Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 October 1889 — TUSSLE WITH A 'CATER. [ARTICLE]

TUSSLE WITH A 'CATER.

Exciting Encounter with a Big Mouthed Monster. Following are the particulars of a remarkable adventure of W. H. Abbott, of indigo and racing fame, as narrated by a writer in the Military Gazette: It was in the rains when the jamadar told us that there was a huge alligator under the bridge of the river. Sending for a gun and a couple of bullets, we went up to the bridge, and, sure enough, about 20 yards off, there was an enormous “ghurial” some 20 feet long, with his head just visible above the water. A well-directed shot caught him between the eyes, and the brute, mortally wounded, plunged into deep water, rolling over and over, and was carried by;the tide down toward the bungalow, which was a quarter of a mile off. Abbott seized a long rope ‘ lyiDg there, and rapidly made a slipknot in it, and, declaring that he was Dot going to lose so lovely a skin, kicked off his boots, and just as he was —in socks, breeches and shirt—jumped into the river, giving me and a lot of other natives the other end of the rope to hold. He got well into the middle of the stream and was quietly treading water while we were all anxiously watching, when suddenly within two feet of the swimmer the alligator plunged straight up out of the water, snout foremost, as alligators generally do when hit in the head. Without the least hesitation Abbott flung both arms right aroung the snout and a regular rough-and-tumbled ensued. Presently the brute’s whole body appeared. Abbott calmly mounted him, evidently trying the while to disengage the slip-knot, which had now got tight round his own arm, and to shove it over the brutes head. „Then i the alligator.started swimming and we following down the bank, when, just as we were opposite the bungalow, he | pulled dead up, brought his tail out of I the water, and with a fearful side ! sweep capsized Abbott, snapping a t him as he fell. Then came another fight such as I never Wish again to see, the pair eventually disappearing beneath the water. We hauled away at the rope, thinking it was still attached to Abbott, when unexpectedly we saw | him come up a few yards from the I b ink, evidently almost senseless. A Rajpoot peon jumped in and dragged his master un the slope. He was bleeding awfully, and was a gruesome sight—shirt in ribbons, arms and chest torn all over, both hands badly maimed, and the right foot completely crushed. He came to at once, and only said, “The rope’s safe over his nose;’’ and so it was, sure enough; for | the natives to whom I had thrown the rope were busily engaged in hauling | the defunct sauriaif on shore, j I never saw a x riian in such a mess; #nd, to add to the horror, down to the edge of the river, just as we had drag- ! ged lip her half-killed husband, rushed his young wife, wringing her hands and, naturally, half out of her , wits with terror. While she was standing over him, and the servants were carrying him to the house, he was singing, “Home They Brought Her i Warrior Dead.” A nice time of it we had out in a jungle, with no appliances to tie the severed arteries, and with a patient who would insist on trying to get out of hod to see how tho skinning of the alligator was getting on. We tried to hire kahars, but the whole country was under water, and they refused to budge from borne; so we put 1 him into a bhampony and look him in!to the doctor at Mozufferpore. taking from 10 o’clock Tuesday till 7 o’clock the next morning to do the twenty miles.

Life in Japan. An article in the Century by the artist Wores says: “In Japan women have always held a higher position than in other Asiatic countries. They go about'freelywhe'revertheyplease.and the seclusion of the Chinese is wholly unknown to them. The schools receive as many girls as boys; and as a result of my observations I can safely say, without idle compliment, that the former are brighter than the latter. “By degrees, and under these favorable conditions for general observation, some of the causes of the people’s happy spirit of independence began to be reve led to me. The simplicity of their lives, in which enters no selfish rivalry to outdo one another, accounts in a large measure for this enviable result Regarding one another very much as belonging to one family, their mode of life is more or loss on the same plane, and consequently a groat spirit of harmony prevails. A very small in ome is sufficient to supply the ordinary necessities of life, and everything else is secured with but little effort. Household effects are few and inexpensive; and should everything be destroyed by fire dr lost in any way. it is not an irreparable calamity. All can be replaced at a small outlay and life go on the same p.s before.”

Foot-Cram pin? In (hlna. Our esteemed Chinese contempor;iry, Hu Pno, says the N Y. San, has been investigating the origin of foot-cramp-ing by Chinese women. The practice fa of very ancient date. Some affirm that it arose in the time of the five dynasties-that is in the tenth century A. 0. Jao Niang, the mistress of'Li Yu, tho last emperor of these dynasties,, tied up her feet with silk into the shape of the crescent moon, and all the other be mties of the time imitated her. The literature of previous dynasties does not allude to the custom. During the reign of Ring Hi (1664 A. D.) un edict forbado foot-cramping under various penalties, the local officials being held responsible in some degree for violation of the law by peeple in their district. But the fashion was toe strong, and in 1668, at the instigation of the board of ceremonies, this odict wa9 withdrawn. It is still universal la Kuantung and Kuangsi. Explicit Direction*. Stranger (stopping over Sunday in Kansas City)—Sir, can you direct ms to the ball grounds? l Resident—Cert’nly. There's Dr. Dewitt’s congregation coming out; just follow the crowd. —Life.