The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-01-07
AN ELMIRA MAN AND BEARS.

Mr. Jon 80 Unplesssnt Exp~rsence with .
Gang of sporting Ursiaes.
o. An Elmira man, whom we will call
Jones', had a most discouraGinG expert
ence q few weeks ago While on q little
hunting trip across the line I'm Pennsylva-
mia, says the New York Tribune. On the
authority of that able xoologist. the late
Artemus Ward, the Kangaroo has been
considered the most amusing and enter
tanning member of the animal kingdom;
hut III the story the Elmira man tells is
true the common black bear will compare
favorably with the antipodean marsupial
when IL comes tn the possession OF "a
well-developesi sense of hunlor.
According to a local account of the af-
fair We learn that Mr.. Jones is not him
self "a very enthusiastic hunter, hut that
he consented tn two or three
friends on the trip. They went tn what is
considered the best bear neighborhood in
Pennsylvania and established their camp.
Then they gave themselves up tn the
chase. but they found no bears. AT the
end of "A week il seemed as II they had
walked several hundred miles, hut the
the hunt was a few tracks and a little
gorge which, in the words of the leader,
Hooked mighty beary.' Jones became
he stay i'm camp and rest while the others
again went out and continued the search
for big game. He said seven days walk
ing had c%onvinced him that the supply of
bears was not up To the demand, and he
was willing tn stay in camp until these
We ~ tbk Isb' hst'h hlNh t''h'
To restore the equilibrium i'm the bear
market. Mr.. Jones' proposal was agreed
They had been gone a haIf-hour. per-
haps, and Mr.. Jones was lying ON "a
blanket spread near the tent. with his
his feet toward the dying breakfast fire,
whenl he heard "A slight noise behind him.
Raising himself OH his cl,,ow, he looked
around, and was astonishcd to see "a large
bear resting ON his Launches only "a few
yards away. Mr.. Jones had been looking
e.. l.....a H-.a ~. A...E lA.Uf I. U.pE III x.sl
how little he had understood his own
feelings. IL dawned ON HIM that he had
Mr.. Jones said subsequently, that he
had stood i'm Wall street, and looked up
at Trinity church spirc. but it did not
seem SO high - him as this bear. He got
up hastily aad began looking for his gun.
Ii was only the work of "a moment tn find
Jones concluded not to- disturb him. Mr..
Jones had suddenly developed u theory
that il was best To he polite, even to bears.
fire, So NJ. Jones climbed it. He admitted
that he went up partly on account OF the
perched on the lowest limb, about thirty
feet from the ground. He would gladly
have followed the playful advice of the
sarcastic political paragrapicr and pulled
the T., g up after him. but this was am inn
Jones OF Elmira, now settled down
! astri,ic of the Imu and gave himself up
to holding on, while the bear plunged into
n round of Dissipation which II was fright
Il III W III u W calch ttlS UcuT
sack and devourtd the contents. He then
turned his attention to- the other provis-
ions. The bill of fare seemed tn please
him. as he sampled everything with nu-
mcrous satisfied grunts, ending by taking
"a long drink from a large two-gailon
stone jug. with which the hunters had pro-
vi,led themselves, and a few grains of
breath. He explored the tent oc
head ont of the opening and gazing
around. as II looking at the weather and
hunters soon. But he seemed to find es-
Iccial pleasure in. :" quote the words of
the account. 'nosing the gun around
camp" He nearly wore the gun out with
his attentions: Jones still fingered pa
ticntly about in the tree. The forenoon
wore away and the afternoon naturally
going. At 4 o'clock other bears began to
drop in.an old one with two culs,a party
bcsides several miscellaneous bears.
Each visited the stone jug several
times, and their spirits seemed to rise
arrive, and just after sunset they tore
down IN tent. piled il and the other camp
! furniture Including the gun, in a wrecked
condition about the tree i'm which Mr..
Jo,ies was temporarily staying, and
through the fast gathering alarkncss he
| ooked down on the Il bears dancing u
wild, unhaliowcd Virginia reel around the
tree. Mr.. Jones felt offended, indeed
he hearl his friends returning. Tf1, hears
also heard them and trotted Off, the orig
inal caller rs'ciing away in AN uprighf po-
sition, wit h the stone jug under one arm
aud u fryinE-pau perclicd rakishly on his
head. MIR. Jones was rescued, and after
two hours work was Strengthened ont and
restored tu his normal shape.
Now, the question which MIR. Jones
asks is: Were these ordinary wild bears
or IA troupe Of tame bears cscupcd from
some travelling circus OF wandering
traincd-bear exhibitors" He is almost
certain that one at least was ~ trained
bear. The TRIBUNE frcis that there is food
for thought i'm the inquiry. but could
scarcely venture an answe with its pres
eut bear data. Ii would seem hat the
matter might bc appropriately referred To
the managers of the Central Park menag-
eric.
Crushed.