The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-03-07
Wrestling With n Bear.

A correspondent Of the Philadelphia
Times gives this scene from the daily
life at the Hot Springs, Ark: A street
car passes, drawn by melancholy-loolk
ing mule. On the car hangs placard:
BLACK DAN AND THE 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 widens again. We pass the Jo-
sephine cottage, the Avenue hotel and
number of very pretty private residences.
These become rarer after awhile and at
last the mule is trudging between the
tracks over country road. Again the
strains of martial music assail my cars
and discover third band playing fu-
riously in one corner of a little two-acre
enclosure. A man at the gate relieves
me of a quarter and l am free of the
place.
There is a cottage in the rear occupied
by Frenchman as a restaurant In one
corner, chained to a tree lies a gigantic
bcar-thc biggest black bear ever saw.
A notice is pasted on tine tree:
BEER FOR THE BEAR
p CTS.
Scattered about in the park are hun
dred or so of spectators. | do not like to
show ignorance by inquiring the meaning
of the placard, but quietly wait. Pres
emily young man, evidently not q mem
Der of red-ribbon society, gently APP
proaches the bear who looks at him
lazily and blinks his eyes. The young
man displays a bottle of beer The big
beast tine bear, | mean,) rises on his
launches and ticks his jaws in token of
approval. The biped, after one or two
feints, rolls the bottle over to brIin, who
scizes it, uncorls it with his teeth and
takes tremendous pull After a rest he
takes another. This time he has cmptied
it, and letting it roll to distance gazes
at it with an-eXpression half melancholy
and half comical. Treating the bear"
is Il 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 not no one
knows.
"Time" is called for the wrestling
bout, and negro in a ragged suit of
clothes steps forward and prepares for
battle. This, it seems, is Dan. The
bear at first seems disinclincd to move,
but is prodded into activity by the blows
and insults hcapcd upon him. He shows
considerable skill ami does not lose his
temper. Occasionally he handles Dan
pretty roughly. In the first round Dan
pulled hat of some tough material
down over his eyes and made a dash at
bruin. The latter lodged and, clutching
Dan, who had slipped and fallen back
ward into the bears hug, laid hold of
his arm with his teeth, pinching it
severely, as was evident from
the expression of Dams face. The
negro finally freed his other arm and
struck bruin terrific blow on the snout,
at the same time shouting; whats de
matter wild yo' BAR" The bear loosened
his hold and Dan hauled off for repairs.
After pausing to regain his wind Dan,
evidently a little disheartened, made an
other rush. but the bear stopped, caught
him nimbly, and falling backward, flung
him bleeding and half-senselcss into
pile of rubbish twenty feet away. Poor
Dan picked himself up and retreatcd
toward the house, turning from time to
time to bcstoW Il farewell curse upon his
late adversary, whose eyes shone with a
merry twinkle as they followed the
vanquished man.
1.-THE show" was ended, and the crowd
made rush for the bobtail cars.