10
THE SUXIAT OREGOXIAX. PORTLAND, MARCH 15, 190S.
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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
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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.