfast. 1 saw that they | wers making game and turned them looze. wished for some of the mainstays that | |could see from the rise where we | stood that the plains were perfectly {open for miles and this hill furnished the only bit of cover that could be | seen anywhere. We advanced a little | near and Mr. Woosman took charge |of the proceedings. He divided the | men into squads of two or three and assigned places for them to stand out !nearly one-fourth of a mile from the (hill and in such positions as almost | to surround it. Every direction was | well guarded except that from which ithe lion had come, and Roy Stewart |and myself went straight up to the hill and from that direction with the |dogs. As we came up to the hill we |sent the dogs in. throwing stones in |among the bowlders as an extra in- ! ducement for them to go in and hunt. They all flew into the rocks and be- | gan searching. There was one long rock that ap- | peared to run all the way across and | six or eight feet high. It acted as a barrier and none of the dogs could | get over or under it. | One of them, however, found an opening in some way and got past it. He had no sooner done so than he began barking. 1 recognized the voice as belonging to a big, rangy, white hound called Champion. It was a litter brother to | Bellman and Chorister. The other dogs were running up {and down the rock: some of them | were jumping for the top, only to fall |back again. The one dog continued barking for nearly ten minutes and { no other sound was heard. At length |we set down our guns and began pick- {ing the dogs up in our arms and lift- . ing them to the top of the rock. o !soon as put down they disappeart I could see that they were on the |on the other side and promptly Joln- trail of the lion, -0 we began turning | ed Champion in barking, but no other |in the other dogs, one &t & time. As|sound was heard. they disappeared over a rise they ! As we kept passing up reinforce- | were strung out in a long line, and | ments, the barking increased. Each every dog glving tongue freely. The |of us had & dog in his arms, lifting airedales were turned in also and they | it to the top, when the llon let out bounded along with the hounds. It a bellow that would put any bull to was a new game for them and they |shame, at the same time making a stralned every muscle to reach therush, and strangely enough came out lead, and when they bounded out injour way, almost knocking the dogs front and no game was in sight they . out of our arms. could not make out what it was all, Its huge paws almost struck us =u about and several returned to their |the face as It went clear over us, and | master. Two or three, however, con- | the dogs came tumbling over after | tinued on with the hounds. it. The lion swung around the pile ! A of rocks and started west. Mr. Woos- i |man and his companton got several E were now following as fast as|shots at the animal, but it surely was we could. But following a pack |a flying target and none of their shots of hounds on foot is uphill work, very | took effect. The lion then turned to uncertain and unsatisfactory. The ' the morth, the very direction whence hounds were rapldly drawing away |it had come. and the only direction from us and the sound of their voices | left unguarded. Stewart and I each became fainter and fainter until we |had two long shots with our Express could hear them no more. Fourteen rifies, and then my gunbearer of the sixteen hunters were following | promptly handed me my 350 Bigby the dogs, while two King's African | Mauser. Riflemen had been sent to a big hill | that stood out in the plains about five | miles to the southtwest of us. They : Another article in this series wilj were to climb to the top and with|appear in next Sunday's Sta hristmas Crowds posed by a detective in a big F street | out of the ordinary, is one of the first store. Articles had been missed at|to attract the attention of the ex- ! several counters—mostly small arti- | perienced store detective. He spots cles—and a certain extremely well her when she comes into the store | dressed woman was under suspicion.and keep an eye on her until he is 'and closely watched. This woman satisfied that her business there is {had been searched in one store and |legitimate. If she happens to dally nothing found. The detective who too long and too furtively over any |was folled at that store trailed the |object, he, in the guise of floorwalker; | woman and passed the tip to 2 woman | walks up suavely and politely and | detective in another store. Finally jasks if she wishes to be served. He | she was observed to knock two silver | can generally size her up during the | thimbles from a showcase. She stoop- | short conversation that ensues. If he (Coprright, 1922.) ed and returned one. The sharp eyes till continues suspicious he follows everything they can get away with. The most adroit prestidigitation, {of the woman detective were alded |in the wake of her course until he is by a vagrant ray of sunshine which !satisfied that the cape wearer is & | best trained in the work, who have | | inventive genius worthy of a better| cause, tireless waiting, masterly or- ganization and other tests of men- tality, expert skill and psychology are displayed by these tricksters to an amazing extent—so much so that those who study their methods won- der why they work outside the pale of the law and as leeches on human society, when the same talent, skill and study could make them successful in legitimate enterprise. Against the evil astuteness and versatility of these crooks is massed an equally clever, if not superior, array of men and women who have devoted years to careful observation and study of the shoplifter and plck- pocket. This opposing force works in the interest of organized soclety— for the protection of the rightful owners and the public. “When Greek meets Greek"—and the detectives are now on the winning side. The throngs of well intentioned Christmas shoppers, crowding the stores to do their buying early, little realize the strain upon the merchants to combat the shoplifting evil, nor are they sufficlently awake to the personal menace to themselves from the pickpocket. It has been found necessary to have special forces in the stores employed by three agen- cies—the stores themselves, the Mer- chants " and Manufacturers’ Associa- tion and the police department. This is done for the protection not only of the stores themselves but the public as well. Three weeks age a special Christ mas season detective protection serv- was esiablished by the u‘ufihl.lll had years of experience in tralling crooks. All the large stores have their own detectives and the associa- tion furnishes others. Sometimes a detective works all over the store; sometimes he covers several small stores in one block; sometimes he follows a suspect from store to store. Again, a detective is employed for Just one floor or department. ! ‘The importance of this problem of guarding against the light-fingered gentry is emphasized by the fact that each year the National Association of Retall Secretaries takes up this sub- ject as the most important busimess of the annual conference. The mem- bers check up on the various schemes and methods and tricks worked in other citles. The flapper type is one of the most dangerous with which merchants have had to contend. The roll-top stock- ing afforded a ready hiding place for many small articles surreptitiously taken. The vivacity characteristic of this type kept clerks engrossed, and, as the “flappers” usually traveled in pairs or small groups, one could hold the attention of the clerk while an- other secreted the stolen articles. In a prominent F street store a detective suspected such a group. ‘When taken to & private room and forced to pull down her stockings, one girl, not over twenty years of age, was found to have hidden sticks of chewing gum, a patent lead pencil, a package of hair nets, a bottle of cologne and severa] cheap rings. The coming of longer skirts is an added menace for the storekeepers, especlally these days when customers crowd at the counters. A woman de. tective in ome of the largest depart- J / ik e I gty T Y ment stores the other day caught a woman who had sewed on the inside of her skirt a band of fish hooks. This particular woman used almost exclusively the old trick of dropping an article to the floor, often dropping two, and then ostentatiously replac- ing one. By a deft movement she would reach under her dress and hook some light article, such as & handker- | chief, onto one of these hooks. The woman caught bore an excellent repu- tation, but when stripped of her ili- gotten goods it was found that she had in this way oollected from five ' I | stores articles valued at more than $60. “See that young woman powdering her nose,” said one of the most suc- cessful department.store detectives. “Well, that is a not unusual sight these days, but I have my suspicions.” The young woman was then stand- ing Iin front of & counter where cheap —— | jewelry was displayed. The detective explained that some nose powderers are so light-fingered and adroit that as they drop a powder puff back in the bosom of a dress they frequently drop with it a necklace or & pair of gloves or & pair of silk stockings. Generally it is the young women who do not need to steal, who have allowances and who do not work for a living who spend much of their time going from omne store to another helping themselves, the detectives say. One of the cleverest tricks was ex- ! |slinted off the other thimble as it ! was secreted under the instep of the shoplifter'’s shoe. The detective re- moved the shoe and found a wad of gum jammed in against the high heel 8o that it would pick up such small articles. k%% UT it is not only in the large stores where expensive goods are displayed that these shoplifters work, nor is.it only emall articles that are taken. The “five and ten cent stores” probably suffer as much, if not more, than the larger department stores, the detectives report. Men have been seen to drop articles down inside their col- lars. Two men working together have been arrested. One would stand at a oounter, while another, passing casually by or ostensibly with hand resting across his shoulder, would de- posit some article inside the other's collar. It is amusing what some people will try to steal. A man in a five and ten cent store the other day was caught shoving a couple of five-cent flags up his coat sleeve. In another store & very well dressed man, wear- ing an imported overcoat, had three expensive walkin canes hooked into the armhole of his coat on the inside and under his arm. Helping them- selves to shoelaces and toothbrushes in a five and ten cent store seems to be a mania. A colored woman was found with an assortment of seven different kinds of shoelaces tucked into the top of her stocking, and she was wearing buttoned shoes. A woman wearing a cape or a dol- man, if her actiops are in any way legitimate patron of the store. { Detective Sergeant Robert Living= |ston at headquarters has been spe- cializing for years on shoplifters: ‘When there is any hurry call from a store, it is generally he and his part- {mer, Patrick O'Brien, who respond. “By long experience,” declared Liv- ingston yesterday, in discussing vari- {ous phases of shoplifting, “we have learned that the woman wearing & cape or dolman is a potential shop- lifter. If she wishes, she can conceal items even as large as a dress be- neath the inner folds of her cape and make her way quietly out of the store without attracting any attention. ‘We always watch such persons care- fully If our attention is called to thelr movements in any extraordinary manner. hen, too, there are many shop- lifters who have adopted the shopping bag as a method of making away with the spoils of their work. We have to keep a close eye on shopping bags. “All this does not mean, though, that any woman who wears a cape or a dolman or who carries a shopping bag is shadowed by police or detec- tives every time she enters a store. We only recognize' such items as part of the equipment we have found shop- lifters using in the past, and natu- rally we feel that shoplifters are continuing to use them, unless they have changed their habits since yes- iterday.” Police, & few years ago, brought into headquarters a woman who had a specially made cape, with pockets (Continued on Seventh Page.)