The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1888-02-09


mutton or venisOn. A recent report
! from the Eighwoods. in the neighbor-
hood of Arrow and Wolf creeks. says
that more bears have been seen this
year than for ten years past, and that
quite number of cattle have been
killed by them of late. A few months
| ago, az Mullery's ranch. near GOrham,
BIZ silver tip came down out Of the
mountains one night, invaded the hog
pasture Of that industrious ranchman,
and in very short time laid out no
less than thirty fine porkers. The hogs
| squealed. made great fuss, Of course.
and a long as there was show Of resist
ance the bear arncver stopped boxing their
ears. One blow OF his mighty paw was
enough to kill hog, and there is no
telling where he would have stopped
had he not been interrupted in this
pleasant pastime.
The grayback of the Rockies is rather
a different brute from his cousin Of the
Adirondacks and the Pennsylvania
hills. Perhaps the Eastern members
Of this interesting family never weigh
more than four hundred or five hun
dred pounds, but out this way many OF
the grizzlies and silver tips caught
have touched the beam at one thousand
and twelve hundred pounds and even
greater. Mr. Charles Soper, of BoZe-
man. thriving city short distance
west of here. is said to have shot one Of
the largest graybacks ever seen i'll the
West. The hide was something tre-
mendous. The beast having been
killed late in the fall. at time when
he was plentifully supplied with "bear' 5
grease" it would not be wide of the
mark to estimate his weight when alive
at sixteen hundred pounds. Certainly
the enormous hide justified these fig
ures, and the claws and head preserved
would justly entitle him to the credit
of being the father of the family.
As proof of the wisdom of the old
hunters warning about going in arter
bear alone" the following narrative
will best Illustrate It's truthfulness:
"a party OF gold hunters started out
from Deadwood some years ago to
prospect the country to the north and
west Of that mining camp. The men
il the party were old timers with
one or two exceptions. and among the
latter was Swede. full of grit, who
stood nearly seven feet in his stockings.
The Swede. however, whose family
name was Franck. was by no means 4
'tenderfoOt, having dwelt some time in
the Leadville mining camps and boasted
that he had killed bar in his day and
was afraid of no four-fOotcd crit;er
that roamed the mountains The
party of twelve were climbing a steep
mountain, darkness was coming on,
and prospects of a supperless night were
in view, when the scven-foot Scandina-
Wan volunteered to push on ahead in
the hopes of securing IN elk, deer, or
mountain sheep. The foreigner was a
good shot with his rife, had plenty of
gri: and courage, and his immense
strength and powerful physique rem
dered it extremely improbable that he
would find his match in the timber
ahead. The hunter disappeared, and
the others tOiled on behind. climbing
the steep ascent wearily and foOtsore.
At one place the road wound around
steep precipice, the sheer descent of the
cut baSa,tic walls on the left being
something like thousand feet. Far
below the tops of giant pines could be
discerned, but in the awful depth they
appeared like stuntcd shrubs and
bushes. Near the summit and to the
right the free land broadened or
widemed ont, and this was covered
with a dense growth of willows and
stunteI pines. from which proceeded
the most awful grumbiingS and howls
imaginable. just as the party APP pearcd
on the top al at once out from the
stubble came retreatin@ the big Swede,
followed by an enormous silver tip,
who was driving him slowly backward
toward the edge of the precipice. The
man was bleeding bally. nearly all of
one side of his face being torn away,
the result of wicked blow from the
huge paw of the vicious monster The
bear, on the other hand. was quite as
badly wounded rs his antagonist. His
head was i mass of gore, the lower jaw
was simply hanging by few shreds,
and one of his hind LEGS was
broken. The Swede was backing slow
ly, holding in his right hand large
hunting knife, which every second he
would plunge 10 the hilt in the shoulder
of his shaggy foe. At one thrust of the
Swede the bear caught him fairly with
a return whack of his monstrous paw
that must have broken the mans arm,
for he quickly transferred the blade to
his left hand, and gave back blow for
blow as best he coGld. The denoue-
ment came so suddenly that the horror
stricken comrades could render no pos
sible assistance. Even had they started
on run. they could not have reached
their friend in time, and to risk n shot
with rife would have been Just as
dangerous to the Swede as to the bear.
Step by step the man was forced back.
until he hung almost upon the edge of
the precipice. There seemed no hope
for him unless he could assume tie ag-
gresSive in turn, and this could not be
done, as the man was doing his utmost,
and still the silver tip was getting the
better of the light. All at once the des-
perate animal raised his huge paw and