Sasha Siemel Says His Spear 

 Is Safer Than Gun for Jaguars 



But the Dogs Do the 

 And the Little Dogs > 



Bearing gifts for South Amer- 

 ican zoos, Dr. William M. Mann, 

 director of the National Zoologi- 

 cal Park, is en route to points in 

 Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay 

 to collect birds, reptiles and ani- 

 mals. Among those on board his 

 ship is William H. Shippen, jr., 

 feature writer of The Star staff, 

 who here presents the Jmu&Lof 

 a series of articles about Dr. 

 Mann's expedition. In today's 

 article the man who hunts jag- 

 uars with a spear continues the 

 story he began yesterday. 



Work, He Says, 

 ^re Best 



By WILLIAM H. SHIPPEN, Jr., 



Star Staff Correspondent, 



ABOARD THE S. S. URUGUAY 

 (By Airmail). — "Why do you spear 

 jaguars instead of shooting them?" 

 Sasha A. Siemel grinned and 

 folded his hands, 

 leaning across 

 the deck table. 

 The question 

 seemed to amuse 

 him ... still. He 

 must have an- 

 swered it many 

 times. 



"Because," he 

 said, watching 

 us to see the ef- 

 fect of his words, 

 "it's safer. Much 

 safer. No?" 

 "Yes?" 



"Yes, to be 

 W. H. Shippen, Jr. SU re. I h a v e 

 crosspiece on my spear. The 

 tiger's skin is tough. It won't 

 tear. That crosspiece stop him 

 every time." 

 "But what stops the spear?" 

 "The ground. If he jump at my 

 throat, I plant spear in ground. 

 If he comes along ground at me, I 

 joost give back a little. But I hold 

 the spear. After 30 seconds fight 

 is over." 



Mr. Siemel, Who is going back to 

 Rio, and thence to the Matto 

 Grasso back country— guiding a 

 party which includes a Philadelphia 

 society girl and several veteran big- 

 game hunters— didn't seem to mind 

 answering questions, although the 

 ship was pulling into Barbados and 

 preparations for going ashore were 

 under way. 



"Tigers" of 350 Pounds. 



"Are your tigers big fellows?" 

 "Up to 350 pounds— big enough 

 to kill a bull . . . some of them." 

 "How do you bring them to bay?" 

 "With dogs. They are the ones, 



the dogs, who do the work, who 

 take the risks. A pack of dogs with 

 a smart leader — a dog of character, 

 a self- respecting fellow. Without a 

 fine leader a pack is joost nothing. 

 My best leader he lost his life. 



"That was when I quit hunting 

 ... for two years. He was my 

 friend. I couldn't hunt any more." 



Later Mr. Siemel, who has con- 

 ducted members of the late Theo- 

 dore Roosevelt's family and many 

 other well-known sportsmen on his 

 hunts, imported hounds from the 

 United States — Virginia, North 

 Carolina, Long Island, the South- 

 west. But for jungle hunting he 

 likes mongrels best. 



Little Dogs Best. 



"Little dogs," he said, "they get 



about fast, they dodge and run, too, 

 when time comes, and come back. 

 Tough little dogs. How well I re- 

 member my little Vreena. She 

 would slip behind tiger and bite his 

 tail. Tiger swing around. 



Little Vreena hold on. She is 

 like sled behind the big horse. Then 

 Vreena turn loose and run ... how 

 she ruhnn! And howl! How that 

 little Vreena could yip and howl!" 



"What became of her?" 



"Ah, that is the accident — how 

 sad. We change the subject, yes?" 



"Why are there so many tigers in 

 your country?" 



"Maybe it would be better to say, 

 'Why am I in tiger country?' I'm 

 there because tiger is." 



Cattle Bring More "Tigers." 



"Do you think the number of 

 jaguars increased after white men 

 imported cattle?" 



"That is an interesting question. 

 I believe tigers increase because of 

 cattle. Before cattle come there was 

 the natural balance. Tigers eat 

 alligators, peccary, tapir. When wild 

 game gets scarce, so do tigers in 

 jungle. 



"But in cattle country all that is 

 change. On one big ranch they get 

 3,000 head of stock in year." 



The ship was heading in for Bar- 

 bados and the clamor on deck grew. 

 As we rose to go, somebody said: 



"I sincerely hope, Mr. Siemel, a 

 tiger never gets you!" 



"Thank you so much," smiled Mr. 

 Siemel, ". . . Me too" 



The next article in this series 

 will appear in The Star at an 

 early date. 



