The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1888-05-05
SN9wBOUED WITH A BEAR.
Five .Toi1y Drummcrs with Four Pts
tolls March out to Slaughter

and Western passenger trains were
snowb6ind III the Pocono Mountains
during the recent blockade for twenty
four hours or more, some of them hav-
ing been stalled in the drifts between
Ponno Summit and TObyhanna Mills.
Their waS perfect blizzard on the
mountain, and the weary passengers,
who had been taking short maps through
the night, were beginning Ia get blue
and discouraged. A Scranton man look
ed out Of "a window and SAW something
under the shelter Of a ledge of rocks
thai soon caused all OF the passengers to
-ash to his side of the car and gaze ont.
The snow flew III such frequent and
binding clouds between the train and
the ledge that only occasional glimpses
OF the strange object could be caught,
su1d that fact made the curiosity of the
passengers all the keener. They soon
learned that the object that had attract
ed their attention WAS bear. Ii was
paving and roofing in the snow at the
base of the ledge as though it was trying
10 find something to eat, utterly obliv-
ious to the fact that at least fifty pairs of
human eyes were Turned that way. A
middle aged lady in the dining room
tai had an opera glass. which she passed
from one person to another i'm her own
car. going after while into the ear
ahead and giving the children a chance
to look at the bear through the glass.
There We're few passenyrrs in the
sleeping coach, and they all dressed
themselves and marched from one end
Of the train to the other talking about
the bear.
During all this connection a scene of
hiiarity was being enacted in the smok-
ing car, where sixteen men were PLAYING
poker, euchre, and seven up. Among
the occupants of this car were quartet
of commercial men, who had been sam
ping from fellow drummcrs bottle of
choice old rye, until there was nothing
left To sample from. aud they were in a
joyial mood when the news of the bear
got to their car. One of them suggest
ed that they should all start out and see
# they couldn't get near enough to the
hear to pepper it with lead from their
receivers, and the other three fell in
with their proposition in hurry. The
man with the empty bottle said that that
was all the pistol he had, but he was
ready and willing to tackle the bear with
that, provided he could get near enough
:" bring 1T to bear on the animals point
ed nose. He would take the lead. lac
siid, If the theirs would promise not to
make mistake and shoot him III the
back. and they promised.
Then the five Jolly drumners sIunr
on their ulstors and got ready to face
the northwest wind and the cloud oi
NOV. Eour Of then tishoi ont rc,ul,crs
Af i l, I
eaci! of them put his weapon in the
highland pocket of his oycrcoa:, pull
ei his hat down tight 70 his ears. turned
~ ms collar, and marche,! out of the car
H. the wake of the fifth. whose "Ioyel
night hand had "a firm grip on the neck
OF the empty bottle. The other passcn-
gers in the smoking ear. who had thrown
upthcir games while this was "oirg on.
ehcered the heroic five To the echo as
they stepped into the crenkinr snow.
For IA short distance they all braved
the bitter storm like Russian warriors,
The man with the bottle taking the lead
He was nearly blown from his feet three
or four times, ami the others, fear
ing that the frightful gusts would
sweep them away, then put their
shoulders together and marched four
abreast. Their leader was by this time
number OF rDIS ahead of them and |
The bear was still paving and noSing !
ArrHn1 IN the the thin snow. The. /
bowling Of the blast made so much ]
nose among the limbs of clump of |
trees on the top Of the ledge that the bear !
dld not notice the stealtliy approach Of |
the man with the bottle, and the first |
thing he knew soino thing hit him Oh the !
head, glanced off, struck II rock. and |!
few into a thousand pieces.
When the bear looked around 30 see /
what the matter was, the man without !
the hottie was Logging it toward the |
heruic fOIr, who had come to "a halt and |
were getting ready Ia blaze away at the |
Dear The brute gave vent to- "a startled |,
snort, and Just then four bullets whizzcd |
toward him. He rose up on his haunch-
Is MS quick as a flash, and then he drop
ped down ON all tours again, whirled
around half dozen times in as mauy
seconds, and bit at his flank rs though
something had stung him. Then he
rolled over i'll the snow. and the drum
Incrs made mp their minds that they
mad wounded him fatally. They hadn't.
uongh, for Just as soon rs they had
started for the spot where he lay he
jumped to his feet, kicked up his heels,
ana Waddlcd off IN the opposite direc-
uon, making the snow fly behind
him.
Three of the druminers chased the
Gear, firing ~ they ran. The bear halt
Ell long enough once To see that they
We're following him. and then he took to
niS heels again. soon disappearing from
lneIr view behind thp corner of ~, anDls