Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1888-03-20
A Catskill Bear Story.
wide A~siet
"Bears In the Catskills ,"


dia, Head. we failed to discover trace OF
either bear OF wildcat.
To say that we saw ''neiiher hide nor
hair" Of them. s the phrase Is, would
not be true. There Is great. ,s-ny,
gla..eyed, stuffed wildcat At Mesds's.
oa the Overlook and Ia farmers
house si Big Indian We saw black bears
skin. the original wesrer Of which bad
been killed by the prr.sn, o~nsr. only =
few winters ago.
hut ne found bear s,ories-plen'y OF
them. Whenever we met . native or
old settler Of ,h., region. We .ir.ish'"sy
asked him for bear story aud be sci.
dom disappointed u. We soon had
Quit. q collection. the gem Of which i'
the one | am soins TO tell YOU no-. II,
h.. never before been told In print. am
sure; for We had IL from the hp. OF the
hero himslf-.n Italian lsborer. Who.
having originally come into The Ca,.kill'
20 work GA one OF the railroads. had n.
n.ly made bi. home there.
Seated on . raft N the edge OF The
pond where We were fishing. be related
hi. story In broken Rngli'h. which ! will
.ndeayor 10 mend-no, in the hope OF
making 1, ianni-r. bu, simply to render
IL more Ineligible.
HI. name -s N.nni short for Go
v.nnil Roceo. IL seems that In Italy.
where N.nni Vas born aud ere. up, be
had been , kind Of Snowman. lie used
10 travel among the Apennine villages
~i,h . performing bear. which be had
,.u,h, 10 wre,,le 90 .killfally ihs, the
huge animal. tightly murIled aud with
el.-. blun,ed. would "thfow all com.
er, Who veu,ured 20 measure their strength
With him. Then bis master would Try
q bout. and Away. come OF vieiorioa. /;
bu, ,hi. vas due TO . seers, understand.
ing With III. bear. who, At given 'isn.l'
would f.ll 20 the ground and pretend to
be overcome. Thi, va, done 90 ns,afal.
ly and 90 regularly. that after while
N.nni came 20 believe himself really more
than q match for the bes', and the
faithful creature never undsesiv,d him.
The fame Of Mani and hi, wrestling
bear spread f.r and vide. One day "a
,ssn, came along aud engaged him Tor
foreign tour, TO extend a, fn n Amer.
lea. Thi, began very .uees.,fully and
no doab, N.nni would have made hi'
fortune ia Amsrie., h.d no, bis ihd'.
pen..bls p.r,nsr. the bear, 'iekened aud
died shortly after their arri'.l in New
York.
His master mournsd him ike child.
Such another animal vas no, TO be
found ior low. OF money. aud poor Nan.
al. occupation Was gone. Di'heaiisned
and without resources b. hnslly engaged
himself -i,h +. number Of hi. fellow
eoun,rymen, 10 work on the railroad.
Th. smploymen, brough, him to the
C.ukill Mountains.
When the line Of the Ulster and Della
-.ie Railroad vas frs, surveyed. tn. re-
sioa through which /, p..'e. bad much
more ,h. sir Of fore., primeval than u
po..s,.,. to-day. The principal "old
settlers" then we're the bears and PAN
th.r. and Wildcats, With here and there
a r.,,le.n.ke. There was good sport IN
the mountains. at that period.
Oae day I. good.'ir'd bear. closely Par'
sued by two hunters, came issfins
through the underbru,h. close by the
place where Nsnni aud his companies
we're At work. IL vas . Wild spot, over
looking th., .,upendou, ravine where IN.
snowy veil Of the Ks.,e,kill hang, grace
fully down the black wall Of vet rocks.
Head him off," cried the hunters.
Bat the Italian llborer. were too fnsht.
ened 10 dispute the passage Of the painting
animal. The mere sigh, Of them, how.
ever, caused him 10 .l.eken his pace and
look about hin. hi. red tongue hanging
out Of his open mouth. aud his mi'ehlev'
on, little eye. a.shlng with rage aud de-
tanee.
Before him were the Italians. behind
him the hunters. on one side VI. tue
preeipiee. and opposite stood N.nni-
and be was no, the man 70 run away.
Ifhe uemblsd. |, was from excitement
and emo,ion-no, from fear. The sight
Of the free, fall.grown bear a, bay. and
rearing thre.,eningly upon bis hind'lss.
caused . food Of reeollse,ion' TO rush
through Nsnni. mind Inspired by th'
though, Of bis Triumphant, wrestling days
he had but one idss. and ,hs, vas to get
. good ".ids hold" Of the bear, throw
him on hi. back. aud capture him.
"s,op-,! .,op-," h. screamed, mo-
,ioning back the hunters, who had rsi'ed
their guns to fire. "l'll ca,eh-i him fo'
you"
To the speeehles' amsremen' OF hl'
comrades, he rushed forward and crap
pied with the infars,ed bear. throwing
one arm around the plump. hairy body
and with the other hand eluiehins 'h'
Shaggy throat.
The struggle was terrific While II last
ed, and by no means one-slded. Bruir
snapped with his jaws, and slapped oa'
wildly with his paws, tearing greas'triP
from N.nni', clothing q, each blow. H'
did no, seem to be =, all particular whe,h
er bits Of N.nnis ,kin and flesh CANE
with the cloth or not. The spectator
cried
They'll 20 over. as sure as-'
Before the sentence was out OF thsi
mouths, cash! went man aud bear owe
the pr,cipiee together. The other. hear
the cracking Of branches 80 they fell an'
were los, to Sigh, in the dense fOlisg'
that clothed the mountain side.
Horor.s,rieken, the men scrambled
down the rocks {. beat they could b.
round.bOa, ways. to pick up poor Nan
mis- msngled body.
Msngled Indeed he VI. but not killed
He and the bear had pro'ideniisll.
,umblsd into . ,hicke, Of huekleberr.
bushes on ledge half way down the "a
vine. Bmin had made of. leaving Nan
nj stunned, bleeding. aud highly indls
nsnt.
"D.-, bear no goOd-s,' he said, 10
feeble but protesting tone, to his rescusrs
ale not knov-a how 10 wresile. II