Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, January 15, 1898, Page 2

—+ IN TIGER’S CLUTCHES. T is one thing to hunt the tiger and quite another thing to have the tiger hunt you. When ‘Stripes, hunting on his own account, pounces upon a man the victim has a poor chance for his life. That there are few men who sean tell of such an experience is need- less to say,” said Capt. E. A. Arbuthnot. After the cigars had been lighted a guest who had known him twenty years before in India had pressed him to tell the story of his tiger adventure there and the captain had consented. “The thing occurred in the Dabrah Doolah district in Assam, where I had gone with the idea of becoming a tea planter,” continued the captain. “The beginning of the adventure, to tell the story completely, was my meeting a shikari named Dassa Balhua on the morning of the day when I fell in with the tiger. The word shikari, you will understand, means native hunter, a tiger hunter in particular. I was on my way that day to look over a tract of jungly land which I thought of buying and clearing for cultivation, when on passing Dassa Bulhua’s house I saw him sitting in the doorway and he was in a peck of trouble. “His old East Indian company’s army musket, the gun with which he hunted, was lying across his lap, and he was fumbling at the lock. He wanted to go out into the jungle that day, and here was his gun hammer out of gear, so that when he pulled it back it would not catch and stay at full cock. I saw at once what was wrong with the lock, and chancing to have with me a watch- maker’s file, I set the thing right in five minutes. Balhua was very grate- ful, and I rode on, leaving him careful- ly loading the gun. I don’t wish to get ahead of my story, but will say here that my stopping to help Balhua out of his trouble was the means of saving my own life that day. “This meeting with the shikari oc- curred about an hour after daybreak. I went on my way, and by the middle of the afternoon I had seen all I cared to of the tract of land I came to view, and was ready to return to my bunga- low. Of the two servants who accom- panied me, I had left one with my horse a mile back where there was some shade and grass. The other, who was with me, I sent to the man in the rear directing that they bring the horse round by the road to a point where I would meet them. The man started off on a run, and after watching him out of sight, I took my way along a jungle path toward the point on the road where I had appointed to meet them. “The jungle growth through which the path led was made up largely of THE TIGER HAD ME. 5amboo grass taller than my head. In- terspersed with the grass were clumps of bushes, low-topped korinda trees, and here and there a taller tree. Now that I was alone the thought came to me that I should feel more comfortable if I had kept my rifle by me, for it being rather heavy to carry, I had left ait with the servant, who had charge -of the horse. But I was not much dis- turbed by anticipations of danger as I strolled along the path, taking my time, for I expected to have to wait for my men at the roadside. “The thing came suddenly, without ‘warning. There was a strange moving of the grass and bushes a few feet away to one side of the path, the tall grass parted to left and right in the furrow that came straight toward me there was aloud, deep-throated roar—and the tiger had me. I was standing stock still aring at the moving grass, for there was no use in running away, for he came out on me. There was one glimpse of paws, jaws, and white breast all plunging for me, and then I was flat on my back in the path, with the tiger crouching upon me, his claws set in my left shoulder and right side. The long feelers at his nose brushed my face as he set his teeth into my shoulder in one sharp, crushing bite, apparently to make sure that I would lie still. “If the tiger had been alarmed or wounded, if he had overtaken me run- ning away, or had I struggled—I should have been killed outright. I certainly expected nothing else, but the tiger, not repeating the bite, lifted his head as if listening. Some sound in the road may have made him fearful of losing his prey, for, seizing me by the should- er, he swung me clear of the ground and started away through the jungle in long, swift leaps. I weighed at that time 135 pounds, and the tiger carried me along as easily as a cat would carry ya squirrel. “It will probably sound strange to -you, although a similar experience has been related by others, when I say that ‘fiom iae moment the tiger leaped on tape tem eeseaen t me I felt no pain from teeth or claws. Neither did I, after once the brute had seized me, feel any keen sense of fear, although perfectly conscious of all that was going on and of what seemed the certainty that I should be immediate- ly killed. Perhaps the best expression of my condition while I was in the tiger’s power would be to say that I was in a hypnotic state, for I can com- pare my sensation with nothing else. “The tiger ran perhaps fifty yards, then stopped, laid me down and crouched, watching me. Presently he picked me up again and_ started on through the jungle, this time walking, bearing me along with my legs drag- ging upon the ground. Coming to an open space he laid me down, and, back- ing away for a distance of two or three yards, lay crouched, watching me in- tently, after the manner of a cat that plays with a mouse. * “From the position in which I lay I could look straight into his yellow eyes and could see the curling in and out of the tip of the supple tail. Then as with every second I expected the tiger to leap upon me and tear me, there crash- ed in the jungle’s stillness the loud re- port of a gun, close at hand. I saw the tiger leap to his feet, whirl toward the sound, and he roared once as he rear- ed himself almost upright on his hind legs; then fell over on his side strug- gling. “It was from the old firelock that I had set in order that morning—the East Indian company musket of Dassa Balhua that the shot had come which saved my life. The shikari had found the path the tiger was accustomed to take in going from his den to the near- est water course to drink. In a thick- leaved tree overlooking this path he had built a platform, and from this he had watched daily for a chance to shoot at the brute. Waiting here this day he saw the tiger come into view from an unexpected quarter dragging me along by the shoulder. When he saw the tiger drop me in the open space and lay himself down at a little distance | away, the shikari fired at him, aiming at the head, for he knew that if not killed the first act of the brute would be to kill me. The tiger, struck in the | ear by the heavy bullet, died almost in his tracks. “After the shot was fired I lay still, not feeling sure that the tiger was real- ly done for, until I saw Dassa Balhua come toward me from the tree. When I lifted my head the shikari was startled for he had thought that I was dead. But he came to me and lifted me by the shoulders so that by turn- ing my head I could see the tiger lying stretched on his side. “ ‘He can trouble you no more, sah- ib, said the shikari. ‘The tiger is dead.’ “The shikari opened my jacket and examined my wounds, and then went down to the road to intercept my ser- vants. By the time he came back with them my wounds were getting painful. While one of the servants rode to the nearest bungalow for men and a litter, I lay watching the shikari skin the tiger. It was a young animal, full grown, with a glossy, beautifully marked skin, and terrible teeth and claws. With the skin and the govern- ment bounty and the hundred rupees that I gave him, Dassa Balhua had no reason to complain of his day’s fortune. I was taken out of the jungle that night, and to my home the next day. I had a bad shoulder, with fever, éhat kept me laid up for three or four weeks and I did not regain the full use of my right arm for years. But I think I got off well.” ACCURACY. It Is a Good Thing bnt Sometimes 1 Becomes Painful. Accuracy is the most desirable thing on ordinary occasions, but there are times when it palls, says the Wash- ington Star. It is soothing to hear the English language spoken with confidence and unerring grammar, which betoken intelligence and good breeding, and especially so when it is uttered in public places by uniformed persons from whom you ordinarily hear such remarks as “Hi!” “Get a move on yer” and “Can’t you look where ye’re goin’?” A middle-aged man who had made his way through the mob of depot em- ployes who use this style of vocabu- lary was happy to find the conductor on the sleeping car a young man with a gentle voice and a deliberate and re- fined manner. He was more than gratified when he saw him, later on the journey, take a copy of one of the Latin classics from his pocket and be- gin to read. His pleasure at the spec- tacle made him almost forget that in his haste to catch the train he had neg- lected to eat any luncheon. Approach- ing the conductor, he endeavored to mingle knowledge with agreeable in- tercourse. “Have you been on this road long?” he inquired. “No,” the conductor answered, without looking up. “This is my first week." ‘Do you like the work?” “All labor is distasteful. But I endeavor not to allow my mind to dwell on the irk- some phases of my duty.” The conductor had not taken his eyes from the book and his questioner abandoned all idea of sociability and proceeded with the matter nearest~ to his heart. ‘Will you tell me,” he asked, “when and for how long this train stops for dinner?” “Not at all.” “Are you sure of that?” came the in- quiry in tones of protesting anguish. “Yes,” the gentle voiced conductor re- plied, as he leisurely turned a leaf, “I am quite sure. - The train does not eat.” A Rough Deal. NO FLAME, NO NOISE. A WONDERFUL CANNON MADE IN FRANCE. Colonel Humbert of the French Army Has Invented an Appliance That Abolishes Both Noise and Fiame— Causes and Effects. Col. Humbert of the French army has invented an appliance that abol- ishes the noise and flame that have hitherto accompanied the discharge of cannon and other firearms. This appliance has been officially tested on cannon and rifles and has worked satisfactorily. It must there- fore be accepted as an established fact that a gun can now be fired without noise, flame or smoke. It is not long since smokeless pow- ders were introduced into various armies. They necessitated important changes in military tactics. The aboli- tion of noise and flame will have even greater results. That a great charge of gun powder should be fired without noise will seem to most people incredible. Neverthe- less the appliance by which this won- der is accomplished is very simple. When he set out to solve the prob- lem, the inventor first considered, the exact causes of noise and flame in the discharge of a gun. The noise is due to the sudden expulsion of the gases of the exploded gunpowder following the bullet and the return of the air to the barrel. The flame is due to the ignition of the gases by heat. If the barrel could be closed at the moment the projectile left it, there would be neither noise nor flame. It is just such a closing which Col. Humbert has contrived. The accompanying figures explain his invention clearly. Figure 1, shows a section of a short tube (B), which is screwed over the mouth of a cannon (A), which has been previously grooved for this purpose. The little tube has the same diameter as the cannon. In the interior of it is constructed a little shutter (F), which works on a pivot and normally lies in a horizontal posi- tion. The under side of this shutter is so constructed as to leave two empty spaces beneath it (b b). When the cannon is fired the shell it sufficiently valuable to purchase for the public services. They gave the Colonel permission to patent it and to make it public. This he did. He improved his invention and ap- plied it with great success to a Hotch- kiss gun of thirty-seven millimetres, or about 1% inches calibre. The re- sult was far more in accordance with the inventor’s theory than the offi- cial experts believed it would be. The firing produced no flame and on- ly a slight hissing sound from the dis- charge of the gas through the small holes, The Ministry of War immediately ac- quired the right to adopt Colonel Hum- bert’s invention. It is now in the hands of the committee of artillery and is being applied to cannon of large size. All future improvements will be kept secret as to their exact nature, and will belong to the government. The advantages of the invention are numerous, The suppression of flame makes it possible to fire a gun in the night without. giving the enemy a chance to detect its whereabouts. When to this is added the absence of noise, the terrors of the new gun be- come very great. In the day time the noise of a gun fired from under cover, even when there is no smoke, gives the enemy certain opportunities of discovering the position of it. One can imagine the surprise of an army of benighted heathen, more or less accustomed to old fashioned ar- tillery, when they come upon a group of Maxim guns which mow them down by the thousands without noise, smoke or flame. The uses of the invention in connec- tion with the rifle seem to be numer- ous. A party of sharpshooters care- fully covered would be able to do ter- rible work with noiseless rifles, pre- venting the other side from discovering even their direction. The suppression of noise is good for the ears and nerves of the artillery- men, And the good quality of the inven- tion is that, if adopted, it will not re- quire an entire rearmament of the forces, because it can be fitted to ex- isting weapons. Monte Carlo Profits, Monte Carlo’s gambling bank took in 14,950,000 francs during the year Rheumatism Is permanently cured By Hood’s Sarsaparilla Which neutralizes the Lactic acid in the blood. Thousands write That they have felt No symptoms of Rheumatism since var | Hood’s Sarsaparilfa. SPAIN CANNOT CONQUER CUBA A Question That Must Be Solved by Us—Cannot Be Set Aside. Spain herself has demonstrated that she is powerless either to conciliate Cuba or to conquer it, says Hannis Taylor in the North American Review. Her sovereignty over it is, in my hums ble judgment, now extinct “for all puz- poses of its rightful existence,” and the “hopeless struggle for its re-estab- lishment has degenerated into a strife which means nothing more than use- less sacrifice of human life and the ut- ter destruction of the very subject mat- ter of the conflict itself.” This de- plorable state of things is not only shocking to humanity, but it is a spe- cial and grievous burden to the people of the United States, by reason of their intimate commercial and social rela- tions and sympathies with the people of an island so ‘near to our coast line as to be almost a part of our territory. Our commerce with Cuba, amounting annually at the beginning of the pres- ent war to $100,000,000, has been near- ly wiped out. The millions of Amer- ican capital invested in the island have been either destroyed or rendered unproductive; many of our citizens re- duced to absolute want have been forced to appeal to congress for aid; while too many of them have found their way into Spanish dungeons froin which some have been able to escape only through the door of death. But last, and worst of all, our peace as a nation is broken and disquieted by an endless strife that enters as a potent factor into our eternal politics. With patience almost unexampled, we en- dured all such evils during the period of the great war that began at Yara in 1868, and ended ten years later with the treaty of Zanjon; then came the little war, and finally the last great war that has now been in progress for more than two years and a half. Thus we have been called upon to witness nearly fifteen years cf war in Cuba out of the last twenty-nine. Through- out the present struggle, apart from the commercial losses, we have been in a state of semi-war with Spain; a large part of our fleet has become a coast guard; and our diplomatic relations have been so strained that for more than a year the Spanish government deemed it necessary to guard my place Frested green vegetables may be re- stored by steeping in cold water ten jor twelve hours before boiling boil- irg. Potatoes and other roots should be pared ,then steeped for an hour, and, when boiled, a small piece of salt- peter should be added to the wate ‘To keep parsely a good color for ley sauce, tie it in a bunch, threw it into boiling water and boil five min- ute chop finely and add to the sauce in the usual manner, but do not let it hoil after the parsely has been added FOR THIRTY DAYS. A Liberal Offer to Sufferers .of Rheu- matism and Other Diseases. “5 Drops” is a remedy for rheuma- tism, neuralgia, catarrh, la grippe and kindred ailments. The manutacturers of “5 Drops” have many letters from those restored to health by the use of their remedy, of which the following is a sample: Buena Vista, Ore. September 21, 1897. Swanson Rheumatic Cure Co., Chi- cago, Il. Dear Sirs—Your medicine has cured both myself and wife of our rheuma- tism, and we wish to express our grat- itude for the relief we have obtained through your never-failing remedy. I cannot find words loud enough to praise your “5 Drops,” and you are at liberty to use my name in connection with your advertisement to those that are sufferers, Yours respectfully, WM. WELLS. During the next thirty days the com- pany will send out 100,000 of their sam- ple bottles for 25 cents a bottle. They do this to allow sufferers to try the remedy. From the past they know that one of their sample bottles will con- vince one of the merits of “5 Drops.” Large bottle, 300 doses, $1, and also Fs WORKING VIEWS OF COL. HUMBERT’S NOISELESS CANNON. Zl > Wh, AN — = AeA Fr for the next 30 days 3 bottles for $2.50. Write to-day to the Swanson Rheu- matie Cure Co., 167 Dearborn street, Chicago, Ill. This company is reliable and promptly fill every order. People in Glass Houses. “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” “Why?” r “Because everybody can see them do’ it.’—Detroit Free Press. Edueate Your Bowels With Cascarets Candy Cathartic, cure co! pation for- ever. 10c. 25e. If C, C. C. fail druggists refund money. . A New Problem in Law. A dumb prisoner who can’t read or write, is providing a delicate problem in law for one of the London courts. He can plead neither guilty nor not guilty, and unable to communicate with his solicitor, which is one of his So the question is raised Do You Dance To-Nixht? Shake into your Shoes Allen’s Foot Ease, a powder for the feet. It m: Ss tight or New Shoes feel Easy. Cures Corns, Bunions, Chilblains and Sweat- ing Feet. At all Druggists and Shoe Store, 25c. Samples s . Ad- dress, Allen S. Olms N. Y. Secial Joys. “What is a spread, Uncle Aleck?” “Well, a spread is so called because the man who gives it has to spread himself all over town to raise the money to pay for it.” Stockings were unknown in Bible times. Literature first mentions them as having been worn in Italy about the year 1100. leaves the barrel in the ordinary way, but the tremendous pressure of gas following it slips under the little shut- ter and raises it up, as in Figure 2. The gas unable to pass out at the muz- zle returns and escapes with greatly diminished force through a number of small holes (D D) arranged in the back of the tube, over the barrel and directed toward the gunner. In order that he may not be disturbed by the backward rush of the gas, a band is fastened round the middle of the bar- rel, causing the gas to” disperse in all directions. The invention also serves the very important purpose of suppressing the recoil of the gun. In his experiments with a small gun Col. Humbert noted that the recoil, at the moment the projectile left the muzzle, was only an inch and a half, but that it subsequent- ly progressed to twenty-one feet. The backward rush of the gas in his inven- tion counteracts the recoil almost com- pletely. The apparatus for use with rifles is nearly the same as for cannon, except that a small baSl instead of a shutter rises and prevents the direct exit of the gas. Colonel Humbert is an officer who distinguished himself in the Franco- German war and in Africa. He is now advanced in years and on the retired list. William Walker, of Genoa, Ohio, was | When he first put his invention in fined $25 and costs, amounting in all to $130, for shooting a squirrel out of sea- son. es Cons aaee practical form he offered it to the | French Minister of War and of Marine, but their experts did not then consider ending Oct. 31, 5,000,000 franes less than the year before. Among its ex- penses were, for Prince Albert of Mon- aco, 2,000,000 frances; for police, edu- cation and other public charges, 1,- 500,000 francs; to the directors and of- ficials, 1,000,000 francs; for the theater, music, sports and charity, 800,000 francs; advertising, 500,000 francs. A hundred thousand franes was spent to get unlucky gamblers out of town, and another hundred thousand to keep them from committing suicide. Never- theless 35 persons killed themselves on account of gambling losses during the year. Religion Closing Saloons. Religious excitement has run so high in Sandwich, Ill., as the result of re- vivals, that the saloons are closing. In one of the most popular the following sign was displayed: 3 Business suspended on account of church tonight. for reaction. Ninety days Breaking a Locking Glass. Many people believe that all sorts of ill luck will follow them if they by chance happen to break a looking- glass. These superstitious folks may perhaps be glad to hear that unbreak- able mirrors are now being made >y putting a coat of quicksilver at the back of a very thin sheet of cellu- loid, of residence with soldiers, night and day. Since my departure this impos- sible state of things has become still more acute, and the uncertainty thus produced is the one obstacle in the path of the long hoped-for prosperity just dawning upon us. Business men are plainly stating to, each other that such uncertainty now hangs like a cloud over-all future transactions. It is great folly to suppose that the Cu- ban question is something that we can set aside if we will and go about our own business. It has intruded itseif into our national affairs with all its disturbing consequences, and it is here to stay until we take hold of it and solve it wisely, not only in our own interest, but in that of humanity. Syrup of Figsis taken; it is pleasant and refreshing to the taste, oa acts gently yet promptly on the Kidneys, Liver and Bowels, cleanses the sys- tem effeetually, dispels colds, head- aches and cage and cures habitual constipation. Syrup of Figs is the only remedy of its kind et ro- duced, pleasing to the taste and ac- ceptable to the stomach, prompt in its action and truly beneficial in its. effects, prepared only from the most. healthy agreeable sul pany epealieut qualities it to and have made it the mdst popular remedy known. Syrup of Figs is for sele in 50 cent bottles by all leading drug- gists. Any reliable druggist who may not have = on hand will pro- cure it promptly for any one wh¢ wishes to try it. Donot acceptan’ pone aig 4 Victim of the Kansas Boom, The niece of an ex-governor of In- diana is running a saloon in Wichita. She was educated at one of the leading colleges of the country, and is a high- ly accomplished musician. She says the Kansas boom caused her downfall. Her husband lost atl his money and died, leaving her penniless. No Femate Singers. There is not a single female voice in the choir at St. Peter’s, in Rome, and yet the most difficult oratories and sacred music written are rendered in such a manner as to make one think that Adelina Patti’s high soprano is leading. The choir is composed of 6¢ boys. , a