The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1879-12-31

Aunt Patty looked pleased, but she
couldn't help saying: " Fl
Cooked everything they had for one
meal, s'pose. Shiftless!
FIGHT WITH A BEAR
4 Pennsylvania Hunters Desperate Strug-
gle for Life. ass. ......-I
Two wood choppers passing through
The woods of the Pocono mountains, in |
Monroe county, Pa, heard faint "Hal-
low off to their right. Looking in the
direction of the call they saw man
sitting on the ground, with his back
against a hemlock tree, about thirty |
feet from where they were passing.
They went to him and found it was
John Daggers, local hunter of some
renown. His clothing was nearly all
torn from his body, the flesh on his
shoulders was torn and bleeding, and
his face was covered with dirt and
blood. The scrub oaks were beaten
down for fifty feet around. A short
distance away from Daggers lay the car
cass of an immense bear in a pool OF
blood. In a bunch of scrub oaks near
by was Daggers' dog, as dead rs the
bear. It was evident to the woodchop-
" interesting for John Daggers before
giving up the ghost. The hunter, it
was found, was not suffering SO much
from his injuries as from exhaustion,
and, after drink or two of whisky
from the bottle of one of the wood
choppers and q half-hour's breathing
spell, he was able to give an account OF
the contest, the severity of which was
well attested by silent witnesses.
Daggers had come on signs of the
bear in swamp, two miles away, at the
foot of the ridge. The dog followed
it through the swamp, and finally drove
bruin up big chestnut tree, where it
sat near the top in the crotch of two
big limbs. Daggers drew bead" on
him and fred. The bear tumbled from
his perch and came crashing down
through the branches, breaking his fall
by frantic grasping of limbs, and howl
ing with pain and rage, until he fell
from the bottom branch heavily to the
ground. The hunters ball had not
gone where it was intended, and Dag
gers knew he must have fight with the
bear before he could call it his. His
rifle was empty, and there was no time
to load it, for the bear had no sooner
struck the ground than it was up on its
launches and assumed the offensive at
once. The dog gamely sprung at the
throat of the infuriated animal. The
bear did not halt in it's advance upon
tho hunter, but, with one hug Of its great
forepaw, squeezed the life from the
dog, and tossed it, limp and shapeless,
in the scrub oaks, where the hunters
found it. Daggers said the bones of
the poor brute crunched like bark in q
bark-min when the bear gave it the
death-squeeze. #.-
With its jaws wide open the bear
rushed at Daggers. The hunter tried
what hundreds of his class, similarly
situated, had Intellectually tried before
the stunning of the bear by a blow
from his dubbed gun. The gun was
splintered in q dozen pieces, and the
bear was not even staggered by the
blow. Daggers still retained the bar
rel of the rife in his hands. As the
bear was about to seize him by the
shoulders with his forepaws, he jammed
the gunbarrel into its open mouth and
drew his hunting-knife from his belt
The bear closed his ponderous jaws
on the iron and wrenched it from the
hand of the hunter, who at the same
moment plunged his knife up to the
hilt in the bears breast. Blood spurte;
out from the wound, and Dagger
knew that his knife had pierced ,
vital part. But the bear was de
termined to die hard, and, befor'
Daggers could use his weapon again
; struck him a blow on the side Of hi
head that felled him to the ground ant
} for moment stunned him. T he hunte
was on his feet before the bear followe,
1 up it's advantage. Blood was flowing
' from his nose and from q deep gas]
that the bears claw had inflicted on hi
i face. Worst of all, Daggers had droppe'
: his knife, and the bear pressed him g.
closely that he retreated backward with
outp;cking itup, intending to elude til
clutch of bruin and watch his chanc
to recover his weapon. Daggers be
:, ieved, also, that the bear was so badl
hurt it could not maintain the contes
4OuSs LII OaSAAAS away AAOA Uu0 U06
Daggers struck his foot against roo
3, rnd before he could regain his feet tn
n bear jumped on top of him an
g set both his foreclaws in tn
hunters shoulders. In falling Dat
h gers had grasped scrub-oak branch i
st his hand, and piece of it broke Of
and he mechanically retained it.
b was few inches long, and not muc
l. larger than a lead-pencil, but by using
1t he was enabled to once more regain h
r, feet. As the bear seized him by tt
} shoulders and was about to tear b
face with it's teeth the hunter thrust Il
ID stick with all his might into one of Il
1T bears eyes. With frightful roar Il
Or animal rose from it's PROSTATE enem
and Daggers sprung to his feet. Blu