The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-08-18

took steady aim at the cub, and succeeded
in killing it. The mother rushed at me,
and let her have a couple of ounces of
lead, but only injured her, which seemed to
make her the more infuriated, and catching
the limb of big tree near the rock l drew
myself up in the tree. and very unfortu-
nately let my rifle slip. The mother now
started up the tree lit was beach bear,
the grizzly don't climb. and only having a
six-Sh o'er and a knife 10 protect
myself with, / could do but little. Well, to
make long story short, fell from the tree
and succeeded in jabbing my knife into her
body, and after that l did not remember
anything for long time, and when l came
to l saw her lying by me dead. l then tried
TO get back to camp, but was so weak from
loss Of blood, being bruised and bitten all
over the body. could not move, and what
/ suffered for the next twenty-four hours
was something terrible. o, | would have
given anything for drop of water and a
crust of bread. / guess l went to sleep
then, for | remember nothing after that"
He was found lying near the dead bear
after thirty-nine hours absence from camp.
SOME TYPICAL BEAR STORIES
When a hunter gets into the embrace Of a
grizzly it is because he brings it upon him
self. In hunting through the dark and
gloomy canyons of the Rockies after other
game, he will frequently at most unexpected
turns come upon bear, lying down behind
a rock; with a growl it will take itself off
like flash, unless he attacks its cub or
wounds the animal itself. If these two con-
ditions are observed-let him and his cubs
alone-the grizzly might be classed as an
eminently peaceable citizen Of the Rocky
mountain territory. One good authority,
a famous hunter, G.. o. Shields, denies
amiability to the grizzly and asserts against
every other authority that he will attack
man, even when unmolested by man.
Here is his account of the matter, 1--WE were
hunting in the Shoshone mountains Ia
Northern Wyoming. had killed a large
elk in the morning, and on going back to
the carcass in the afternoon to skin it we
saw that bruin had beer there ahead of us,
but had fled on our approach. Without the
least apprehension of his return. we leaned
our rifles against tree about fifty feet
away, and commenced work. There were
three of us, but only two rifles. We were
all busily engaged skinning when, hearing
a crashing in the bush and series of savage
roars and grows, we looked up the hill.
and were Mortified to see three large grizzly
bears, an old bear and two cubs about
two-thirds grown, charging upon US with
all the savage fury of a pack of starving
wolves upon sheepfold. They were be-
tween US and our rifles when we first saw
them, and we sprang to our horses, which
were picketed few yards below, suppos-
Ing, of course. that when the bears reached
the elk's carcass, they would proceed to eat
it. and pay no further attention to us.
Strange to say, it was the carcass to which
they paid no attention. They still came
after US; We had no time for flight, and
could not even release and mount our ter
ror-stricken horses Our only chance was
to fight for our lives, and with one accord
we three grasped our hunting-knives
and dashed at them. We threw our hats
and yelled like Comanches. and
the savage beasts, seeing themselves thus
boldly confronted by equal numbers,
stopped, raised on their launches,
growled, snapped their jaws for
a moment, and then walked sullenly back
up the hill into the brush. This gave us an
opportunity to get hold of our rifles, and
then it was our turn to charge. To make
long story short. we killed the old female
and one cub; the other escaped into the
jungle before we could get a shot at him.
The resolute front we put on alone
saved our lives" This incident can
hardly be quoted as an example Of
an unprovoked assault made upon man. To
touch a grizzly family in the matter OF
their supper Is really to molest them In a
very serious way, and hungry stomach in
man and beast often leads to many a crime.
So we still hold with all the authorities,
that if you leave the grizzly alone he will let
you alone. We had several examples in our
own outfit. Coming around the corner of
rock one day our leader, who is an old,
experienced Coloradian with all the various
accomplishments Of hunting, mining, wood
manshlp, nerve, ETC.. came upon q grizzly
with her cub only twenty feet Off OF
course the youngser began to yell, and the
mother went up on her launches with
growl, but the man stirred not, neither
forward nor backward, but cody Razed at
the happy family. Being unarmed, move
would have been his death. Shortly the
cub got down and trotted off, the mother
remained in statu quo, ever and anon turn
ing her head sideways and gazing at the
form of her retreating offspring; when
it was at safe distance she,
too, got down from her haunches,
and, with a parting growl. made off
after her young one. On another occasion
we were skinning the carcass of an elk, when
all unknown to us big monster was watch
Ing the operation from behind pile of dead
trees; as we walked in his direction, igno-
rant OF bis presence. he rose up with growi
and made off through the timber before
we could get our rifles for a shot. On still
a third occasion, two Of the party were off
in the mountain for days photographing
In the midst of their occupation they looked
ny auu SEW u CDUl6 Oub upon Jn9
rock above them, and stand for few mo-
ments gazing at the unusual spectacle
Their armament was rather feeble
shotgun with buckshot and a
pocket-knife. Coolly the photographer
took shot at the animal
Wit hhis Kodak camera the 'you-press-the-
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES kind of instru-
menD and secured his picture, suppose, as
we never saw it afterward. The grizzly
hesitated; man he knew; a shotgun he
knew; but the Kodak camera was too much
for him, so, without growl, he began to
walk Off around the ledge of rock. Then
human folly exhibited itself Itching
fingers aimed the shotgun and gave him
both barrels. At the first he stopped as if
to brush off flies; but at the second be took
in the situation. The growls then
cime th.c1 and fast, and he
bshiad them, waddling, slouchIng,
tumbling down the hill at terrible gait.
The kodak was dropped aud bolt was
made for the horses, a few PAGES off. For
tun ately they had been left in cowboy
fashion, with their brides over their heads
touching the ground, and with a rapid mo-
ton the brides were flung in position, the
saddles gained and the terrified horses
needed no sDur to send them down the canon
on run. But the camera never was found.
suspect that grizzly jumped on it-or else
he may yet be pressing the buttonn and
taking the pictures of his family still.
trust that he has the photos Of the two
fool sh nimrods as they went flying down