Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1889-08-01
SHE KILLED THE BEAR.
One of the Vicissitudes in the Life of
a Country School Ma'am.

Miss Emeline Wright, healthy and
buxom country maiden Of %, teaches q
little backwoods school i'll the Bardick
district of Tobyhanna township, Penn.
1t is very sparsely settled section, and
in boarding around among the parents
of her pupils Miss Wright often has to
walk two miles and a-half from the
school house, along lonely roads and
through stretches of woodland. The
school house was built rs near the centre
of the district as possible. 1t stands in
a beech grove, on an unfreluented high
way, the nearest dwelling being three
quarters of mile distant, and back of
it there is q succession of laurel swamps.
An entry extends across the front of the
building, and door leads from the
entry into the schoolroom.
On recent morning, Miss Wright
reached the school-hous ahead of any
of the scholars, intending to write
was surprised, she said, to find the out
side door ajar, but she was still more
astonished when she stepped into the
entry and saw bear nosing around in
the schoolroom. Miss Wright was born
and brought up in pretty wild town
ship, and she had seen many a bear
roaming through the berry patches and
bark peelings; therefore, the sight of
the bear i'll the schoolroom did not de-
moralize her particle. What she did
is told by herself, as follows:
''The bear saw me as soon as L looked
into the room. 1t snorted little and
acted as if it didn't know which way to
go. L wasn't much afraid of it, for l
had seen n good many larger ones. I
don't know why | did it, but 1 stepped
outside at once, closed the door, and put
n stick in the handle. / heard the bear
come into the entry and paw on the
door, but as the door opened inside, l
knew that the bear couldn't break the
stick in the handle and pull the door
toward it. l was anxious for some of
| the scholars to come, because | wanted
to send ono of them over to the woods,
where some men were peeling bark, to
get the men to come with their axes and
kill the bear. Before any of the chill
dren came in sight, the bear clawed very
hard at the door, and, for fear that the
stick mightn't hold, 1 got stronger one
and put it in the handle.
''While | stood there waiting, / heard
the bear run into the schoolroom and
Chamber over the benches. Then it ran
lack and scratched on the door, and
growled for the first time. 1t seemed to
be acting as if it was getting more and
more afraid to stay in the house, and
then it hurried back to the room. 1
heard some glass crack, and L stepped
to the north side of the house and found
that the bear had broken pane out of q
window. 1t had its nose through the
sash, but it left the window and ran
back to the door when it saw me. 1t
was scratching on the door again when L
got back to the front, and then l went
into the wood shed and got an axe,
going from there to the broken window.
The bear was still paving on the door.
"ln n little while ono of my boy
scholars came, and L sent him over to
the woods to tell the men. Instead of
doing as 1 had told him, the boy ran
toward his home, and told all the
children he met that there was bear in
the school-house, and they all ran back,
too. Those that came from the other
direction also got scared when they
heard about the bear, and I couldn't get
one to go over to the woods and notify
the bark peelers. The bear had been
rushing back and forth, paving on the
door and clambering over the desks and
benches all this time, and 1 had about
made up my mind to go away and leave
it there, when L heard it dash against q
window in the back end of the room.
When 1 got there it had its paws and
nose through the sash, and hit it on
the head with the axe as hard as / could.
The axe glanced off and broke out some
more of the sash, and the bear struggled
to climb out. 1t seemed as though it
was going to plunge upon me, and I
struck it with the blade of the axe, Just
as it sprang from the window. I must
have struck good deal harder than I
thought could, for the axe split the
beasts forehead open, and the poor
animal tumbled past me and rolled over
and over, almost to the bank of the
| little creek that runs past the school
house. 1t died in little while, and
then I was sorry for it, because if /
hadn't fastened i4 m the house, it would
have run away aud not broken the win
dows. didn't have any school that
day. The men who saw the dead bear
said it was two years old. Folks around
here talk about my killing the bear as
though it was a brave deed, but ] don t
think so. wouldn't kill another one if
/ had chance, unless had to do it to
keep it from injuring me-"
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