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The Grant County herald. (Big Stone City, Grant County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1883, October 18, 1879, Image 1

Image and text provided by South Dakota State Historical Society – State Archives

Persistent link: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn00065151/1879-10-18/ed-1/seq-1/

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THE MAN-EATER.
5
years ago I was riding with i
through the streets of Lu know,
in the miIdle- of the road we came
i blood y mass, apparently the rc-
Woman, but bruised and laeer
nd crushed almost out of sem
tohttmanity.
)ing the buggy, we looked around
e explanation, and then perceived
e streets were utterly deserted ot
tman. child and beast, although a
•ed an 11 cautious faces were to be
ping from the doors and win
over the parapets of the nouses,
e must have been an attempt at
ad th e soldiers have made an ex
two for the benefit of the re
said my friend, as we drove
y on.
rods further we came upon the
a young man similarly disfig
I also lying in the middle of the
is really awful. They must have
le elepiiaHts kill him." muttered
again, stopping the horse and
the frightful spectacle,
s moment a man appeared upon
if an ad joining house, and looked
y down the street. To him my
touted and he cried:
)B, sahibs, but the boy was my
the house is desolate. By the
Kali, but he has turned this way
Take care of yourselves, sahibs,
ming. The man-eater is upon
admee-kpnawallah! the man
I have seen him. He is a horse
temper of a tiger and the cour
man. lie belongs to the king,
letimes sends a slave .who dis
lim into the stable. They drag
out with hooks.
spoke my friend was hastilv
his horse, while the terrified syce,
i hitherto run heside the buggy,
ed of to the side of the road and
ired. I know not where.
i loot of the hill we had just as
H)th my triend and I had noticed
park, or pleasure-ground, sur
with a high iron fence, its gates
hospitably open. Toward these
now drove at the top speed of
es, while behind us, on the road,
?d the iron hoofs of our pursuer.
3 sound ceased, and standing up,
over the top of the buggy to see
1 left u-. But he had only cn
a child, too young to know
erorto escape it, and when I
ight of him the savage beast was
the poor little onject in its mouth,
rasa dog does a rat. Another
and lie had dropped it, and was
pursuit of us. That moment's
JWevcr, had lost him his prey,
as he was about to overtake us
id into the enclosure, my friend
from the buggy, slammed the
shot the bolt securing them,
did so
the
i
atcr arrived and
imself against the gates with a
at must have sh ittered them had
of wood.
he stood for an instant glaring
at us through the iron railing
tended nostrils and glaring eye
ahead covered with blood, his
amingwith recent slaughter.great
coagulated gore clinging to his
-as terrible a sight as can well
ived.
sound of his ferocious whinnv
snorting, the horse we had been
trembled and cowered as if at
of a lion.
few minutes the man-eater per
his determination to assault us,
up and down in front of the
!, glancing at the height of the
raining a perfect battery of
his iron heels upon the gates,
however, convinced of the use
3f his efforts, he turned, with
rnant neigh, and galloped off
road. A little below us an
had been thrown across from
e to another, and upon this arch
of troopers stood awaiting the
iity now presented, for as
se, "With head and tail erect,
idly glaring eyes, searching
!ry side for fresh victims, passed
the arch, a rope skillfully
ettled upon his neck, choked
whim.
ext day the king ordered that
-eater should be turned into the
.th Burrhea, his finest Bengal
rena was a courtyard, about six
square, surrounded by build
th a veranda below and a gallery
•ont of this verandah was closed
vy bamboo railing, and behind
aceju-t below the royal balcony,
!8 of the lis uem, or as they are
Hindoostanee, the puidahbee
aning literally, curtain ladies, as
ishea from the poorer class of fe
ere allowed to peep at the com
ev could.
an-eatcr had been enticed into
sure by means of a country
small value, to whom he mani
animosity, but seemed to re
contemptuous indulgence as a
not, indeed of his own kind, but
iy near it to secure him from
1
the ferocious attacks he reserved for the
inferier race calied man.
While the horses sported together,
Burrhea's cage was brought into the ver
anda, just opposite where the king and
his court were now seated, a door in the
bamboo railing was thrown open, and the
front of the cage raised.
Burrhea, who had been kept without
food or drink tor the last twenty-four
hours, waited for no second bidding, but
leaped with one bound from the cage to
the middle of the courtyard, iashing his
sides with his long tail and glaring furi
ously at the horses, while his glossy and
beautifully striped coat shone like satin,
contrasting strongly with the frowsy hair
of the tattoo, or native horse, and mak
ing the man-eater's well-kept hide look
dull and rough in comparison.
Glancing stealthily about him for a
moment, the tiger commenced stealing
about the horses.
Admec-kanawailah fixed his eyes stead
ily upon the eves of his opponent, ami
not for an instant did he take them off.
Standing in an easy attitude, one foot
slightly advanced, his head lowered, his
ears flat upon his neck, lie awaited the
attack, but Burrhea, daunted, perhaps, by
that steady gaze, swerved from the direct
line of his approach and sidled toward
the tatoo, who paralyzed with fear,
seemed incapable of making the least
effort either for escape or resistence.
Arriving at the proper distance, Burr
hea sprang, knocked his victim flat,
alighted upon his side, and, with his
teeth inserted in the poor creature's neck,
greedily drank its blood.
"It will only make Burrhea the more
savage," said the king, gleefully rubbing
his hands, and the courtiers dutifully
assented, exchanging glances of approba
tion and pleasure before turning to enjoy
the further expected sport.
At length Burrhea was satisfied, or else
no more blood was to be had, and taking
his claws out of the dead animal, and
shaking himself as he did so, he began to
creep stealthily around the court-yard like
a cat stealing a inarch upon a mouse. He
made no noise whatever, raising and plac
ing his hugli paws as silently as a rose
'leaf flutters to the ground.
It was not a scene to be forgotten. The
King, with his courtiers, both European
and Indian, about him in thegayly-decor
ated gallery above, the eyes and figures
of the servants dimly seen peering through
the railing ot the veranda below. Burr
hea making his stealthy rounds, while in
the center of the courtyard stood the
man-eater, slowly turning, as the tiger
moved, so as always to keep hi eves
fixed upon the glaring eyes of his oppo
nent, his foreleg still advanced and slight
ly bent, his mane bristling, and his ear*
now erect and defiant.
The profound silence was inte: upleu
only by the grating sound of the iron
hoofs of the horse as he slowly turned in
exact concert with the movement of the
tiger.
At last, and without the slightest \isi
ble preparation, the tiger sprang, cutting
the air like a flash of lightning, but the
horse was prepared.
It had evidently been Burrhea's inten
tion to seize the head and fore-quarters,
but the man-eater was to quick for him,
and by a sudden diving motion of his
head and shoulders, received his antago
nist upon his muscular haunches instead.
The claws of the tiger sank deep in the
flesh, while his hind feet made a desper
ate effort to secure a holding upon the
horse's shoulders, but before this could
be effected the man-eater lashed out with
his iron heels with a resistless vigor that
sent Burrhea sprawling to the ground
with a broken jaw.
The king seeing this, frowned, and
gave orders to let the tiger out and turn
in another. Another came, but he seem
ed unwilling to fight. All the efforts of
the keepers failed to arouse him. The
king was furious.
"Take away that fool of a tiger and
bring in a lion!"' screamed lie, bending
over the railing and menacing the tiger
with his fist.
The trembling attendants hastened to
raise the doors of railing and cage, and
the tiger bounded in with infinitely more
alacrity than he had shown in coming
out.
There was a brief pause, and then the
attendanr at the loor announced the
keepci of the lions wh begged the audi
ence of the king.
"Bring him in!" ordered his majesty.
The lion-master tremblingly advanced,
and prostrating himself, announced his
cliasge not in lighting trim, one of them
being sick, and the rest just finishing an
unusually large repast.
"By the beard of my father, but you
shall replace them yourself, wallah!"
giowled the king, whose ill-humor had
reached its height. "Arm yourself with
a tulwar and go in to light the man-eater.
Kill him, or he will kill you/'
A profound silence followed this com
mand, which all who heard it understood
as a sentence against the unfortunate
man whose only offense consisted in hav
ing been too indulgent to the animals
un kr 1 is charge.
But in Oude to hear was to obey, even
1 lindly than in the Ea.-t generally,
and the lion-keeper, with his face
blanched and his eyes rolling wildly, sa
laamed to the ground and withdraw.
El)c ©rant County iicialfo.
BIO STONE CITY, GRANT COUNTY, DAKOTA. SATURDAY. OCTOBER 18. 1879. NO.
At the same instant a slight noise was
heard in the women's gallery below, and
as some of us bent over to ascertain the
cause, we saw one of the bamboo railings
torn from its fastenings and a light figure
till the opening and leap lightly to the
ground. It was Numah, a nautch girl,
whom the king had just bought from the
dishonest nautch wallah, with whom she
had agreed to dance for a certain time.
Her home, her lover, were now lost to her
forever, and she sought to save the poor
man's life at the cost of her own.
The king saw her as soon as any of us,
and an expression of terror crossed his
face, but immediately gave way to fero
cious satisfaction.
"It is well done, Numah," shouted he.
"Go and tell the admee-kanawallah your
sorrows and your wrongs. He will con
sole you."
The hautch girl turned and raised her
eyes t« the royal gallery.
"Death will comfort me, king,'' said
she, salaaming low, with the supple grace
inseperable from her every movement,
then she walked firmly and fearlessly to
ward the man-eater, who watched, intent
ly her approach, and with neck and
tremulous nostrils seemed to question
her intentions.
Arrived within arm's length of him
Numah sank upon her knees, crossing
her arms and bowing her head as in sub
mission to her fate.
A silence like death reigned through
out the place, broken at iast by the grat
ing sound of the horse's hoofs, as cauti
ously moving them, he approached her
step by step, and finally stood directly
over her, his head grazing her shoulder,
while nostril, eve and ear were evidently
alert to satisfy the mind of their master.
"Ma halla! he will not hurt her," ex
claimed the kiug and indeed the man
eater had no intentions of so doing, for
he was now resting his chin on the girl's
shoulder, and whinnying with satisfac
tion.
Numah, more surprised than any one,
raised her head, looked in the eyes of the
animal, rose cautiously to her feet, and
laid her hand upon his inane. The man
eater whinnied again and rubbed his
head against her shoulder.
An irrepressible burst of applause filled
the royal gallery, raised by the European
spectators. After an instant's hesitation
it was joined by the kin'/.
1
"Shavash, Numah! Bravo, girl!"
shouted he, clapping his hands. "You
have conquered the conqueror of Burrhea
and shall be rewarded. Nawah, see tha'
Numah receives five thousand rupees am1
is seut back safe to hei home with tin
horse."
Wit and Humor.
look a gift mule ir hind
Never
hoof.
The man who open- iuai
undue influence on it.
The proper place tor boys
fjog is on the back stoop.
The blind should go to tin
where even the Dead Sea.
•rts an
lb
Land,
elu pel ate
An Indianna carpenter is s
that he will not use a spirit lev
It ain't so much what a man kan lift
as what he kan hang onto that shows his
aktual strength.
"Teaspoon Corners" i«
Ingham county, Michigan.
a stirring place.
locality in
It must be a
All the clothes that Adam had for a
long time was the close of day. while the
mantle of night was his bed clothes.
"What hit you, Michael!" "Sure, your
'anner, it was that bloody policeman there,
wid his big assegevag."
Alfred, your poem must be laid over,
having some minor defects. For instance,
gorge does not rhyme with morgue.
A boy in this town has named his dog
Rome, so that by simply twisting the
animal's tail he can make Rome howl.
Two twinbrothers are said to be so
much alike that they frequently borrow
money of each other without knowing it.
"What will the hardest be if" asks an
exchange. Well, just wait till the har
vest bee crawls up your trowsers' leg, and
you'll find out.
A sable citizen made a bet that lie
could eat fifty watermelons in fifty hours.
He stalled in on the thirty-seventh. They
inscribed on his coffin "Act. 37.'1
An up-town clergyman thinks a man
can go 1,0 church in hot weather with as
much comfort as he can go to a picnic,
and save uionev by the operation.
Hands have they, yet feel not—clocks.
Legs have they,"yet walk not—tables.
Eyes have they, yet see not—needles.
Teeth have they,'yet chew not—combs.
A Pulaski boy recently swallowed a
pen-knife. Although not quite out of
danger, he finds some consolation in the
fact that the knife belonged to another
uoy.
Student, fresh from college, to conduc
tor: "I wish to get on the penultimate
car." Conductor: "we have no peanut
car you can take the smoker.' Mutual
ly disgusted.
An Arab soldier asked lea\e to visit
the home of his childhood, near one of
the most desirable of the pyramids, mak
ing it as an excuse that he wanted to
see how his M^me-lukes.
A young clerk in Holyoke spent six
hours in a refrigerator, having been im
prisoned bv mistake. He felt on coming
out as though fie had just been entertained
at a fashionable church sociable.
Speak gently, speak gentlv: no matter
how much bigger and how much broader
across the shoulders than yourself another
man is, nor how cross he looks, speak
gently. The bigger and broader and cros
ser, the gentler.
Custom ?r: "What did you think of
the bishop's sermon on Sunday, Mr.
WigsbyfB^ Hairi^£csser: "Well, really,
sir, there wSS a djlj^sittin' in front o'
ine as 'au "is '"'nHfeed that crooked
that I couldn't
'eai jP&ord!"
A colored man observed, while in con
versation with a friend-,'*" 1 dusn't b'lieve
you ve on y
make enny
in having a pardener
got a small business.
thing, why, ver don't
lose, yer have to lose it a
"Aw, it is not to be wo
marked Mr. Toplofty, as 1
eye-glasses, "sea-bathing has grown un
populah, because you see, aw, the vuigah
herd took to the watah, and it has be
come vewy much soiled.
I if ye?
i at," re­
adjusted his
A man may go fishing and catch a
handsome string of fish, and lose them
out of the back of the wagon coming
home, or have them grabbed by the dog
at the house where he left his team, but
he can never tell the story and ave it
believed.
The following advertisement appeared
in the Rochester (England) Observer of
June 26: "On sale, a set of teeth, the
owner having no use for them, having
nothing to chew on account ot hard times.
Apply 7 Burgess street. Freehold 971*.''
An up-town man when asked last even
ing if he was a member of a certain
church, replied: "Well, I dunno b'lieve
I am a sort of an honorary member of
something. Anyhow, when they have a
donation I always send something along."
As a party of gentlemen and ladies
were climbing to the top of a high church
tower one hot day, a gentleman remarked
"This is rather a spiral flight of steps,"
To which a lady rejoined, "Yes, perspi
rai." aix. -Iw- wiped her brow as she
spoke.
Tile
peculiarity
ot r:ie
way-
fly
r-•
tti
i
is that heal-
t-• the same spot: but it is
the characteristic of the mosquito that he
always returns to another spot. Thus he
dilfeis from the leopard, whhich does not
change his spots. This is an important
fact in natural history.
Class the iigriculm-ii eon pro
lessor: Is there any way to obtain good
fruit without grafting or budding? Stu
dent: Yes sir. Professor: Please ex
plain the proees-. Student: Watch your
chance, and wii n the farmer goes to
dinner craw! o\er into the orchard and
steai it.
"Julius, yo young wagrani. iiez yer
bin ter ehu'ehdis niornin".'" "'Deed, I
haz. ole man.'" "Who preachV "De par
son, specs." "You am spicy, young *un:
but does yei 'member wha' de parson
sedr" "Sartin I does. I 'member he sed
dar'd be a k'lecshun tuk up. an' dat
scar'd me, an' I skup out to borrv a
loan."
A little religion is a dangerous thing.
That is well illustrated in the case of the
fire eating Virginian, who, while return
ing from camp meeting, held out his
hand to an old enemy, and exclaimed:
"(five
me your hand, Sanders I've got
religion, and I feel mean enough to shake
hands with a dog."
A gentleman from the provinces went
into the shop of a Parisian tailor t« order
some clothes. While his measures were
being taken, he said to the sartorial Aris
tarchus. "You must find that I am very
badly dressed." "Oh, no," replied
artist, "vou are not dressed at all
are simply covered,''
the
you
A North Carolina man commited
cide the other day. His neighbors
been trying to kill him for upwards ot
four years, and had fired altogether over
a hundred shots at him He left a note
saying he had rather die than "live in a
community of such cursed poor marks
men."
sui
had
People have already ceased to wonder
at the telephone, the phonograph has
become an old thing, and what the pub
lic demand of Mr. Edison is a machine
that will stand at the kitchen door and
knock the head off the first tramp that
asked for a lemen ice and two kinds of
cake.
Nothing is so painful at this season of
the year as the disheartening spectacle
ot a nine-year old hen looking through
the fence at a man digging a garden,
while she exercises her rugged legs and
incisive claws on the plauk walk, just
keeping in practice uutil the garden is
ready.
A South American plant has just been
found that cures bashfulness. It should
be promptly tried on the man who leaves
the hotel by the back window because, he
is too diffident to say good-bye to the
cashier and clerk.
There is a touch ot romance about the
marriage of the emperor and empress of
Austria. The empress is his cousin. Her
eldest sister, now empress of Thurn-Taxis,
was destined for the imperial throne, but
the y«»ung monarch, on going to Munich
to visit his intended bride was so struck
with the beauty and charms of her youug
er sister that, after a ball at the palace
of her lather, Duke Max. he presented
the simple young Bavarian giri then but
Hi, with a bom]net, telling her she was
thenceforth empress of Austria and queen
of Bohemia and Hungarv.
FEMINITIES.
A man and his wife can never agree
upon what constitutes a tidy-looking
room a woman will grow irratible when
she finds half dozen cigar-stumps stick
ing to the scorched mantel-piece, and he
can be expected to keep quiet when he
finds a bunch of long combings in his
shaving-mug.
A Mr. Isaac V. Green of Michigan ran
away with his wife's aunt recently. In
other words
He run away with his spouse's
aunt.
And never airitin was seen,
Thus iiroviiifr anew what a rare old plant,
Is the Michigan I. V. Green.
It makes a mother's heart revert to her
young days when she comes into the par
lor the next morning after her daughter's
beau has been round and finds only one
chair in front of the fire-place, and all
the others sitting along by the wall as
if they hadn't been touched lor three
ysars.
One of the saddest and most vexatious
trials that come to a girl when she marries
is that siie has to discharge her mother
and depend upon her hired girl.—[Troy
Times. But the saddest time for the
new-made hnsband is when the wife
dosn't discharge her mother, but takes
her home with her.—jSt. Albans Adver
tiser.
A citizen went home from the caucus
one night and asked his wife, "Did you
commit an error or do anything out of
oharacter before we were married?"
"Why iio! What makes you ask such a
question!" "Oh, I didn't think you had,
but I was nominated for a town office to
night, and I knew if you had it would all
be out to-morrow."
Riding in a railroad car—Husband:
You are quite comfortable, dear? Wife:
Yes, love. Husband The cushions are
easy and soft, ducky? Wife: Yes, dar
ling. Husband: You don feel any
jolts, pet! Wife: No, sweetest. Hus
band: And there is no draught on my
lamb, is there, angel? Wife: No, my
ownest own. Husband: Then change
seats with me!
Ttie sight a man wheeling a baby car
riage in the street is not a sign that the in
fant is weak, but that the man's wife is
strong. And yet if we were to judge
from the amiable grin with which the
fond
father, under these circumstances,
salutes every passing acquaintance, we
might eroneously suppose thst he was
really doing it just for the lun of the
thing.
An Old Joke 111 a New* Robe
"Chawles," languidly drawled Josephine,
looking up from her book, "I sec one of
the studies at West Point is trigonome
try. What is trigonometry, anyhow?"
"Trigonometry," replied Charles, toying
with an invalid moustache, "is a—a—is
the science of pulling the trigger, of
course." "I thought so," said Josephine,
resuming her novel.
The Mormon women say their husbands
are the bravest of men. We believe it.
Here the man who ventures on treble
blessedness is regarded as a truly heroic
chaiacter, but there are no words to ex
press the true estimate of the man ot
whom H5 women are able to say he is a
darling and devoted husband.
A young man with the blush of coun
try life sold out his produce on the mark
et yesterday and entered a shoe store and
said he wanted a pair of" shoes for his
wife. "What number?" asked the clerk.
The young husband scratched his head,
looked very much embarrassed, anil final
ly said: "Well, I've been married eight
months, but this shoe business stumps
me. I don't hardly believe she wears
'levens, and I don't think she kin git
into fives. I think if we split the differ
ence we'll hit her pretty close." He was
given a pair of eights, and after squint
ing along the soles, he observed "I guess
them '11 do she's awful proud, and I
know she'll squeeze into 'em for all she's
worth."
Capiliary attraction in the soil.—Mr.
Armsby's studies on relation of soils to
water, at the Connecticut Experiment
Station, have proved that the most im
portant feature in evaporation is eapili
arity that is, the rapidity with which
tile soil permits water to rise in it to
supply a deficiency at any point, and
hence to keep up a supply to be evapo
rated from the surface. In general, the
finer the soil the greater the capiliarty
down to a certain degree of smallness of
particle. It is, of course, that the pores
may be so small as to retard the motion
of the water. As regards texture, close
packing would, like greater fineness, tend
to add capillarity, until the pores become
so small as to retard the flow. In a loose
soii a great deal of water may evaporate
from points below the top. Commonly,
the looser the soil is the mere surface
will itexpose to evaporation.
The Czar says he don't usually issue
such edicts, but this is an ukase to deal
with.

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