Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1888-12-07
A BATTLE OF BULLS.
THE DESPERATE ENCOUNTER WHICH
LEFT BOTH coMBATANTs DEAD.

A Fiendish F~erocity Guided by IN Al
psst Hurled from the P%recipice by a
Bull with Its Death Wound.
Thomas S. Moore, a well known and
substantial citizen of Garrard county,
KY, tells a graphic stol'y of a desperate
encounter that occurred on the crest of
a knob Of his neighborhood between a
couple of enraged bulls, in which both
were killed. The animals had wandered
to these nights, and, upon sighting each
other, at once engaged in a duel to the
death. Those u~nacquainted with the in
stincts of such creatures cannot easily
imagine what extreme ferocity they
sometimes display. In speaking of the
incident Mr.. Moore said:
"Being interested in the study of
geology, l happened to be on the knob
at the time, and was startled about a
O'Clock in the afternoon by a fearful bel
lowing. Looking some distance ahead,
| saw the animals advancing toward
each other with their noses on the
ground, turning this way and that, and
casting dust into the air with their fore
feet. When only a few yards apart
they suddenly leaped to the attack with
a frightful noise and began to gore each
other with a frightful energy. Above
the fierce and noisy trampling could be
heard the grinding of their interlocked
horns and the violent snorting of brutal
rage.
HORNS USED LIKE DAGGERs.
1.-THE breeze blew aside the dust and re-
vealed the tigerish character of the on
set, as with wide set limbs and tails
curling in the air they charged again,
stabbing with their pointed horns. Tiny
streams of blood shot down their necks
and sides, while their distended nostrils
emitted a reddish foam.
The prodigious strength of these
magnificent animals thus brought into
violent activity afforded a spectacle both
tumultuous and thrilling. The exertion
of the encounter, added to the pain of
each newly inflicted wound, inflamed
their combative spirit to the pitch Of
tempestuous fury. One of the bulls, fol-
lowing up a temporary advantage,
plunged his horns into the chest of his
antagonist, and, with a quick upward
jerk of the head, ripped open the flesh
to a depth of several inches, while from
the gaping wound Jets of arterial blood
began to squirt. In a towering passion
and with cleaning eyeballs, charging
furiously upon his adversary, the
wounded bull drove his horns into his
abdomen, making a horrible opening
through which the entrails gushed.
THE impetuous and stormy nature of
the contest had carried the cornbatants
to the verge of the cliff, but, blind with
deadly fury, they saw no danger. Each,
mortally wounded and weakening mo-
mentarily from profuse loss of blood,
waged the battle with that fiendish des-
peration shown only in wounded ami
mails. 1t was evident, however, that a
crisis was nea at hand. The situation
had resolved itself into the grim condi-
ton of a death struggle. With lowered
heads they backed away a. few yards,
defiant, implacable, and again collided
with a force that seemed to split their
skulls.
THE DUEL'S TERRIBLE ENDING.
"This terrible shock staggered the bull
with the chest wound and forced his
eyeballs from their sockets. He sud-
denly plunged forward to his knees on
the brink of the precipice and remained
In a quiyering steipor, with his open
mouth burrowing in the dust. The other,
tottering and covered with blood, but
still terrible in his weakness, charged
heavily upon his kneeling and senseless
foe, struck him on the flank with the
force of q ponderous projectile, and
hurled him headlong over the precipice.
The body executed a somersault in mid.
air, fell with a noisy crash through the
treetops upon the rocks below, where il
was subsequently preyed upon by vul-
lures.
The remaining bull seemed to realize
In u stupid way the danger to which he
himself vas exposed. He drew back
from the brink over which his bideous
muzzle had been momentarily thrust
and with entrails trailing on the grounc
staggered a little distance off, fell prone
to the ground, rolled over on his side
shivered a moment, and then lay still II
the embrace of death. The battle LASTED
nearly an hour, and in point of sanguin
airy details and tragic horror has M
parallel within the limits of my ~recollec
tion."-Philadelphia Telegraph.