The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1884-03-26

a correspondent OIL luc nliauCiPill"
Times gives this scene from the daily
| life at the Hot Springs, Ark: A street
car passes, drawn by a mclancholy-look-
ing mule. On the Car hangs Il placard:
BLACK DAN n II BEAR
WILL REsTLE TO-DAY
AT CASTLE PARK.
board the car and am carried through
an entirely new part Of the town, north
ward of and above the Arlington. The
valley widcns again. We pass the 10
sephine cottage, the Avenue hotel and a
number of very pretty private residences.
These become rarcr after awhile and at
last the mule is trudging between the
tracks over a country road. Again the
strains of martial music assail my cars
and | discover a third band playing flu
riously in one corner of a little two-acrc
enclosure. a man at the gate relieves
me of Il quarter and l am free OF tho
There is a cottage in the rear occupied
by a Frenchman as a restaurant. In one
corner, chained to a tree, lies a gigantic
| bcar-thc biggest black bear cvcr saw.
4 notice is pasted on the tree:
BEER FOR THE BEAR
81 CTS.
Scattered about in the park arc q hun
drcd or so Of spectators. do not like to
show ignorance by inquiring the meaning
of the placard, but quietly wait. Pres
emily a young man, evidently not IA mem
Der of a rcd-ribbon society, gently ap-
nroachcs the bear. who looks at him
iazilv and blinks his eyes. The young
man displays a bottle of beer. The big
beast the bear, l mcan,) rises on his
launches and ticks his jaws in token OF
approval. The bipcl, after one or two
feints, rolls the bottle over to bruin, who
scizcs it, uncorks it with his teeth and
takes a tremendous pull. After a rest hC
takes another. This time he has emptied
it, and letting it roll to a distance gazes
at it with an expression half melancholy
and half comical. "Trcating the bear
is a daily amusement with the visitors
here. His powers are great. He has
been known to make away with twenty
five bottles at a sitting, or rather a squat.
ting, without hanging out any signal OF
distress or behaving himself otherwise
than as a perfect bear. Whether he had
a headache the next day or rot no one
knows.
Cline" is called for the wrestling
bout, and a negro in a ragged suit OF
clothes steps forward and prepares fol
battle. This, it seems, is Dan. Tho
bear at first seems disinclined to move,
but is proddcd into activity by the blows
and insults hcaped upon him. He shows
considerable skill ami does not lose his
temper. Occasionally he handles Dan
pretty roughly. In the first round Dar
pulled q hat of some tough matcrlaJ
down over his eyes and made q dash al
bruin. The lattcrdodged, and, %clutching
Dan, who had slipped and fallen back
ward into the bears hug, laid hold Of
his arm with his teeth, pinching ii
severely, as was evident from
the expression of Dams face. The
! negro finally freed his other arm and
struck bruin a terrific blow on the snout,
at the same time sllouting: "What's dc
matter wild yo' b'arw The bear looscncd
his hold and Dan hauled off for repairs.
After pausing to regain his wind Dan,
evidently Il little dishcarlcncd, made an.
other rush, but the bear stopped, caught
him nimbly, and falling backward, flung
him bleeding and h~alf-scnsclcss into a
pile of rubbish twenty feet away. Poor
Dan picked himself up and retrcatcd
toward the house, turning from time to
| time to bestow a farewell curse upon his
late adversary, whose eyes shonc with a
merry twinkle as they followed the
vanquishcd man.
"The show"w a ended, and the crowd
made a rush for the bob-tail cars.