St. Tammany farmer., 1888-03-10

enough to kill a hog. and there is no
telling where he would have stopped
had he not been interrupted in this
pleasant pastime.
The gray hack Of the Rockies is rather
different brute from his cousin of the
slslirO 1dacks and the PENNSYLVANIA
hills. Perhaps the Eastern members
Of this interesting family never weigh
more than four hundred or five hum
dred pounds. but out this way many Of
the grizzlies and silver tips caught
have touched the heam at one thousand
and twelve hundred pounds and even
greater. Mr.. Charles Soper. Of Boze-
man. a thriving city a short distance
west OF here. is said to have shot one Of
the lM gest gray backs ever seen in the
West. The hide was something tre-
mendo1s. The beast having been
killed late in the fall. at time when
he was plentifully supplied with "bear's $
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 its 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
in the party were old timers with
ore or two exceptions. and among the
latter was q Swede. full Of grit, who
stood nearly seven feet in his stockings
The Swede, however. whose family
name was Franck. was by no means a
'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-fsoted critter
that rOamed the mountains The
party of twelve were climbing = steep
mountain, darkness was coming on,
and prospects Of supperless night were
in view. when the scven-foot Scandina-
vian volunteered to push on ahead in
the hopes Of securing an elk. deer. or
mountain sheep. The foreigner was a
good shot with his rifle. had plenty of
grit 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 basaltic walls on the left being
like a thousand feet. Far
below the tops OF giant pines could be
but in the awful depth they
appeared like stunted shrubs and
bushes. Near the summit and to the
right the free land broadened or
widened out, and this was covered
with dense growth Of willows and
stuntcd pines. from which proceeded
the most awful grumblings and howls
imaginable. Just as the party appeared
on the top all at once out from the
stubble came retreating 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 badly. 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 . 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
y, holding in his right hand . large
hunting knife. which every second he
would plunge to the hilt in the shoulder
Il his shaggy foe. At ono thrust Of the
Swede the bear caught him fairly with
! return whack of his monstrous paw
hat must have broken the mans arm,
Tor he quickly transferred the blade to
his left hand. and gave back blow for
dow as best he could. The denoue-
nent came 50 suddenly that the horror
stricken comrades could render NO pos
Iible assistance. Even had they started
N run. they could not have reached
heir friend in time, and to risk . shot |
With . rife would have been just -
to the Swede as to the bear.
Step BY step the man was forced back.
Until he hung almost upon the edge OF
he precipice. There seemed no hope |
or him unless he could assume the ag- |
,ressive in turn. and this could not b |
)nno as fl,. man ~,sa sI.n;usv h:. ,,emnrne