Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-07-28
CLOUGH'S BEAR.
AN INTERESTING EXPERIENCE IN THE
PENNSYLVANIA BACKWoODS.
With Incidental References to Three
Other Bears and Gun-Ioad of
Carpet-tacks.

been a favorite haunt of black bears, its
character being especially adapted to their
habits, and afording them choice feeding
places and safe retreats in all sea-
sons. So far this season they have seemed
to be around in larger numbers than usual
Every day or two reports have come to
the village of bears being seen by lumber
men and farmers, crossing roads and fields
on their way to favorite foraging quarters,
and even appearing in gardens During
the past two weeks several have been
rrowling around in the neighborhood of
James Clough's clearing, and number of
sheep have disappeared.
A few days ago Clough was at work in
field near his house ard saw big bear
walking along in the public road. 1t was
headed directly for Clough's house.
Clough started on a run by short cut for
the house, and, looking back after he ar
rived there, saw the bear still slouching
along that way. Clough has gun that he
uses now and then for small game, but he
had no shot larger than bird shot He
loaded his gun with bird shot, and as the
bear came along by the house, within
twenty feet of the door, Clough fred at it.
The bear stopped, took a good look at the
man with the gun, and then proceeded on
its journey as if nothing had happened,
and disappeared in the woods couple of
hundred yards down the road.
The Clough household was still in
state of excitement over the appearance of
the bear in such an impudent manner on
their very threshold, when the report of
gun was heard off in the direction the
bear had taken, and few minutes later a
dog came tearing up the road and rushed
past the house as if the old boy was after
him, and was soon lost to sight in the dust
he raised. Soon after the dog disappeared
from the astonished gaze of Clough a sec
ond report of gun came from the woods.
"That bear is having some fun with
somebody" said the farmer
Taking his own gun, he hurried toward
the spot whence the sound of the shooting
had come. A short distance in from the
road he came upon Albert Mason and
Buckalew Fry, two young men, employees
of neighboring sawmill. They were
both very pale and very hot and very
much frightened. Near where they stood
lay big bear. The bear was dead.
Hah, ha-h-." exclaimed farmer
Clough. "You'ye killed HIM, hey? |
gave him shot myself as he sneaked by
my house up yonder few minutes ago"
81 guess you didn't give this bear
shot" said one of the young men, /" for he
isn't he, and he didn't sneak by your
house up yonder, for we followed him all
the way up from the mill down yonder.
He's she, and there are two cubs that be-
long to her somewhere around here in the
woods"
Then the young hunters told how they
had happened to be connected with the
taking Of the bear. They had seen her
and her two cubs crossing the road leading
inte the sawmill. There had been bear
proving around the mill settlement for
two weeks, carrying off sheep, and believ-
ing this to be the one Mason and Fry re-
solved to give it chase, although they
had never had any experience with bears,
being new comerS in the district. They
borrowed gun and a dog and started after
the bear. They got ahead of the bear in
some way, for when they had reached
the spot where they finally came in con-
tact with the bear, and were holding a con-
sultation behind clump of scrub oaks,
they discovered the bear, followed by the
cubs, coming along toward them over the
same course they had taken. The dog sprang
out in the opening when the bears made
their appearance, and bristling up, ran
fiercely to interrupt the progress of the
animals. The moment the old bear saw
the dog she rushed toward him with say
age growls and open jaws. The dog had
evidently not expected such a reception,
for he turned and broke from the woods
like streak of lighting, and didn't come
back. The bear stopped and looked sur
prised herself at the sudden retreat of the
dog, and then the procession again moved.
The fierce front the bear had displayed
rather cooled the ardor of the hunters, and
they were half inclined to return home,
but the old bear offered such a fair shot
that it did not seem possible that she
couldn't be killed instantly. So Fry,
who had the gun, concluded to blaze away.
The bear dropped on her side, and Mason and
Fry, not supposing for a second that she
hadn't been killed, rushed out to capture
the two cubs. But the old bear wasn't
dead enough to look on and see her young
ones molested, and she jumped up ard
made a rush for the two hunters. Fry
broke in one direction and Mason in an
other. Fry being the nearer to her, she
followed him. He fired his second barrel,
but in his excitement shot wild. The bear
was so close to him that he yelled Justify
for help. Mason returned, and with club
belabored the bear in the rear until she
turned from Fry upon HIM. He kept her
engaged until Fry managed to reload his
gun, when the latter placed the muzzle al
most against the bears ear and ended
the fight by putting charge cleaS through
her head.
"Well, wonder where my bear is, then,"
said Farmer Clough, after this recital,
which seemed to disappoint him. "My
bears around in the woods here, some
where" he declared.
But long and thorough search revealed
neither the whereabouts of Clough's bear
nor the hiding place of the dead bears
cubs, which had made off during the
mothers desperate defense of them.
Mason and Fry got ride for their bear
on lumber wagon that happened to come
along, and Clough returned home, still
speculating on what had become of his
bCdI anu W Ucl lIdI NilSH
they dressed Mason and Fry's bear they
would find load of bird-shot in it. The
next day was Sunday. Along in the fore
noon Farmer Clough sat at back window
of his house reading, when he looked out
of the window, and startled his family by
jumping and exclaiming:
There's that aggravatin' bear now."
Sure enough, out in the bean patch, not
more than fifty yards from the house, was
bear, busying himself with tearing up
the bean vines and eating the roots.
Clough went to the door, shook his news
paper violently at the bear, and shouted
at him to scare him away But the bear
scarcely looked up and kept right on with
his despoiIiag of the bean patch. 1t
wasn't so much that it was Sunday that
Farmer Clough was reluctant to go out
and smite the beer, but because he was a
little shaky about the efficiency of bird
shot. Finally his wife, who hadn't
planted those beans for the benefit of va
grant bears and couldn't think of letting
them go in that way, asked the farmer why
a handful or so of carpet tacks projected
into bear by an active load of powder
wouldn't be apt 10 disturb his vitality
| somewhat. Farmer Clough said it GER
tainly ought to and he poured good old
| fashioned charge of powder into his gun,