Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1888-06-21
FIGHTING A WILD HOG.
An Exciting Adventure in New
York Forest.
Desperate Encounter with an Infurlated
Anlmal-Though Badly Wounded
the Beast Nearly Kills
Two Men.

There are still dense tracts of forest
in Sullivan County, N. Y, lying less
than one hundred miles from New
York City itself, where the black bear
and other animals which long ago dis
appeared from regions that were set
tied years after Sullivan County woods
began to fall before the axe, are still
as numerous as they were when the
first settlers took up land in the coun-
ty century and half ago. With
such surroundings there naturally ex-
lists in those wild localities race of
sturdy hunters and trappers. descend
ants of the pioneers, and the seeker
after material for exciting and thrill
ing stories of adventure need 90 no
further than to one of the many back
woods hamlets where these rude but
hospitable people make it their home.
A striking figure among one particu-
lar settlement of this kind was Peter
Stewart, who had spent the most of
u long life in the woods. but who
was an important man among his
people, having twice represented them
in the New York Legislature, and oc-
cupicd many local offices of trust.
During his life in the woods it once fell
to his lot to be a participant in hunt
ing adventure, the like of which but
few, if any hunters ever experienced,
on this continent at least. Old Mr..
Stewart related to me once the thrill
ing incident connected with that hunt
They will make lively chapter in the
literature of adventure.
The extensive beech woods of Sulli-
van county were Of great Importance
to the early settlers before they had
cleared up farms and fields under cul-
tivation to raise corn sufficient for
feeding the large number of swine
they were obliged to keep. Pork being
the chief article of backwoods diet,
they fattened their hogs on beech-nuts
for several years. Tho nuts made
pork that was soft and greasy, but il
was pork, and the food cost nothing.
The beech-nuts were scarce some years
and in others they were unusully
plenty. The greatest beech-nut yeal
ever known was 1920.
1.-The nuts were so thick on the
trees" said Peter Stewart, in giving
this "Reminiscences, "that there wa;
barely room for the leaves. Wher
they dropped in the fall they covered
the ground two inches deep. THAI
autumn man who lived along thu
Neversink river was struck with the
idea of turning drove of hogs into
the woods and fattening them for mar
ket. 1t was calculated that hog thai
was turned into the beech to fatter
would increase in value five dollars by
the time it was taken out This spec
ulator argued that he could, therefore
make five thousand dollars by feeding
one thousand hogs on beech-nuts unit
they were fat enough to SELL HI
bought all the hogs he could find in tn,
neighborhood and turned them int,
the beech all marked with his brand
A few days before the time he intended
TO collect his herd there came asuddeI
cold snap with n heavy snow-storm
The storm lasted for two days, ant
when the hog owner went to the woods
b found his hogs scattered about il
heaps dead. They had collected to
gether during the storm to keep warm
in groups of fifty or more, and most o
them were trampled or smothered t,
death. Out of his one thousand hea,
of swine the speculator did not hav
more than one hundred left The dea'
ones were shipped away for soal
grease.
"In 1925 Sam Darbee and mysel
were hunting bears in Rocklan'
beech. We had killed three bears an
several deer. and one day while re
turning to our cabin we came acros
track of some animal in the sno,
that was strange to us. We put do
on the track. but it was two days be
fore we came up with the animal l
the meanwhile, we had made up on
minds that it was wild hog, the of
snriug. no doubt, of some of tn
stock that the speculator had not IT
covered five years before. On ii
third day. was following the trac
through swamp. when suddenly on
Of the largest and most savage-lool
inc boars ever saw jumped ont wit
loud snort from bush of laurel
His bristies stood erect on his bacl
spd two immense tusks were di
nlaved. one on each side of his snou