Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 1906)
THE : OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND. SUNDAY MORNING. - NOVEMBER 4. If 0 r F 1 WW in to Oil it TO WHERE on earth is there such a l : terrible tribute in human life de- . tnanded by the beasts and reptiles ' ' o jungle as in India. The figures are appalling. ' Every year in that unhappy country about 24,000 persons fall victims to wild animals or deadly snake biles. In '1904-r;. . .. the last year for which statistics have been U completed 'the number was 24,0 If -, . - AJUthis-en orm ous total,-Z Ja oasverc. lift' .-' 'Xfcflk Ia' fl ,! ,1 V. f4 jaw i aw -w . X V ' X by the cobra or some other of the five species of r deadly serpents; jq6 were pounced upon and carried away by the dreaded man-eatint titer; qq were killed bi leopards and the retnai to wild -animals of other kinds perhaps to packs of prowling wolves, to attack; of hungry panthers, or the infuriated rush of the mad elephant. , ' ; . In all the world serpents claim 30,000 f victims a year. Of these it will be seen, ' then,that India contributes three-fourths as her dreadful toll, , - . V "The extraordinary mortality from snakes and wild animals and the heavy los , of property-: nearly .' 100,000 jattle are killed each yearhas long been of concern to England, as well as to the Indian Gov ernment. Rewards arc offered for the de struction of pests and careful experiments 1 l u.t. XtUI tU Aath - by drmng them, out of the toll grats antitoxins for snake bites. StM.thjMath roil IS increasing, mnt.ua uj uimtnunta, Wbere frunner with the years? ; : : ? K. t- y TO India Killed 127 persons before h fell - under the bullet of an Englishman rifle. Another carried away 45 men, women and children. :" ' ' ; 1. ' r Such tiarera are hunted in eeveral waya. 'ERE disease to sweep away so many people of a country it would be re garded in horror as a plague; men would speak of it with bated breath; , thousands would flee before its coming. In a single province of India, not larger than Maryland, 1000 persons die each year from the bite of the cobra alone. In the same prov ince, some years ago, a single man-eating tigress caused the desertion of thirteen villages: and threw fifteen square iniles of territory out of cultivation for an entire season. . " India's plagues would seem worse than those " of ancient Egypt. . -.' There is -something harrowingly r pathetic about the fate of the 21880 persons most of them of the poorer class of natives who give up their lives in writhing, terrible agony as the - burning poison ' from the cobra's fangs riots through their veins.s . - . . Even more dramatic is the constant menace of the huge man-eating'llger, which leaps upon ' its victim like the onrush of a hurricane, alings the unfortunate being over its powerful shoul ders and bounds into the jungle, to crush bones and flesh at leisure in a satiating meaL . In addition to the nearly. 800 persons thus seized and carried . away annually by tigers, about 80,000 cattle are charged to their account. ' THRU CLASSES OF TIGERS . By the people of India tigers are divided into three classes the game killer, the "cattle . lifter" and the man-eater. . Of these the game killer is regarded a harmless to man. Indeed, it is in a way. bene ; ficiaL as it preys upon the deer, pigs and mon keys that, left undisturbed, would play havoc with growing crops. Through the watchfulness and activity of this species of ThecarTamiryr it is possible for the nativea upon the borders of the jungle to receive returns for their labor " iathe fields. T dextrin order comes the "cattle lifter." It is the largest and most powerful of the three, but is not greatly feared by man, except for its . depredations upon the herds. Oneslc&i.tiger .will take up it abode near settlement and live-n its part on terms of veasy friendliness with the natives, seising W tribute a cow or sheep every few daya e If hunted, the tiger will kill animals that it does not need for food, possibly as. a warning to be let alone. - "- Animals of this class have" been known to ' kill eight or ten cattle, one after another, on a -aingle rampage. A seasoned "cattle lifter" con finea it attentions to a few villages and kill"' - aoout seventy -aomesttc animals a year, averag- ing from $8 to, $10 each In value. ilan-eaters are thought by some to develop ' through heredity; others believe they graduate " entirely irom the ranks of the "cattle hfters," As rule, these animals are the laeier, fatter . and older tigers, who have learned through ac cident that it ia easier to .overcome and bear away a human being than a bullock. Usually it is an old tiger whose teeth are no longer good.' . Even when huddled in their villages : this ' frightened natives are not safe. Huge man-' eaters have been known to bound into the very centre of .a group of houses, pickip a man or woman from doorstep and spring away witu its shrieking burden. " t It is on record that on tigress in central 1 v ... " -V. ' :' ' also on elephants, are wait?" "t ing. dative beatera also drive .tne beasts . : . . through the jungle to gunners stationed on - - " . platforms built in trees. ' : ; - " '' '.By far the most hazardous plnn, how- f " ever, is to pursue the animal on foot. Io : ' perl a in sections of India the authorities pay,.;-1. ..'".. $50 for each tiger killed in this way, while " V only about $17 is paid for one killed from' .-; . an elephant or platform. - . ..; , s . - ' While S09 persons were killed in India . . ; . during 1904 by leopards, and 959 by pan- thers, elephants, wolves, bears and other ani- - '. mala, nothing inspires the terror that '' man-eating tiger does. .' " r- -r Every year 90,000 or more domestic ani- . mala are slain by wild animals and reptile .' in India in 1904 the number was 98.582. ' " '," Of these from 1,000 to 20,000 fall victims to snake' bites, while tigers, panthers and leopards account for most of the remainder. ... JUrged by the bounty paid by the gov ernment, as well aa by the desire for self- preservation,' man in turn makes war upon his leaping and crawling enemies. During id' m 7 ilJflfj f,mm -.'. 4, ' V J 7C ' AV. Mi- v. i. t... l.ll'M:!.;' i !f f'.i -.Jl ,1:1 v , " yJP&sorts Carried Avry Jy . . : . terror "of : visitor or ' temporary residents ia -r 7 India.' A traveler' related recently hie experi-' ence . on : Borongo Island, the paradise of , .snakes," where to many of all kinds are found . that it is a , common saying that they go t ( " Borongo from all the world after death. ' -1 When he aat down-to supper he noticed hi companions also f Europeans looking ateadily at the thatched roof. Suddenly one exclaimed, ..MThTe's' a snake 1": and, snatching up a long, sword, be made a stab at the ceiling and brought down the neatly, divided body of a cobra. ' Upon another occasion, while visiting " neighbor, he saw a snake drop from the roof upon the shoulders of a companion. -The lat- ' ter, accustomed to the waya of serpents, sat '" perfectly still,' not moving a muscle, while th ; baneful head of the snake swayed, hissing, about '.. his neck. . ' ; '...'-., :----t -.. :--:-r-r--i - ,' : The host picked up a word to kill the rep -tile, but his nerve -failed. All sat, staring in f ascinated horror, until a head servant came into the room. lie caught up the sword and with' r a awift, deft stroke, severed the creature's head. ' ' It is commonly said, and firmly believed, in . ' tome parts of India, that if a man will stand , steadily gating into - the glittering eyes of a . karait for a f ew minutes, he witt-go starkrav- ing mad. . v .'; ' ? . . Not a pleasantjand in which to truly!. - Yet the extent to which serpent worship exist J among vast numbers of the natives is aston ' ishing. "' : :' ' ".' '- " In the one district of Travancore there - are no fewer than 10,000 to 20,000 ehrines dedi- . cated exclusively to the propitiatory worship of snakes.. Neighboring families make ' periodical , offeringa of . dough, milk and cooked noe to the serpentine habitues of these shrines; they burn ' : lights -and sing hymns In order to be assured of z the favor of the reptilian deities. ,1 t 1 - . m - i - fc- 0 1 rrssM a 1 J - v. fi ! t I flll Vctzz?3. to JnsJ&S iaJhoBfo. In one or karait,. the kupper 'and the chain viper. Most common is the former; it is found al most everywhere. Indeed, snakes have been found at an altitude of 8000 feet 1 in tho' Himalayas.- "" . ' -., ; .' : During the decade of 1880-90 the num- " ber of deaths from snake bites-ranged from 18,670 to 22,480 year. In that time between .212,000 and 078,000 snakes were killed annual lyslaughter being spurred by government bounty with no appreciable diminution of .numbers..... . Enormous mortslity fron. this-source has induced the English and Indian Govern ments to cast about for some means of re lief ' other than reliance', upon slaughter many nativea, believing in the transmigration- . of souls, will not kill even the most deadly of reptiles. . . ' '. ; Experiments have been made in the di rection of curing snake bites. . One method proposed is the injection of specially pre pared anti-venom, - which GSXAT SXAXZ FISTIVAIS ; At certain period of the year snake festi vals are held, when people gather from all , part to. worship and bring gifts, often costly. It is "believed that in the vicinity of the shrines snak bites never prove fataL ' - It is stated as a remarkable fact that in theTravnccnrg -territory the irnroberT)f dea from snakebites is comparatively smalL A par tial explanation of this may be found in the ex treme kindness' with which the people treat thw - serpents. As a rule, Indian snakes are not ag - . gressive. If left severely alone they will rarely harm person. ' ' Think of two-thirds of all victims of venom- ous reptiles being from one land! India's bur den is truly grest ',' There are no comnlete statistics to ; show how many persons die in the world of snak bites each year. The number, however, haa been placed at 30,000. In the United. States, so far -as known, the annual fatalities amount to about 7 fifty. Florida U generally looked upon to conC7 tribute several of these with regularity. , Venomous snakes of America are comprised i in four families the rattlesnake proper, the , copperhead and the moccasin, the coral snak and. the ground rattler. There are several varie- ties of the rattlesnake and two of the coral, i Most deadly of all are the copperhead and th diamond rattler. . " . """ In Africa North and South the most . dangerous serpents are the African .cobra, th the period of the above report, $36,565 waa paid "in rewards by the Indian Government for 16,121 wild animals and 65,146 snakes. Perhaps the destruction of snakes would-be far greater were it not for the yeneration in which they ar held in most parts" of India. - In some provinces, in fact, the deadly cobra ia pam pered, protected and .even worshiped. ..( , , .The five venomous serpent of the country ar th hooded oobra, the hamadryad the krait anti-venom, - which acts as an anti toxin. . Another consists of treating . the- spitting snake and the sheep.jtinger. Australia wound with wrmanganaWof potash. . : has about twenty poisonous varieties, - five- of These ' methods, especially tho' - latter, them extremely venomous. Among these r the brown-banded snake, the brownsnak , and the blacksnnke.7 1 ' - .. , A'number of deaths' result in France every yearrom snake bites. A premium of 25 centime is paid for each venomous serpent killed there. In 1890, 67,620 snakes were killed, and each year since has seen 4 great many put out of busl1 ness, but the supply appears, undiminished, : have been found to result in gratifying auc ' cess in tho case of animals bitten,4 but their value in laving human lives is still more or less probleraaticaL '.. ' " ., It ia intended, however, to keep supplies of permanganate of potash in every village and station, in shape for 'immediate use. ; ; Serpents kre at one the Nuisance and th -V- .... a