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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 1908)
10 THE SUXIAT OREGOXIAX. PORTLAND, MARCH 15, 190S. 1 CULS , mm MTGMM BE A. Childers Writes From Glory of a Boy Who All Experience With Treacherous By 'Himself Laid Low An Animal Panthers During a Lifetime Called the Mountain Lion ilillill'ni'i S1IC no r.. in BV B. A. CHILDERS. 1 HOW me a man or boy who does not take delight In reading stories of hair-raising hunting experiences. and 1 will show you one. man or boy, who has no red corpuscles in his blood. The two go together. Hunting big game produces men who make the best soldiers the world ever saw. These men have the trained eye and the steel nerve, re quisites for the successful fighters. Meny a night. In my boyhood, after all had retired. I have stretched myself in front of the wide chimney, and by the light of a chip fire, read the thrilling ex periences of Daniel Boone, Louis Wctzell, Adam Poe, Simon Kenton and Kit Car Ion. In fancy I hunted and fought side by side with them and gloried in their success. I too had Bis Foot's head under water and tried to drown him. I roamed the pathless forests with Daniel Boone; scouted and killed Indians with Wetzell; guided, scouted and hunted buffalo with Kit Carson, and always Intended, when grown, to be a hunter, trapper, scout or something else, the very thought of which set all my nerves athrlll. Forty years ago I landed In Oregon. During the two years following my ar rival 1 lived In I-ane County on the classic shores of the Long Tom. which heads in the Notl Mountains, one of the highest of the Coast Range. That section of the state is pre-eminently the home of the big cats. Nowhere else do they thrive and multiply and grow so large as on tlVc Long Tom and its tribu taries. I have known them to measure 11 feet from tip to tip. As a rule the big gest cats are not the longest. Cats weighing 303 pounds often measure less than nine feet. Others weighing less than 9) pounds often come near the 11-foot mark. Here it may be well to state that the big rats of the West have many names. When the enthusiastic novice kills one, accidentally. It is always a mountain lion. The more experienced hunter tells of the gigantic cougar that fell an easy victim to lils unerring rifle. The old-timer tells, modestly, of the big panther, or painter, he killed up in the hills the other day. He has never seen a mountain lion, nor a rougar. and doubts their existence. To him, and he is'right. all of the big cats are panthers. Wherever deer abound the big cats make their lair. I have often, while hunting, been so near that 1 could smell them as distinctly as one can smell those in cages at the City Park if he stands close in front of their cage. The scent of one to the hunter alone in the forest does not pcoduce a pleasurable sensation. He knows that the chances are in favor of the cat,' which is watching his every movement, and that it would not run if he should blunder onto it. They are not afraid, these big cats, but will lie motionless and allow a hunter to pass within 20 feet of them and never betray their presence by even a swish of, the tail. The mountain hunter rarely ever sees a panther, unless It is chased by dogs. During a residence of 40 years, in which 1 have hunted the Coast Range, the Cas cades and the Blue Mountains, I have seen only two not chased by dogs. They were both hunting me, although I have always felt sure they mistook me for legitimate prey. Coming down the trail from the Prairie Mountains on the head waters of the Alsea River in Benton County late one afternoon I saw a large animal slip over a log which lay across the trail. I knew It was a panther although it was the first I had ever seen. Calling my two dogs, which were in the trail behind me, I tore down the- trail In the direction of the .panther. Just as 1 saw it the dogs struck its trail and began bellowing to beat the band. About half-way from where 1 saw It the dogs passed me, and they were as excited as I. The panther never moved until they were almost upon It. Then It sailed down tlie mountain looking for all the world like a gigantic flying squirrel. It was almost sundown and I was five miles from camp, but I did not hesitate. Down the mountain 1 tore, the most elated hoy that ever chased a panther. I could feel a panther's pelt around my neck and see myself strutting proudly into camp to the surprise of all. Soon I heard the dogs baying and knew that they had him up a tree. I lessened my speed so 1 should not be nervous, and cautiously approached the spot where the dogs were baying. Catching sight of the dogs, I glanced up .and there was my bea-uty, about 30 feet from the ground. rolling- his eyfs and lashing his tail Impotent fury. It was Just light enough to "bead" him, and at the' crack of the gun he let all holds go and fell to the ground with his skuil crushed. To say I wws proud is meaningless. I was almost delirious with joy. I had to pinch myself to see if I were dreaming. The snarling of the dogs as they rendeii the huge beast dispeled all ilusions, and I took off his pelt. It was 12 o'clock when I reached camp tired but elated, displayed my trophy and told how I did it. I was the proudest boy in. Oregon that night. Since then I have killed, and helped to kill, many panthers, but none afforded me the pleasure of my first one. The big cats of Oregon are remarkably agile. In Benton County, I, with several .l nnr a -arnr,la nt tllio atrlUtV willci lllcil, mi hi ( 1 1 1 1 i' . hi n ' " - - 1 The snow lay six Inches deep over thaW ground, and there " waa no chance to be mistaken. A panther had ascended a leaning tree near ft deer trail, and lay in wait for its prey.- We found part of the deer in the trail,- with panther tracks all about the carcass, but no tracks leading up to the point of attack. Casting about we found where the cat had climbed the leaning tree. From the point where it crouched to where the deer was caught was about M feet. The immense strength of these big oats is exemplified by a feat of one In the Cascade Mountains on the military road across the mountains from Eugene City. Rlgdon, wtio owned the last ranch dn the road, had a well-grown calf six months old, which he kept In a "stake-and-rider" fence ten rails high. A pan ther entered the corral, killed the calf and sprang over the fence with It, carry in: it a distance of 100 yards before mak ing a meal from the carcass. The calf easily weighed 300 pounds, no doubt, be ing much heavier than the pantner. In 1889, in broad daylight, on the Muddy, a tributary of the Long Tom, in Benton County, a panther sprang over a yard fence and caught a child, biting it through the back of the neck. The vicious attack of a dog saved the child from being car ried off, although It died a lew aays I after. Men and dogs hunted that panther I for days unsuccessfully. The . child's I mother, alarmed by the dog's barking, ran I fnto the yard in time to see the animal J leap the fence and disappear in the fern. In 1S71 a man named Cole, in Douglas County, was carrying a deer along a i trail when a panther sprang on the deer. hurling Cole to the ground. Fortunately Cole was unhurt, and immediately there was something doing. The panther evi dently was hungry, and. having tasted blood, did not care whether he feasted on man or deer. Cole killed It with his hunting-knife after a desperate encounter which left Cole sadly In need of a new suit of clothes. This cat measured only seven feet from tip to tip. Had it been as large as the one that killed Rigdon's calf, the chances are the man would have been slain. Last Winter a hunter near Bugene City lost his life in an encounter with a pan ther. The animal was fatally wounded, and in the struggle the man wsa killed accidentally by the discharge of his own gun. Ho had used the gun as a club, thinking it was empty, and it was dis charged In the conflict. For years a gigantic panther ranged the Alsea Mountains, which the dogs could not tree. Often I have seen Its tracks on the road leading from the .Willamette Valley to the head-waters of the Alsea. Its track measured seven Inches the largest I ever saw. The children from the Inman mills of ten went to the falls, a . mile and a halt below the mills, trout-fishing. Returning one afternoon, the dogs struck a trail and were soon baying some animal vic iously. Naturally the children were frightened and wanted to fun home, but Harvey Belknap, a lad of 11 years, had his shotgun, loaded with bird shot, and he was from Missouri. Following the sound of the dogs, the children trailing with popping eyes, they soon came to where the dogs had an im mense ' panther sitting with his back to a giant fir. Whenever a dog came within reach, Mr. Panther would hit him a swipe, tumbling him head over heels. The animal was so busily engaged that he did not notice Harvey, who walked up within 10 feet and blew the whole top of his head oft with a load of bird-shot. It was a foolhardy thing to do and no man would have attempted it, but, boy like. Harvey was willing to take a chance and he got the panther. It was the bg fellow we had all been trying to get for it was juyrr years. The reason of this cat's immunity for IGHT JYOlejf TO BEAD HIM years lay In his fearlessness of dogs. When brought to bay It is probable he boxed, them over until fully rested, then gave them another run. At the time he met his' death there were 10 or 12 dogs after him and he was too bulsly engaged to notice the boy with the gun. It is a well-known fact that panthers will tree much more quickly from a small than a large dog. Whether they do not understand the little fellow or wish to Inspect him at leisure, is one of the secrets of panther lore. Harley A. Belknap, now of Prinevllle, killed a panther In the Alsea Mountains which chased his dog out of a thicKet and followed it to within 30 yards of him. The panther showed no fear of either dog or man. One cannot help speculating as to the result of a miss. Harley being armed with a muzzle-loading rifle and the cat advancing when shot dead. T feaua Irnnvn a no nt h dl killed bV a I man and dogs without gun or knife, and. on a night so dark the man could see neither dogs nor panther. The dogs treed two panthers in an oak tree near the house and the three men took one gun and went out with a lantern to bag whatever the dog.s. had treed. As the men approached with the light the panthers sprang from the tree, sep arated and five of the dogs caught one of them within 30 feet of the tree. C.iar ley and Stub, two bulldogs, were In the gang that caught the big cat. Cnarley was a famous lighter and when his vise like jaws closed in anger they were there to stay. Isaac Inmon, an uncle of mine, felt his way through the dense fir brush until he came to. the scene of combat. Listening, he assured himself that Charley had a death grip on the panther's throat. Feel ing cautiously about, he finally got hold of the panther's tail and began to kick in its ribs. When Dave and Tom reached the' field of action with the lan tern, Ike and the dogs were putting la the finishing touches, Charles still main taining his hold on tls brute's throat. This beast measured eight feet. Unci Ike, when asked if he were not afraid, said: "Not when I knew Charley had' It by the throat. Nothing but death would break his grip." The panthers of Eastern Oregon are not so large as those west of the Cas cades. Neither are they so fierce- Yet they are not easily frightened. Cam. Vanderpool, crossing a log over the Des chutes River, met one half way. The cat did not wish to turn back and Cam. dared not. They stood and glared a each other for some time. Cam. tried to "shoo" it. but the panther would not "shoo" worth a cent. Finally Cam. began to beat the animal over the head with his fishing-pole, thua inducing it to retreat. The Instant the cat turned Cam. did likewise, and the way he ran was a caution to sprinters. SOME BIG RENTS THAT ARE PAID BY NEW YORKERS ENORMOUS SUMS CHARGED FOR OFFICES BOTH UP-TOWN AND DOWN-TOWN M. W. Mount In New York Tribune. THE Island of Manhattan isn't very big. but It makes the most of itself. One little chunk of It. at Broadway and Wall street, commands a higher rental than Is paid for the same amount of space anywhere else in the world. Snghtly over $35 a square foot, averag ing, it is said. $10,000 a year. Is paid by a cigar company for one small store on this site, which goes to show that money Invested "in cigars does not all go up In smoke. A quarter of a million is the conserva tive sum estimated as representing the combined rentals of space on the con course floor of the Hudson Terminal building, while half a million Is paid by a single firm for ten floors in a neighbor ing skyscraper and. it is said, the Erie Railroad more than matches this sum by the tidy rental tt pays for five floors in the Cortlandt-street Terminal building. No other corporation has as much floor area In this structure. People who want office space in Man hattan never seem to let a little matter of rent stand in the way of acquiring it. When John W. Gates desired a suite of private offices in upper Fifth avenue he paid $55,000 a year for a modest-sized floor and fitted it up cosily at an expen diture of $12.a. His suite In the Trinity building cost him $60.00. The postofflce is one of Manhattan's good tenant. Close upon a quarter of a million dollars goes Into Father Knick erbocker's pockets from the Government, which uajs ml a year (01 poaufliue stations, finding space in the Grand Cen tral Palace -at $33,500 a year, at West and Morton streets for JM.500 and at the Madison Square and a few other stations at almost as high a figure. The Produce Exchange has the postofflce for a tenant. Like others, it has to pay the J7.50 a square foot, which totals up to $1500 a year for store space in this building. ' Lessees are so afraid that rents will continue to soar In Manhattan that many the Government Included have taken out as long leases as they could, while, on the other hand, numerous agents have wisely provided against future contin gencies of another kind and refused to lease except on long terms. A 13,000,000 Lease. The longest lease of Its kind in New York is that of a Greeley Square site at the southeast corner of Broadway and Thirty-third street for a term of 105 years for J12.0W.000. Four millions will he paid for the first forty-tw-o years and $$,000,000 for the rest of the term, an arrangement on the part of the lessee, Harry Levey, which goes to show that he believes the site will Increase In value a generation or so after he has erected a two or three million dollar structure to stand upon that corner on comple tion of the Pennsylvania tunnel. N The old New York Club site, at Fifth avenue and Thirty-fifth street, has been taken by a grocery firm for a term of twenty-one years for ROdO.OOO net, while another lease for the same period has been entered into for No. 1 West Thirty fourth street, "Notwithstanding the present money stringency tlwre has Jjeen ngppreciable reduction in rentals for office space this year." said Robert A. Grannlss, Jr., vice president of the firm of Pease & Elll man. speaking about downtown office buildings. "The general average of offices rent for J2 a square foot, and $30,030 for a floor Is considered a pretty good rental in the average office building. A com mon price is about $1000 a year for an office about 28x18 feet in size, which is usually partitioned off Into three rooms. "Of courses, there are exceptions to all rules, and certain buildings in Broad way, in the neighborhood of Wall stseet, get from $3 to $4 a square foot for a flooF 20.000 to 30.000 square feet in size. "A brisk, demand exists for offices and owing to the opening of new buildings many firms have been attracted to New York who have never had offices here. Of course, store rents are always higher than office' rents, and ground floors are looked upon as practically store floors and rent accordingly." Rent of SI 000 a Room. It is said In the Empire building, in which the Carnegie Steel Company is, that Its offices rent for over $3 a foot, or more than $1000 a room, and some companies occupy several floors in this building, each representing an annual fortune in rentals. The same prices ob tain in the Trinity and its companion building, where no company occupies more than two floors at an estimated rental of more than $30,000 a floor. It Is said that these prices are matched by those obtaining In the City Investing Company. Hanover Bank. Kqmtable. Singer and Terminal buildings. The two l&Uec are, respectively, the tallest and the largest office buildings in the world, while the City Investing Company is said to possess the longest main corridor in the country. In the neighborhood of these structures store space rents at $15 a square foot, or $6,000 a year for a small store of 4u0 square feet, while second floors, with only a short flight of stairs from the street, bring $10 a square- foot, or $4000 for a small store. Correspondingly high prices are also paid for offices which oc cupy especially advantageous positions. In the uptown office district $30,000 a year Is said to be the highest rental paid for a store floor. This Is at Fifth avenue and Twenty-sixth street, and rooms for offices in this locality bring about $1000 a year, or $2.75 a square foot. Significant of the times is the fact that private houses which have rented at $9000 and $10,000 are now bringing only $4000 and $5000. For exceptionally fine houses people pay a rental of from $25,000 to $35,000 a year, a price which would have made the early Knickerbockers gasp, while the fact that the late J. Henry Smith paid $2,300. 000 for the Whitney house when he bought It. with a few of its furnishings, would have caused the very wigs to rise from their heads in amazement. "The most expensive residence property in Manhattan." said Messrs. Pease 6k Elli man. "lies between Fifth and Madison avenues from Flfty-nith to Seventy-second street. In good sections this property sells for $400,000 to $500,000. while in Park and Madison avenues values run from $100,400 to $200,000 for a house and lot. The highest rental paid recently for a house was $40,000 for a period of eight months. This house is in Sixty-second street, just off Fifth avenue. Scarcely two blocks below it in the avenue are apart ments which are said to be the moBt ex pensive in the city, with an average an nual rental of $15,000 each. People who hae two of these apartments thrown Into one to enjoy a spacious home pay just twice that sum for the additional privilege. In this locality ten-room suites, unfur nished, may be had for $12,000 a year, while a block further down large suites entice the gregarious householder at $7500, unless he wants them furnished, when he can get them for $9000. Around Fiftieth street housekeeping apartments bring $12,000, while an apartment hotel not far distant asks $1000 a room a year and rents small suites at $500 a year. , Certain apartment hotels consider $600 to $800 a room a year no unreasonable gure to ask for suites of rooms, and that homeseekers agree with them Is shown by the cheerfulness with which they pay this' price. New York hotels no longer shelter only a transient population. Bach great cara vansary means home to unnumbered small families. John W. Gates Is said to have paid $50,000 a year for his suite at the Plaza Hotel. A certain wealthy woman Is said to exceed this figure by $10,000 in the sum she pays for her luxurious hotel apartment. At the Holland House one may enjoy the use of two rooms and a bath for $15,000 a year, and at the St. Regis at the rate of $S a day, while the Waldorf charges $20,000 a year for small suite!. The 8t. Regis is perhapa the only place in New York which will not make a long lease. A tenant is - charged by the day only, ajid may decrease or add to the number of rooms in his suite at his own convenience and depart at pleasnre, with no lease to occasion months of outlay dur ing absence. - Special Privileges Costliest. The highest rents in New York are paid for standing room. The most princely rental paid for store, office, residence, apartment or hotel space does not com pare, proportionally, with the sum ex pended for an humble bootblack stand, a soda fountain or cigar kiosk. A. Schulte pays $30 a square foot for cigar privileges in the Cortlandt street Terminal Building, and this is said to be next to the highest rent paid by anybody In the world. The cigar lease for the northwest corner of Cortlandt and Church streets runs for 12 yeara at a cost of $30 a square fo t for 600 square feet, while the lease lncluis five other stands In the Terminal Build ing at a total cost of $500,000. One of these is In the exact center of the Hud son terminal concourse floor, and for this glass booth, open on three sides and covering a space 21x9 feet In size, a rental of $750 a year Is charged. It is said that 188,000 cigars at two for 25 cents would have to be sold to cover a year's expenses of this stand, and taking other expenses into account, 250,000 would need to be disposed of before profits would begin. Higher prices are paid for cigar priv ileges than for any other occupying a proportionate amount of space. In a Broadway office building $1500 is re ceived as annual rental for a stand 90 square feet in size, and such stands pay correspondingly high prices for space In other buildings and hotels. A bootblack formerly rented a large stand in the Empire Building at a cost of $10,000 a year and one paid $4000 for a small space in the Equitable Building, which was the first to estab lish booth-lined corridors, and even now charges as high as $2000 for stand privileges. The bootblack privilege In the Hudson terminal rents for $10,000 a year for a term of 12 years. Notwithstanding such a tax upon the privilege of shining shoes, bootblack stands netted Tony Aste a fortune and enabled him to maintain a costly rac ing stable. Flower booths In hotels pay an aver age rental of $1500 to $2000 a year, and in the Terminal Building nosegays will cost their sellers, from $3000 to $4600 la booth rents. Those who adorn every available spot from chimney top to bedrock with advertisements have to contribute not less than $404,333.34 a year to the coffers of the subway and elevated systems for the privilege of Informing the wayfarer what to chew and how to make the hair grow, while railroad trunk lines derive a pretty penny from news companleswho dispense news and candles along their lines. 1 Incentive Lacking. Ed Molt. I never use bad language; no, 1 never do. But then J never play at uolf nor try 1o us a fountain pen.
