Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-12-10
Hunters Tragic Death.

Jerry Greening, the famous hunter of Pike
county, Pa, is dead. For the last half cen
tury this remarkable man has fought con-
stant battle, and there is not a hunting ground
between the Susquehanna and the Delaware i'll
which he has not fought with bears, catamounts
deer, and all the smaller animals. On Nov.
% Jerry left his cabin, in the northwestern
part of Pike county, near the Paupack River
telling his nearest neighbor, Johannes Sch.
muckstein who is also famous hunter, that
on this trip he would make "the biggest haul
of varmint' he had ever made. 1t was on
Monday morning he set out He was seldom
gone more than two days on his trips, and Oh
Wednesday morning Schmuckstein went over
to his cabin to see if he had returned. He
found no signs of Jerry. He at once con
cluded that the old man had met with some
serious accident, and he informed one or two
of his neighbors. They set out in the direc-
ton taken by Jerry, but the cold and dark
ness soon drove them back, and they spent
the night in arousing all the men within ten
miles and in organizing searching party.
At daylight on Thursday morning the party
started for the bear swamp, and, after three
or four hours of rapid marching, came out on
the vast ledge that surrounds the great name
less swamp of Pike county. The dogs were
put on the scent, and in q short time a yelp
from one of the hounds announced a trail
The hunters followed the dog as he plunged
into the swamp. The intense cold had frozen
the marshes so that a safe footing was afford
ed. At last, in the centre of the swamp, on
a little knoll of land covered with spruce
trees, the search came to an end. Under the
spruce trees lay four large bears, dead and
frozen, with bloody gashes in their hides, and
on the moss scattered around them lay the
bloody skull, backbone, and disjointed skele-
ton of man. After the first shock was over
the hunters set to work to examine the bones.
They were soon satisfied that the bones of
Jerry Greening were before them. A part OF
| the long gray beard he had worn still clung to
the head, from which the bears or wild cats
had gnawed the ears, the nose and most OF
the flesh. A survey of the ground showed
Jerry had met the bears, and that in fighting
them he had received wounds that caused his
death. One of the dead bears had bitten
away a part of Jerry's right foot, and the
| CHASTITY fragments we're still between his teeth
| wound in his neck showed that his grasp oi
| the hunters foot was followed by a fatal blow
from the hunters knife. Jerry's knife lay OF
the ground, and into its blade one of the furi
GUS brutes had set his teeth and bitten nearly
through the steel. Shreds Of cloth, buttons
and Jerry's gun and powder flask lay near by
His silver tobacco-box was found in the moss
| Sadly the friends collected the bones of theil
dead friend. The skin was stripped from
one of the dead bears, and in an improviseC
sack were put the remains, and with this bur
den the party started for home. During hi
long life as a hunter Jerry killed many hun
dred bears, keeping a record of them by th'
tails which he carefully took home with him
He marked his score of wildcats by the righ
fore paw, foxes by the right ear, and rattle
snakes by the fangs. In his hut were found IS
bears tails, 34S wildcat paws, 224 fox ear
and l22 rattlesnake fang. York Times