March ii, 1911.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
377 
Their Little Joke. 
Ned Reece and A. E. Shatford, of Columbus, 
Ohio, have for the past few years made it an 
event of annual occasion to spend several weeks’ 
quail shooting in the South. The extensive 
preparations for this trip generally begin months 
in advance of the actual time to go, and Mr. 
Shatford has always taken special delight in re¬ 
hearsing the various details of the trip to the 
different sportsmen with whom he comes in 
contact. Shatford surely enjoys a trip to the 
woodland and quail habitations about as well 
as any of the many admirers of the grand sport 
that I have ever come in contact with. This 
year they decided on the last week in January 
to start for the sunny South and were to leave 
Saturday about noon. 
A few days before that day Mr. Shatford 
was taking a quiet smoke in the gun store of 
William Weatherholt, and had just remarked: 
“Well, boys, it is only two more days now until 
we set sail, and I can hardly wait for. the hours 
to roll around,” when the telephone bell rang 
and a voice asked Mr. Weatherholt if A. R. 
Shatford was in. Mr. Weatherholt replied that 
he was, and called Mr. Shatford. 
The voice said: “Hello, is this Mr. Shat¬ 
ford?” 
“Yes, sir; what’s wanting?” 
“Mr. Shatford, this is Sheriff Sartain talking, 
and we have had a very difficult time of it get¬ 
ting you located.” 
Mr. Shatford, all attention, asked: “Well, 
what is it, sheriff?” 
The sheriff replied that Mr. Shatford had 
been drawn to serve on an important jury, and 
that he wished him to appear promptly at 9 
o’clock on Monday morning for service. Shat¬ 
ford excitedly replied: “Why, sheriff, it will 
be absolutely impossible for me to serve on that 
jury.” 
“Why?” 
“Because I am going on a trip South, and 
start day after to-morrow.” 
“Well, you had better not,” advised the sheriff. 
“We get that kind of a proposition every day, 
and that will not excuse you,” and he hung up 
the receiver. 
Shatford turned around, quite pale, saying: 
“What do you think of that? Now, after wait¬ 
ing for months, I can’t go on this trip. What 
do you suppose Reece will think of this?” 
Fifteen minutes later Ned Reece walked into 
the store, and Shatford to’d him of the sheriff’s 
call, saying: “I am afraid it is all up.” Reece 
told him it was just like him, getting into some¬ 
thing at the last minute after they had their 
tickets purchased and everything ready to go. 
As Ned knew the sheriff, he was asked to go 
down and see him and find out if he could not 
be persuaded to let Shatford off. Ned’s friend, 
Stanley Brooks, called up the gun store later 
and asked for Mr. Shatford, saying: “Mr. Shat¬ 
ford, this is Sheriff Sartain talking. A friend 
of yours, Mr. Reece, has just told me of your 
important trip South. While I would like to 
help you, I simply can’t do it.” 
“Can’t you arrange it in some way to let me 
off, sheriff? I would greatly appreciate it.” 
“No, I am afraid I could not without getting 
in bad myself.” 
Shatford looked like he was going to have a 
spell of sickness. One of the boys suggested 
that he call up Attorney Atwood, who was well 
acquainted with the sheriff and see if he could 
not help him. Atwood told him he would call 
him up at 9:30 Saturday morning and tell him 
the result of his effort. Shatford was there at 
8:30. Atwood told him that he had done every¬ 
thing he could without result. Presently the 
telephone bell jingled and Mr. Shatford re¬ 
sponded. The voice was Brooks impersonating 
the sheriff. “Hello, Mr. Shatford. Well, Mr. 
Shatford, there has been great pressure brought 
to bear on the matter of you being excused from 
this jury.” 
“Yes, sheriff.” 
“Well, I have decided to excuse you.” 
Just then in walked Ned Reece, Stanley 
THE GRAND TETON, IN WYOMING. 
Photographed by G. W. Ridge, at an altitude of 11,030 ft. 
Brooks and Attorney Atwood all smiling, and 
three fine actors they were to keep Shatford on 
the griddle all that time. There was much mer¬ 
riment before the train moved off at noon with 
the hunters. Fred Shattuck. 
In Louisiana. 
Dr. A. K. Fisher, of the biological department 
of Washington, has been in Cameron parish with 
Henry Jacobs, of the game commission, in search 
of specimens of the blue geese and canvasback 
ducks. Dr. Fisher visited the lower gulf sec¬ 
tion, but owing to the hot weather and the fog, 
the geese were too far out in the gulf to secure 
specimens, but he was successful in getting sev¬ 
eral specimens of black duck, ring-neck ducks 
and clapper rails. 
Fight with a Wildcat. 
Tunica, Miss., Feb. 28 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: Inclosed is a newspaper clipping about 
some antics of a wildcat: 
“Information comes to the Sentinel from one 
of its subscribers at Friley, in Washington 
county, of a desperate battle that took place re¬ 
cently on W. F. McCormack’s plantation be¬ 
tween a large catamount and two negro women, 
the animal being finally killed by well-directed 
shots from a pistol in the hands of Mr. McCor¬ 
mack, but only after the cat had fatally injured 
a child and seriously injured two negro women. 
“Shortly after sunset a number of negroes 
were in a field picking cotton for Mr. McCor¬ 
mack just across the bayou from his residence. 
One negro woman living about 200 yards below 
Mr. McCormack had come across the walk in 
front of his house, and as she got out in the 
road she turned to see where her child was. 
The child was standing in the yard, and the 
mother saw something she took to be a dog 
come across the walk in front of her house, 
and she hollered at the animal, and as she did 
so the animal jumped on the child, knocking it 
down and was biting it. 
“When the mother went to the rescue of her 
child, the cat turned on the woman and leaped 
on her head, knocking her down, and split the 
calf of her leg with its claws, as if by a razor, 
and clawed and bit her hands and arms, lacerat¬ 
ing them terribly. 
"She finally grabbed the child and made her 
way into the house, screaming, and locked the 
door. Her screams attracted the attention of 
the men in the field, who ran for their guns. 
When they reached the house, the cat had gone. 
The men then went into the house, the cat ran 
across the bayou and into another negro’s yard, 
killing a hen, and made its way to the field 
where the men had been, and where one negro 
woman was left picking cotton. As the woman 
raised up, the cat sprang on her, and she grabbed 
it by the neck and screamed for help. A hand 
to hand battle took place between the cat and 
the woman, and Mr. McCormack, attracted by 
the woman’s screams, grabbed his pistol and 
went to her relief, and finally shot it twice in 
the head, killing it. 
“The animal was viewed by a large crowd, 
among them some of the oldest hunters in the 
Delta, who declared it to be the largest cat they 
ever saw. The wonder is that the woman suc¬ 
ceeded in holding her own with the beast. She 
was badly wounded, but the doctor, who waited 
on her and the other woman, sewed up the 
wounds and says they will both recover, but 
has no hope of saving the life of the child, who 
was seriously injured about the head.” 
I wrote to Mr. McCormack and asked if the 
report is true in all respects, and his reply, writ¬ 
ten at Friley, Miss., follows: 
“I received your letter to-day in regard to 
the cat I killed. It is true to a word, as the 
Yazoo City Sentinel put it, just as near as I can 
describe it. I do not know why, but he was 
jumping on everything he passed. 
“The houses are at least a half mile from 
the swamp. He made at everything he saw. It 
was the first time I ever saw a catamount. I 
do not know much about them, so you see I 
could not tell why he jumped on them.” 
Tripod. 
