Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1890-12-25

1 snugg1ed mp into the farthest corner to
walt for the stupor to come on again. In a
moment more. as he quoted down little, 1
Jumped astride his back, which again awoze
storm OF rage. being careful to keep far
enough back TO be out OF reach OF his jaws
as he tried TO twist his head around TO grab
me, and chung TO his shaggy coat while he
plunged, shook, and clawed in frantic
efforts to get me OF. But stuck and chung
while the excited men outside. no longer
able to control themselves, yelled, cheered,
and crowded close to the cage.
g As you may imagine, this only excited
the bear TO greater rage, and for a moment
1t seemed almost certain that he would pull
out OF his ropes or roll over, either of which
would have been fatal to me. Doubtless
this would have been the case, had not
some cool-headed fellow seized a large
stick and thrust it between the bars at the
brute's head. Finding himself thus at
tackled, the bear turned his head around to
face his enemy in front, opening his jaws to
seize the stick in his teeth. AS he did this,
the man jammed it well down his throat
This gave me an opportunity to fasten the
collar around his neck, and also TO slip the
end OF the rope through the collar. I then
tossed the ends of the rope and chain to the
men outside. who, having hold OF both ends
OF the rope, could at once slip it loose from
the collar, by simply letting go Of one end
and pulling it through.
"The mon formed into two parties, one
holding the chain, the other the rope, and
each pulling in opposite directions from the
tween them, unable to go in any direction
except straight ahead. When satisfied
everything was all right, I dismoUnted,
having had a plenty OF 'bearback' riding,
and made as lively an exit from the cage as
possible The rope which bound his
paw was then cut, and the cage door
opened. Bruin gave one lunge and landed
on the ground; then started with a terrific
growl, for the party holding the chain.
This put to their mettle the men who had
hold Of the rope, and every one of them had
to settle back and brace against the strain
for all he was worth, and even then the
brute dragged the party some little distance
before they came TO a standstill-
sAfter taking breath, he turned upon the
men holding the rope, which gave the men
who held the chain an opportunity to return
the compliment Of checkmating the attack
of the bear which the opposite party had
just rendered them. This exciting method
of procedure was vigorously carried out by
the enraged brute, each attempted assault
bringing the posse little nearer the tree
to which the chain was to be fastened. As
soon those holding the end of the chain
could reach the tree they fastened it firmly,
and brought them together as though they
were but wires.
@This done, those who managed the rope
held until all were safely out of the
chains length Of the tree. Then they let
go one end of the rope, and by the other
end drew it loose from the collar For
moment the bear stood still, then seeing a
man in another direction, he charged furi-
ously at him. His weight and speed were
so great, and the stop so sudden, on reach
ing the limit of the chain, that he turned
complete SummerSault and landed squarely
on his back. This taught US on the start to
keep out OF his reach, the limits OF which
were soon defined by a Well-WOrn circular
path around the tree
"Having been successful In getting the
smaller bear out of the cage, the next thing
in order was get the big one into it, which
was done exactly in the same way as we
Gagged the first. The doors between the trap
and the cage wereno sooner drawn than the
bear, catching sight of the men standing in
front of the cage, gave a spring at them,
and landed with tremendous force against
the bars OF the cage Fortunately this did
not upset it. In a second more the monster
spanned two of the bars with his huge jaws
GAS he did this, the men heard something
whiz past them, and strike the ground q
short distance beyond. The fury of the
| grizzly seemed to subside at once, and the
men examined the ground where the missile
| had struck, and discovered that, in bending
| the bars, the bear had snapped one of his
| great tushes. This, no doubt, accounted for
! the fact that he made no further attempt to
| escape In fact he appeared to be much
/ more doctle and dignihed than the smaller
| bear.
What did we do with them?' To be sure
| That is quite important feature of the
| incidents at least it seemed so to us at the
! time. Well, we carted him to camp and
kept him there for about week, when a
man from Maine heard about our catch and
/ came to see him. After considerable dick
! ering, he offered us one thousand dollars for
/ the bear and cage, which we accepted. He
/ took the brute to Sonora, where, in the am
| phitheater built by the Mexicans for bull
| fights, he pitted him a couple of times
! against an Infatuated bull. Being success
/ full in both attempts, Mr.. Bruin was taken
| to Maine, to air his renown under the man
| agement Of a welI-knoYn circus and me-
| nagerie company.
@Those Of US owning the traps unanimous
| ly agreed that it would be no more than
| in camp, who had given us such generous
| help in capturing them. This we did.
| GAlthough opposed by the more humane
| men ia camp, some insisted on getting Cub
| drunk again. So another pan of sugar,
| drenched with brandy, was set before him,
| and all gathered about him to watch the
! fun. He walked up to the pan, shifted it's
! contents as before, then walked of a few
| feet and sat down, still attentiVely regard
| ing the pan. After a few minutes he again
! marched up TO the tempting concoction
| took a long, full sniff, and then, in the most
| deliberate and emphatic manner possible
| shook his grizzly head, walked of to the
1 opposite limit ef his beat, and could not be
| induced to go near the pan again.
| at was the most effective object lesson in
| total abstinence ever saw. The last new:
| had from the camp, Cub remained the
| permanent attraction. What disposition
! was finally made of him have never beer
able to learn.n FORREST CRIssEx.
GENEVA. Ill.