Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 186, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 August 1915 — BIG WEEPING BEAST SCARES FISHERMEN. [ARTICLE]

BIG WEEPING BEAST SCARES FISHERMEN.

Huge Panther Whines for Blood, but Leaves with a Hopeless Wail of Disappointment. Jellico, Tenn. —James Monroe and Albert Rolland, two young mln who have just returned from a fishing trip into the mountains of eastern Kentucky, have a thrilling story to tell o’ an adventure with a panther. About a week ago Monroe and Rolland pitched camp near the mouth of Laurel river, which flows into Cumberland river thirty-five miles west of Williamsburg, Ky. That particu; lar section is one of the wildest and loneliest in the whole state, and of late years several reports of panthers have come from that quarter. The young men state that on their first night at Laurel river the panther made Itself conspicuous by lurking in the forest about their camp and crying like a baby. They first heard the cries of the- animal about midnight and from seemingly a half-mile away. The animal came nearer and nearer, they say, till finally they could hear it breaking through the under brush within a few yards of their fire. Being unarmed, it was at this point that the young men grew nervous—more so because the wood they had gathered was becoming scarce and they were afraid of being attacked as soon as the fire died down. Securing a new supply of wood was out of the question, as they were afraid to leave the fire on account of the panther’s nearness. It was two o’clock in the morning, the fishermen say, when the animal 'grew bold enough to come so close that they were able to see its eyes —eyes that glowed like balls of redhot metal. They could hear the panther’s long tail whisking against the bushes. And once they saw the animal’s shadowy form, and describe-it as being not less than seven feet in length. The camp was surrounded by a dense thicket of laurel and ivy bushes, and the space the camp occupied was not more than fifteen feet square. One may judge from this, the fisherman say, as to how close the panther must have come to their fire before they were able to see it. Their principal care was to keep the fire going until dawn, when they felt that the animal would take its departure, and as a means to this end, they broke up a rude table which they had constructed during the day and burnt it sparingly. About 3 o’clock the panther set up a low, weird wfeeping and kept up the sound so long that one of the young men, becoming frantic with fear, sized a burning fire brand and hurled it in the direction of the unwelcome prowler. It was then that the panther, angered, set the lonely forest echoing with a series of shrill, blood-curdling screams, and began circling around the camp. It took on so fiercely that the fishermen believe it was struck by the burning brand. It screamed at intervals until dawn began to break, when, as suddenly as it had appeared, it went away into the deep woods, occasionally sending back a wailing, lonely cry. The sun had hardly risen before the young men had packed their camping outfit and were hiking away over the mountains in search of a house. And they say that as they went they rejoiced that they had escaped with, their lives.