TIGER LOOSE ON SHIP

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 191, 14 August 1931, Page 11

TIGER LOOSE ON SHIP

SAILOR BADLY BITTEN I OFFICERS SHOOT ANIMAL. LONDON. Aug. 6. There was an exciting incident on the i Norddeutscher-Lloyd steamer Lahn . when one of the sailors called anc ■ patted an animal which he thought was ? the ship’s dog, and found that it wa? ■ a man-eating tiger. It chased him tc I the engineroom and tore his wrists tc - the bone, necessitating his going to hos pital at Marseilles. ■ The engineer on watch telephoned a i warning to the chief engineer asking ‘ for instructions, thereby unconsciously : emulating the Indian booking clerk, > who telegraphed to his superior officer: “Tieer eating stationmaster; what shall 1 do” , | The officers and crew of the Lahn took revolvers and began a tiger-hunt, which ended in the death of the animal after it had severely scratched the fourth officer. While at large the tiger ate four of the crew’s pct monkeys. Its skin will be preserved as a memento. The dnimal was one of five tigers shipped from Singapore for London. One became sick and was sent ashore; another died; while the hero of the present story had escaped from its cage, when the Lahn was in the Mediterranean, before the adventure which ended in its death. The two survivors have been despatched to their destination.