New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-02-10
g SHOOTING OFF" HIS BEAR.
..n vvcrrnC1, MorNTArN PASTIdE.

town led his tame bear, Rebel, over =" Nio ~
other day. for the purpose Of shooting MN on'
S,.sco a. = ,tIe settlement among the Pocono Noun
tstns and ON the main line Of the Deaware' Le0n"
svanna and western Railroad, and there are seVera
good marhsmen In the near neighporuoou' -
Wayne County Mr.. George had shot ms pear On s"o'
times before no marched hm 10 Ore'oo' "n1 s,n,a,
s,srfor Workmanship he had won the cunning ain~
ssct AZ a match on the Dutch Flats. Tic iost heoci
80 hat n. bought him from the winner, SO thas
The bear had been In Mr.. Georges possession heSap
all the time since he was captured whon oUO'
Is,e, will be two years old in March, MI 1eorso
saws and he weighs little than tho average
sir.d man lie is an even-temperod and weF'rained
brute. az he minds his master good deal qncAer
and better than some children do their parents A
little bear was less than fortnight ola wnon no
vas stolen from his mothers nest near hOuSAso"u
and Mr. George declared that Rebel mas U'n"'o~
aimssn real well from that day to tins.
Mr. Cyeorce Il a brawny backwoodsman, perhaps
forty wears Of age and he is as goodaaturod as no
is big and strong. When no shoots ms pear ou' nc
docs not lot the rural marlsmen hre AZ 'ho Doo, 80
al target eighty rods from where the shooters al
.t.,a,no They nay him ten cents shot, with tne
od.rstandnp all around that the owner OF the DeSr
shall have as many chances at the marx as o@en -
the other rnarksmen and the man who mahes ,io ns
est score takes the BEAR Dir. George reservlne tne
10 buy the animal back at fixed price IL ne iooiS
so disposed ct the close Of the match he geuSr"us
4nss enough pastoral chaps that are willing TO PIT
ter shiu with the rife against his own put' In oo
he can't raise 81 or SO among the sporsmen Oh 'io
reishborhood on chances for Rebel Mr.. George uo,
e;ares the match to DO indefinitely postponeu anu
marches HIS bear away TO some rural community
where the interest in real Jolly sporting matters "
"A good deal deeper A..
IL rained like everything on the gay sou i'r ",o
shoot and the great event was put OH ior "ooh
I'm the meantime Rebel on exhibition In tne
ho rsrd ~ the hotel lust across the railroad from
the station and 1t was there that the writer saw
MIN m a ueasant January day. There was crown
OF stalwart woodchoppers, farmers ara lnmUermen
I'm the yard at the tlme and group OF n'eIeSs s1
children saw Mr.. George put the bear 'nr0's" N-'
performances. .,.oA
TO the upper end of 1t. firmly set in the grouna or
Rebel to cut UP his capers on Az tho oon'"~U -
his master Rebel climbed up the post at po.S
rapid gait wriggled his body TO the plank ABOVE anu
sat down 10 rest Then Mr.. George maze no'o"
with a stick, and the cunning bear sat UP on , ns
b.upcbes and crossed his arms afterwaId 1ooihg
them as near like person as possible Al'0F no nav
done this trick TO perfection. Mr. George tosseu MN
red sweet apple, which he caught IN BIS pams q"
NEATLY as frstclass baseball player. Ihat was
., Co.. b,s obedience and he devoured 1t right
away. .,, .,a
@Now, Reb, dance little" Mr. George sao' ana
The bear nearly HIS balance In trying 10 mop arouu
on The narrow plank He caught hinseiL thous"
and then no made believe dance until the ohlooAihg
children screamed with delight at his groteSque an
tcs and his endeayos to do Just as his owner wanieo
hin, IN Mr. George then told Rebel that he might
take a rest. at the same time pitching up ano'ner
apple 10 him. This one he caught IN DIS mou'l
crunshed il down quickly licked his chops and looked
wlstfully down at his master ior moie Vi 'A9 ~
sort.
swheel aboutl' Mr.. George then yelled and Keoei
Instantly changed ends and began to scratch his len
law with his hind foot though mosquito had Dlen
him there Mr.. George let the bear scratch III nc
appeared to 10 satisfied and then he told him 10
haap
tered roar that made the eyes Of the children spec
tators stick out Rebel got another apple for THIS
and tho next thing Mr. George oruered MN 10 40 was
10 sit sauarcly his launches and let his paws droop
DOWN 1t was not an easy thing TO do, but after sew
eral attempts the well-trAIned brute balanced himself
all right and got another bis apple Then Mr. George
made him stand three legs and stick the o'her one
out straight tossing him another apple when the
trick was done The bear did everything so thoroughly
ina. all the spectators regarded him most remark
abls animal The bear took a rest Of five minutes,
and then Mr. George, much to the aStomshment OF
them all. yelled:
M four times on the plank and seemed TO DO dsin-
rIjned to obey Mr.. George didn't say anything more
and Rebel who knew what he was up TO, Kept on ny
,nr 70 got the position that no wanted. After he
had got things 20 suit him, be poed his nose between
his fore legs slid his hind legs forward little and
rolled of the end Of the plank Bis shoulders struck
the ground first, his head being near the post His
he kept on rolling until his nose was toward tho
ground, when he uncuried his body and sprang to
his feet His tumble hadn't hurt him particle, 1udg
ing from the way he acted and Mr. George patted
him the head and gave him half dozen nice
apples.
After Rebel had eaten the apples, wrestling match
was proposed by several of the muscular countrymen
who had had tusses with the bear before. Rebel
has been taught how TO wrestle with men, and next
TO eating he TO like it better than anything
cfx hold fe fba nn1V ety. n
that the bear knows much about but at that hold he
has downed some Of the strongest men in Touchdown
Mr. George says.
So a ring was formed, and Job Aicott, thick-set
and broad shouldered fellow of twenty years, offered
10 tackle the bear first He weighed about 160 pounds
and he stepped from the circle into the ring and faced
the bear Mr. George told Rebel TO get upon HIS
launches and the bear obeyed. Olcott was in front
of him, and at Mr.. Georges command, Rebel seized
ccott around the body under his arms and poked his
nose over Ocott's left shoulder. Ocot grabbed the
bear around tho neck and at they began to tug
and twist and try 20 down each other. They were
both pretty stiff the back, and each threw his whole
strength into the contest, the fourfooed fellow ap
pearng to think that good deal depended on tho 70
suit For three minutes they squirmed and tugged
and then, when the stout rustic in the act OF
endeavoring to trip the bear with Of hs big cow
hide boots, Rebel laid him fat on his back and the
crowd booted and 1eered After tue resi-, me
two minutes In the third bout the bear threw the man
In two and half minutes.
Then Olcott stepped into the circle all out OF breath
and got laughed at some more and Amasa Mutt SIM
and wiry chap OF twenty-five years. who said ne
weighed lat pounds rushed into the ring and grabbed
Rebel He too spfy and supple for the bear, ana
he foored Rebel twice I'm quick succession Hiram
whipple a muscular qusrryman, OF 16o pounds,
weight next tackled the bear. He was strong and
clumsy but he got the best Of the bear In the rt and
third bouts. Rebel winning the second. -Four other
fellows had whack at the bear, two OF them coming
out second best Then Mr.. George said that Rebel
had had enough exercise for one day and he led him
into stable and fed him lot OF meat and cheese.
The show and the spectators scattered
On the day fixed for the shoot, eleven rural marks
men took their chances at the target for the bear.
Each had ten shots at the mari, and MI. George
won the match and scooped in Sll. On the following
day marched Rebel Oh 10 Sauters Mills, and IRON
there no said he was going TO Tannersvine and
6roudsburg.