, 1880-12-26

!
! remember one other Instance of wolf
hunt i'll which was engaged. It was usual
in those early times, to cut our own hay OF
the nrairie; and. having couple Of l,ci
moving l'ear lIardscrable,, as it was thel
called, about Twenty-sccond street ami Blue
Island avenue, l drove out to get load; and
when jogging along folnewarl, about the
corner of Ilalsted and Twelfth streets. saw
a large wolf digging away. at great rate
after1a chipmnnk, or something Ut the kind
but he was SO intent upon Wllnt he was about
no doubt being hungry for ls dinner-tl,at
| he took la notice Of me. "Oh! oh! my fine
| fc!!oWl SO you won't leave, won't you?
will just see what can DO to make you." So,
the horses from the wagon, stripped her
| Of the, harness except the bride. jumped on
| her back, and away I went pell.melf across
| the prnirie after Mr. Wolf. It did not take
! long fol- him to move when he saw what
| hardest run he ever had i'll Ills life for mile
or more; and, had 1t not been for a 1leighbor.
I ing swamp, IN which ]ie took refuge, /
should certainly have canght him, for | was
armed with u pitch fork, which I carried III
aid was close upon bis heels when my
horses sinking fctlock-leep in the soft earth
warned NE to desst, t,-much against my will,
| l assure you.
poor imprisoned thing iu an iron cage or in
tile parks.
AS for that bear story Mr.. Wilson told
about, 1t Is nctunlly true insofar as talking a
Il large bear In Lake Michigan, or rather out
9f the laken4t one, Il w a6eut five miles
going up to Milwaukee at the time, in one Ut
the large steamers, and was sitting reading
III the cabin, when the Captain rushed In,
evidently very much excited, snatclled
Ills glass from the table, aud, in answer
to my inquiry Of what was the matter, said
there was something III the lake about two
miles ahead, and they could not make out
what it was. OF course my book was
dropped In Il moment, and I hastened after
the Captain to the bow Of the ooat, where I
anxiously trying to make. out this strange
object Those used to sailing can form solile
idea OF the conmottOn caused on board Il
craft when anything unusual Is sighted.
The Captain, 'fter examination by
deer, aud, on getting nearer, de-
clared it to be q bear, and decided at
once that he would catcl him at all hazard,
and, calling for volunteers, found no want
OF men willing to undertake tue task. So
wart sailors ut the oars, the Mate at the
helm. and man ut the bow, with rope, in
which he made slip-,l0use. They started
for poor Bruin. wl.o, when he found they
were after him, made most excellent time
for the middle Of the lake, anu for mile or
two led them splendid race before they
came up with him. After two or three at-
tempts, the man at tho bow threw the fatal
moose over his head. Directly the bear found
he was caught, lie turned aud made for
war into the enemy's camp; but they were
too quick for him. evidently not liking the
idea of having him for passenger. So
they. turned and rowed for the steamer with
all their might This brought poor Bruins
reached tile steamboat, which had been fol-
lowing pretty close in the wake Of the pur-
suers, be was almost, drowned. The rope
was thrown 10 us on deck, on to which. we
soon hauled him, and then held council-of-
was at first suggested that he should be
ond pat round - hss neck, Then
iG%s Si% and lidss excamsa sas g the look orrd St
great creatnrel do kill him!" Some
person standing by put his hand on the an
iulals head, and said he was fast recovering,
and, If lie. was not killed, would soon be
master OF. the boat. On which q beyy OF
female and some male voices cried out to the
Captain to have him killed at once, On a
butcher Offering to do the job, the Captain
consented, and the bear was doomed to have
his throat cut and die as ignominious death
as any common porker. he was noble fel-
lUNs UlAEh d1lA tAAs aEf0u VI CIEIIt 1Ett Ill
length, and, when he was; skinned, showing
such claws and muscles that the volunteers
rejoiced that he did not make good his entry
into the boat, for he. would certainly have
driven them into the water II they had
to tie farmer driving him into the lake, as
related by j. L. W., 1t Is rs much news to lie
rs to you. On my return by land two days
after, made several inquiries, aud was told
lie was driven into the lake the morning be-
e., trr,f, frsi$
swimming III the water all night and half tile
next day; SO ain INCLINED to the opinion that
lie was driven in that same morning, and,
being watched from the shore, put well out
into the lake for safety. Certain it Is that
when first seen BY Us he was swimming from
shore. arld was full five miles out.
Now for the fish story, It is a fact
that speaTed all extraordinarily large
muskallonge about four or five miles. up
l hear some one exclaim; '4 that horrid.
stinking cesspool of fifth and turbid waterI
a nice place to tishl" But you must remenl-
Der 1t was not always so. In those early
times it was clear, sparkling stream, with
dam, five miles from the city, over which the
water rippied and ran, making q soft. sooth-
Ing, mtr1nuring sound heard Oh that still
winters night for q considerable time before
" we rdaee s tanoe IT. wi" IN M5eS ts5n at IT. the bn1 head
hickory-bark stripped from the trees
On the bank, there was no difficulty
in seeing the fish at the bottom Of the river,
even III six feet Of water. always sup
posed that fish was the largest ever taken in
these waters, and still claim 1t to be so, not
withstandinE Friend Wilson asserts that
Capt Luther Nichols speared one a few
pounds heavier than mine. The one I
caught measured five and a half feet in
length; and Dr. John Temple, who then
lived on Lake street, between Wells and
Franklin, being down at the river, catching
sight of 1t on the opposit side, took the
trouble to get q canoe and cross the river to
see it, reluarkink that it was the largest he
had ever seen, and many times after said the
same. When | first saw it it had two
mates of about the same size,
all swimming in row: l thrust the
spear into the middle Of its body; but
ii would not hold, and slipped off. inme-
diately. dropped down the river, exclailning
To the friend who was padding, 40 such
an immense fish drop down stream quick;
we musttlot lose it," After replenislling the
fire at the Head Of the boat we again ascend
ed the riAter, and soon heard the poor Great
ure blowing like porpoise. lie was swim
ming down stream, it'll his head we'll out Of
the water, into which again threw the
spear, and; after great struggle, succeeded
in dragging him into the canoe; and even
then 1t tlQundered about so that we were
nearly upset, and it took several blows Of
the hatchet upon its head before I could