8
THE. SUNDAY OREGONIAX, PORTLAND, FEBRUARY 16, 1908.
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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.