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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 1908)
8 THE. SUNDAY OREGONIAX, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY 16, 1908. JCY : Bow.lt Is Carried On fl V"- ' ' X m-mL -Mk ' inthe Wilds of -Jl i ' f :.,,- V- ' ' f : mk fSMIm J nm ' British East Africa, . r ". -b&M''-- U P I Where'. - : ::iiefrife lif ,, l M SKSvVl Heavy License i "fp&j&'z; fc.v&as . daw Warm ' nmlw WI . . iijM iiV& K'-fi'fk ; JEKF PLACE TO SHOOT AT J2USPHA27T IS BETWEEN TE JSIAR y42VZ BT FRANK G. CARPENTER. 5 IUTISH East Africa ia the land. of big game and Nairobi is the chief place where hunters outfit their parties for shooting the Hons, ele phants, rhinoceroses, antelopes, gnus, gir ultes and other wild animals which in fest it. As I write this letter several large parties are here preparing to go out "on safari," as such hunts are called. The Norfolk Hotel is filled with them, and behind it are scores of black harlf naked porters and tent boys, packing porting goods Into boxes, laying in pro visions and arranginff things for the march. Thero are head men, rounding up the porters and giving . each his load. There are gunbearers seeing to the arms sud amniunitirfn, and there are ths portsincn themselves, some clad all in khaki, some wearing riding breeches and legslns, and all in thick helmet hals. ' In the big yard upon .which my hotel rooms look I can see piles of tusks, heads, horns and skins from hunting parties which have Just returned, and In one corner is the baby lion of which I tiave already written. Among the sports men are several eminent Englishmen, and in the hotel itself are both lords and ladies, some of the latter having come cut to try a shot at a lion or so. During this last year two women have shot lions here, and one of the biggest man raters' ever killed in East Africa came down through a bullet from a gun in the bands of an American girl. Last Year's Hunting Bag. . Thero is so much game here that al most any one who goes out cannot fail to bring back something. The bag for last year numbered over 3000 head, and this was shot by sportsmen from Eng land, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, India, Australia, North America and New Zealand. Many excellent shots were made by Yankees, and some of the best by an expedition sent out by the Field Columbian Museum, consisting of Mr. V. Shaw Kennedy, Mr. and Mrs. C. E. lAkely and Mr. E. Heller. This party started out on the Athi plains, an enor mous plateau east of here, which Just warms with zebras, antelopes, gnus and other wild animals, and from there made Its way north and south. It secured specimens of almost every description for the museum, and shot, among other ani mal?, 12 lions, including a magnifleoWt llack-maned brute, which was killed on the Molo river. Mr. Kennedy himself shot no less than seven Hons, and of these four were males and three females. He killed also two elephants. Among other successful parties was that of Messrs. Piiipps and Havemeyer, who together shot five lions and killed a score of other kinds of big game. Nobility Out Shooting. As to the English hunters, their name is legion, and those who have reeently been, here have included many of the nobility. Lord Hindllp, who is one of the largest landlords of this colony, own ing more than 100.000 acres, has made several flying expeditions from tils coun try home, and has succeeded in obtain ing two largo elephants and a splendid buffalo. The Earl of Cowley, who came here on his way home from Ceylon, bagged several water buffaloes and a rhinoceros, and Lord and Lady Water ford have killed a lion, which they stalked through the long grass, in com pany with their bearers. Lady Water ford was a quarter of a mile distant when she saw two men clad in khaki go down before the charge of a wounded lion, and could not tell whether her hus band stood or fell. By a miracle neither man lost his life. They were both gun bearers, his lordship being off to the side. Later Lord Waterford shot an ele phant at Njoro, and secured a fine pair of tusks. - - Curing a visit of his. royal highness. - : r It 3 J'. r t the Duke of Connauglit, now about two years ago, he made some pretty shooting over tlie Kapiti plains; but did not stay long enough to get a lion or an elephant. Gen. Baden-Powell was here at about the same time, and his brother. Mr. Frank Baden-Powell, then shot a freak rhinoc eros, which had but one horn, and that over 27 Inches long. Lord and Lady Montgomery and Mr. William Mure killed five Hons, and Mr. Mure got an elephant with Si pounds of ivory in his tueks. Continental Counts and Barons. As to ordinary Britishers, they have killed a large number of big game of all kinds, and the same is true of some of the Continental Counts and Barons of other nations. The Marquis Piz zardi, for instance, lias shown himself one of the gamest sportsmen who have ever come to British East Africa. At one place he killed two bull elephants, and then nearly lost Ms life by shoot ing an elephant cow as she rushed upon him. The cow dropped dead as the ball struck her, and Pizzardl fell backward Just In time to avoid being crushed. Among other Continental sportsmen who have been here recently were the Counts C. and E. Hoyes. Pod statzky and Marchetti. Count E. Hoyes bagged 66 head of big game, compris ing 21 varieties, and among them two elephants, three lions and a giraffe. His brother killed 69 head. Including a lion and an elephant, and Count Pod statzky did almost as well as to num ber, bagging one lion and two rhinoc eroses. Big Game That May Be Shot. The hunting laws here are rigid. No one can shoot witiiout a license, and the man who kills young elephants, cow elephants or taby giraffes will pay a big tine and spend a long term. In Jail. The right to shoot big gams Is regulated by license, and for this every sportsman must pay 50, or $250, a season. So many licenses have been taken out this year that the revenue therefrom has been $50,000, and such receipts are increasing from year to year. These licenses give the sportsman the right to kill several hundred of the gamest animals that have ever In fested the Jungles or galloped over the plains. He may kill two elephants, two rhinoceroses, two hippopotaml'and two zebras, as well as six rare ante lopes and gazelles. The law allows him two monkeys of the Colobus spe cies and two smaller monkeys. He may shoot two male ostriches,' two marabouts and two algrets, and vari ous antelopes and gazelles of differ ent species to the number of 10. He can kill 10 wild pigs, 10 wildcats, 10 Jackals, two cheetahs .and two aard wolves. As to lions, leopards and crocodiles no license is required to shoot them, and altogether the game possibilities are so great as to throw all the "Teddy bears" of the Vnlted States into the shade. Plenty of Wild Ostriches. In hunting out here the variety of animals is so many that there is no need of chasing through the swamps nor tramping about over the plains for days before one gets a shot. One often Bees a dozen different kinds of ani mals at the same time, and can change his sport from day to day. The sports man will find antelopes almost every where, and will not infrequently be In sight of an ostrich or so. These birds are big game, and are hunted largely on ponies. They are very sp'eedy, and however it may be else where, they do not poke their heads down In the sand and wait for the hunter to come. On the other hand, they spread out their wings and go oft on the trot, swimming, as it were, over the ground. They can run faster than a horse, but they run in large circles, and the hunters catch them by cutting across the arcs of. the circle or run- I " " 7' im'V . i. 11 , . , , 11 m ,,.1K , ,, .i ning around in smaller circles.- It Is. a great thing here to shoot a cock os trich in order that you may give you,r sweetheart or wife the beautiful white feathers which are found od the wings of the male bird. Zebras Easy to Kill. And then there is the zebra. That animal, whose black and white stripes shine out so plainly in this African sun, is to bo seen by the thousands on the Athi plains, and lie Is found not far from the railroad all the way from Vol to Uganda. a distance greater than from New York to Pittsburg. Had it not been against the law I could have picked off some with my revolver as I rode through on th cars. The- zebra is a different animal when found" far from the railroad, but on the whole ha Is easy to kill. He seems to have dis covered that he will not get shot on the great game reservations which ex tend for one mllo on each sldo of the Uganda track. Away from them he will run like a deer, and as zebras usually go in droves the excitement of following them over the plain Is intense. Zebra skins tanned with the hair on are fine trophies, and I am told that zebra steak is excellent eat ing.' The flesh tastes like beet, -with a flavor of game. The animals are so beautiful, however, and so much like a horse, that only a brute would kill them for sport. Elephant Hunting Pays. In hunting elephants, many a sportsman makes enough to pay a good share or his African expenses. He can shoot only two elephant bulls, but if he gets good ones their tusks, taken together, may sell for $1500 or $2000. The African elephants have the largest tusks of their kind. ' I have seen some which weighed 150 pounds each, and tusks have been taken which weigh up to 200 pounds. African ivory la the best and it brings the highest prices. It is difficult to get the tusks out. The por. ters may be half a day chopping away the meat, and it will take about four men to carry a tusk of the sise I have men tioned. There are men here who hunt elephants for their ivory; but the most of the licenses are taken .out by sports men who care more for the honor of having made a good shot than anything else. How to Shoot Elephants. One of the best' places to shoot an ele phant is through the eye or half way be tween the ear and the eye. Another good shot Is Just back of the flap of the ear and a third is In a place on one side of the tall so that the hall will run along the spine and enter the lungs. Large bullets and heavy guns are used. It is exceed ingly dangerous to shoot when the animal is close and not kill him. The elephant 2W JOZCEZMSJZ.. IS J&EQVZREO TO SHOOT LZ07TS when injured is very revengeful. He will throw his trunk Into the air, scream, hiss and snort and rush after the hunter, knocking him down with a blow of his trunk and charge upon him with li is great tusks; If the man falls, the great beast is liable to kneel upon him and mash him to a Jelly. One of the difficulties ot elepljant hunt ing is that It Is not easy to distinguish the animals in the woods, as they are of much the same color as the trees. A traveler here tells me that he Once almost walked into a big elephant while going through the forest. He was stooping down and looking straight before him when he saw the elephant's legs and took them for tree trunks. The average elephants of this re THE DANGER IN MINES ERRIBLE mine explosion! Many t deaths: . This Is the sort of newspaper poster we are all only too familiar with. The coal which drives our engines, warms our houses and cooks our dinners, costs on an average 800 lives yearly, and 20 years ago the loss was much higher over 1000 a year Most of us' doubtless Imagine that the loss of life In a coal mine explosion Is caused by the firing of inflammable gases. This happens comparatively rarely. The gas explosion Itself is usually quite a small matter; It l the dry coal dust mixed with air that is the real explosive agent, and It is to prevent this danger that dusty seams are so carefully watered. But even so, the total death roll in a bad accident ia due to other causes than the whirling blast of the explosion. Many bodies are found quite unscorched, and lying quietly as if in peaceful sleep. What adds to the deception is that the cheeks and skin generally are pink, and have none of the leaden pallor of death. For a. long time' this phenomenon was a mystery. But now it Is known that men presenting this appearance have been killed by a poisonous gas of which the sci entific name is carben monoxide. Carbon monoxide must not be confused with carbonic acid gas the suffocating gas which is given out from the human lungs, and which lends "stuffiness" to a crowded room. While the latter gas is only suffocating tn its action, the former Is a deadly poison with a most, curious ac tion. It has an extraordinary affinity for the red coloring matter of the blood; and soon prevents the blood from carrying sufficient oxygen. The result is that the -victim falls down In a paralyzed condi tion and soon dies. One of the strangest effects of this hor rible gas poison is when a half dead miner gion can easily make six miles an hour while on the march. They usually travel In herds, the young and old moving along together. The animals can swim, notwith standing their enormous weight; and they can easily cross the largest rivers. I understand that the most of the ele phants which used to Infest these plains have been driven away. They have now to be hunted for in the woods; but there are plenty in the forests between here and Uganda, and about the slopes of Mount Kenia and Mount Kilimanjaro. There are also many In the south near the Zambesi, and west of Lake Tanganyika, In the for ests -along the Congo. At present about 65,000 African elephants are being killed every year, and there is danger that they Is carried Into the open air he falls Into most fearful convulsions, exactly as if he had swallowed strychnine. Men often die after they have been taken out alive from the poisonous atmosphere. Underground workers see many strange things, and it is email wonder that miners are, as a rule, somewhat superstitious. Strange sounds are often heard In the usually silent depths of the vast galleries which pierce the earth in all directions. These are caused by the settling of the disturbed strata, and by the tremendous pressures exerted upon the pit props, the wood of which Is often converted by this pressure into a substance hard and heavy as stone. A few years ago more than 200 men refused to descend a mine near Port Talbot, in Glamorganshire. They declared that it was haunted. Some of them had seen a spectral woman waving a lighted lamp, and heard her scream. Eventually it was proved that the light was caused by a curious outgrowth of phosphorescent fungus, while the scream was no doubt the creaking- of a gallery root under the enormous pressure exerted by the enor mous and heavy rocks above. This pressure sometimes causes a strange phenomenon which miners call a ."goth." This Is a sort of local earthquake accompanied by a loud report. The mine timbers in the neighborhood are suddenly shivered to matchwood. Two years ago a miner was killed in the Northwood Pit at Hanley by a "goth." Mining of all kinds is, In a way, a gam ble with Nature. A company will be work ing a rich seam when, suddenly the miners run against a "fault," and the seam is gone. Some years ago the famous Gralr gola coal seam near Swansea was lost In this way. Tens of thousands of pounds were spent 4n looking for it, but It was not until after more than two years' bard ELEPHANT HJNTING - THIS FILE 0T zvajar is "wouth SfO, COO will eventually become as scarce as buf faloes are in the United States. As to hippos and rhinos, there are plenty of them still left along the streams and about the great lakes of the tropical parts of the continent. There are Rhinoceroses almoBt everywhere in the woods between Nairobi and Uganda. I have seen a num ber of hippos, and were I a hunter, which I am not, I could, I venture, bag enough of their hides to make riding whips for all the hunt clubs of Virginia. The set tlers tell me the animals come in and root up their gardens, and that it is almost Im possible to fence against them. Both rhinos and hippos are hard to kill Each has a. skin about half an Inch thick. and there are only a few places upon them where a ball will go through. Hip pos can be hunted in boats on the lakes but they swim rapidly and dive deep, re maining under the surface a long time. They move along through the water. sh6wing only their ears and nose: They are wary, and it is difficult to get a shot at just the right place. One of the best points at which to aim is under the eye or back of the head between the ears. These animals are sometimes harpooned, but such hunting Is dangerous, as they are liable to crush one's boat. The rhinos have also to be approached very carefully. They have keen senses of hearing and smell, although they can not see to any great distance. They are usually hunted on foot, and one must be careful to get on the windward side of them. They do not hesitate to charge their enemies, and the great horn which each has on its nose Is a terrible weapon, enabling it to kill a horse at a blow. The most of these beasts are black, but now work that It was rediscovered, near Cly dach. The same sort of thing happened to the Dilhorne seam, a magnificent bed of coal six feet thick. Its owners spent 70,000 in searching for it, but failed to find it. Then, six months later, some other min ers stumbled upon it at the Draycott Col liery at a depth of only 450 feet. In modern times more than 750.000 worth of copper was dug from the Conis ton Hills. Forty years ago the lode was lost. In 1904 two clever inventors, using a novel electrical apparatus, rediscovered the lode. Sometimes a lost vein of coal cannot be located by any effort of man. For more than a hundred years past large quanti ties of coal have been coming ashore on a beach near Small Point, Maine. It Is soft coal of the best quality known. Every possible effort has been made to discover the source. Drills have been sent down Into the Point at a depth of over a thous and feet. A thin seam of hard coal was found, but the source of the soft coal wreckage is still a complete mystery. Miners never know what they may meet in the. course of their slow explorations Into the heart of the rocks. Two years ago a man working In a pit near Pitts burg, Pa., suddenly came upon a piece of coal bearing the imprint of a naked hu man foot. It was chance, of course, but the resemblance was perfect. The man was so frightened that he left the pit and sought work elsewhere. At the Twin Shaft Mine, also in Penn sylvania, strange noises were leard for some weeks, and then one day, without further warning, a miner's pick burst straight into a huge underground reser voir filled with water. The water spouted out In a fierce stream, and almost in stantly broke away the thin casing of rock and rushed In a flood through the mine. Fifty-eight men were drowned. Most of us remember the tremendous oil boom at Beaumont, Tex. "Gushers" were struck which flung up fountains of petro leum hundreds of feet Into the air. With in a few months several of these gushers suddenly stopped flowing. The owners and then a white one is found. I met m. man the other day who claimed to have killed a white rhinoceros. Since 1 have been In Africa I have received a number of letters from American sportsmen asking the cost of shooting big game In this" part of the world. The question is hard to answer. It Is dependent on the man and to some extent on the bargains he makes. There are business firms here and In Mombasa who make a specialty of outfitting hunting parties and who will fix all arrangements as to guides, food and porters somewhat after the same plan as .Cook does for travelers. The prices. In such cases, depend tipon the length and character of the tour and the size of the party. There is a young American here now, whose mother calls him "Dodo," who paid $500 for a three days' hunt after lions; and this did not necessitate a license, as lions are on the free list. The young man tramped about with his porters through the tall grass and was given a shot or so at two lions, both of which he missed. nad he tried for big game It would have cost him $200 more. 'On a long hunt the expenses of all kinds can be considerably reduced. Pud I should think that $40 a day for each sportsman In the party would be a fair estimate. I am told that a man can be fitted out with porters, gun-ocarcra and personal servants for $250 a mouth. One can get a good cook for from $5 to $8 a month, a gun-bearer for about $10 and a personal servant for from $8 to $10. The license for big game in all cases costs $250. The traveling ex penses from New York to British East Africa direct are about $300.' Food "When on Safari. As to provisions for the tr:'p, tnis depends much upon the tables of ilie Individual sportsman. There are native villages almost everywhere at which some fresh food can be bought at cheap rates. Chickens are plentiful at 8 cents a pound and meats cost the same. In the streams and lakes there are fish; the guns of the party ought to supply plenty of game, and one need never suffer for the want of antelope or zebra steak. As to the other food it should ho packed up in boxes of 60 pounds each; and In case the outfit Is prepared here each box will have sufficient for one man's requirements for one week. The most of the stuff is In tins and it usually Includes plenty of Chicago canned beef. Canadian bacon and Lon don biscuits, jams and marmalades. Such boxes are labeled with number. No. 1 containing the first week's supply, No. 2 the second week's, and so on. Each box weighs just 60 pounds, as no more than that can be carried on the head of one porter. Some Outfitting Suggestions. I would advise the American sports man who. intends coming out hero to shoot to stop off on the way in Eng land and get much of his supplies there. There are London firms who make a specialty of outfitting for African travel and for hunting expeditions. One should have double-roofed tents, and the square tents are the better. It will be well to bring mackintosh or rubber blanket, one foot wider all around than the floor of the tent: for many of the camps may be soggy and marshy. One should also have a fold ing bedstead, a cork bed and warm blankets, and a folding chair and taWe will not be amiss. Narobal, British East Africa. tried pumping. To their horror and amazement they got nothing but salt water! Perhaps the strangest freak hat Mother Nature ever played upon a miner was at Lodl, 20 miles south of the city of Indian apolis. So long ago as 1829 a man named Norbourn Thomas bored ' there for salt, and found at a depth of 250 feet brine from which he could make 30 bushels of salt a day. Later he bored to 500 feet, and was able to make 60 bushels a day. Some years pasod, and he took a brother into partnership and deepened the well still further. They then got 2o0 bushels of f-alt daily, and the enterprising Thomas made a large fortune. In the 70s came the oil boom and the Thomas salt well was reborcd in the hope of .finding petroleum. A -depth of 1133 feet was reached when suddenly the drill was blown out by a terrific rush of water, and the company was forced to abandon work. Five years ago it was discovered quite by chance that the still Tlowing well was producing water charged with mineral salts of the very greatest value, and to day Lodi is a rapidly-growing and flour ishing health resort. Woodland Days Out West. Denver Republican. The trails we trod last Summer 'time are burled now in snow Those mystic paths through woodland ways where pine branches swung- low. And where' the breeze from distant hills was soft upon the brow: But all. the pines are draped In white the breeze is chilling now. " The stream that seemed to laugh In elee is silent now, and glides Beneath an try covering, the while a cold moon rides; And down the mossy aisle we knew there floats the wolf's wild cry. And flecks upon the crusted snow tell where the deer went by. The peaks that smiled upon us then are frowning now, and drear; No smoke comes from the ranger's lodge where we found trallmen's cheer; But once again, in memory, before a cheer ful blaze, We live again, as dreamers will, the Sum mer's woodland days.
