American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1879-07-12
I THRILLING BEAR STORY.


| Encounter.
| From the Montreal Witness.l
1t is we'll known among a certain elias!
that " joe Beef has bear pit under
his canteen on Common Street. 1t ex
tends all along under the house, and is
reigned over by big black bear weigh.
ing over 400 pounds. There are also 8
She bear and two comparatively young
cubs, which Joe reckons among his do
nestle pets. Strangers frequently visit
the place and are generally escorted to
see the bears through trap-door in the
floor. Yesterday afternoon, while a
colored preacher was holding service in
the " singing-roe three American
strangers came to visit the place, and
the trap-door was thrown open to show
the bears. While Joe went into the
bar-room his little boy, 6 years old,
went too near the edge and fell into the
den. The old bears were in dark cor
ner, but one of the cubs at once ran to-
ward the child, who had uttered a
frightened scream. The cook lay down
on the floor and reaching down caught
the little fellow and raised him up. The
she-bear had heard the child g cries, and
with a growl rushed toward the trap.
door and seized the child just as he
was being lifted up. The little fellow
was in an instant dragged into the den,
encircled by the claws of the old she
bear. Joe hearing the noise which the
fearful sight caused, came to the door
and asked what was the matter. See
ing his child, as it were, in the jaws of
death, he did not hesitate for a moment
to think, but leaped from the floor into
to the pit, lighting on the head of one
of the bears. He managed by frantic
effort to tear his child from
the savage monster and threw
him behind. In another instant he
handed the little fellow up among the
almost paralyzed spectators. The men
around seemed so suddenly struck with
terror that they could do nothing to help
Joe, who had placed himself in such inn
minent danger. The moment the child
was out of the pit the she-bear growled
fiercely and sprang on Joe, who had no
arms with which to defend himself. The
savage brute seized him by the right
knee, throwing him on his back. Her
teeth were driven fully an inch deep into
his flesh. He was then completely at
the mercy of the animal, whose tame
ness had disappeared, it being enraged
at having the child taken away. The
men looking on still seemed powerless
to help, though one of the visitors had
a revolver in his pocket. Joe, however,
did not lose his presence of mind, but
seized brick which lay near him, and
struck the bear on the snout with all his
might. The brute let go her hold and
Joe quickly got on his feet. The old he
bear had not shown fight at all, but
when Joe shouted had skunk back to the
dark corner. The she-bear now stood
off showing her teeth, but he continued
to shout and she also went back. Joe
was then rescued from the pit, his legs
being covered with blood. The trow-
sers which he had on were torn to shreds
and his stockings were saturated with
blood. The child had not been injur-
ed at all beyond a slight scratch on the
head. Joe says that the bear was
always a contrary beast, and that when
he trained her first he used to put her in
q puncheon of water and push her head
under with a broom, and when the cub
was nearly drowned it would bite the
broom. Joe refuses all medical attend
ance, and applies highwines to the bite,
which continues to bleed to-day.