Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1891-06-19
BETwIXT BEAR AND SMOKE.
The Plight ola Man who Was Treed
In the Michigan Woods.
III tHV 4UftHfEau "OUHts
fFrom th@ Nax fssrxr na,nncrss

lfrom the New bury Democrat
Last Friday afternoon Peter Nelson, a
Swede, who was on his way to Grand Marias,
met with an adventure when about Is miles
from that place which nearly resulted fa-
tally.
Last Friday morning he started for
Grand Marias on the stage road with o
horse and blackboard He travelled along
slowly and was probably Is miles from
his destination when he heard noise in
the bushes snd stopped to investigate. He
had Winchester along with him, and tax
ing 1t from the gig he stepped of the road
into the bushes. Two bear cubs were play
ing together not more than two or three
rods from him.
They could not have been more than one
or two weeks old, and, thinking he would
like to capture them alive, he made few
steps toward them. The cubs started to
run and Nelson started in pursuit, throw
ing aside his rifle, a thing which moment
later he regretted doing. He succeeded in
heading one of the cubs off toward the
road which he had nearly reached when he
heard a sudden crash behind him, followed
by an angry roar, and turning, he beheld
to his horror, the mother of the cubs not
many feet from himI All thoughts of the
cubs vanished from his mind. He thought
only of his own safety. With greater elac-
Bruin, he started for the road in time to
see his horse make a mad dash up the road.
Nelson knew that his only chance of escape
was in climbing tree. He had no time to
select a tree, but Skinned" up the first
one he came to, which was, fortunately,
large enough for his weight but to small
for the bear to climb.
Hardly had he got well out of the way be-
fore his pursuer reached the spot more en-
ragged than ever at his escape. The animal
paved the ground ct the foot of the tree,
making vain and desperate attempts to
climb it and accompanying these attempts
with roars of anger Nelson looked on
from his lofty perch with some alarm aud
wished he had his rifle for about one min
ute. The time was wearing away. though
slowly to him, and he was becoming tired
He wondered if he would be compelled to
remain there all night, and he wondered,
too, what had become of his horse. But
the worst was yet to come, and it was not
long before he realized this fact.
Smoke had filled the air for some time,
but as it carsed him no inconvenience he
thought nothing of it. But it became
thicker and thicker, and Nelson at last
found it hard to breathe. On the ground
there seemed to be not much smoke, and
Bruin seemed to be determined TO stay.
The cubs were but few feet away. The
wind became stronger, and to the great
diseay of Peter Nelson the air WAS filed
with burned leaves and cinders. Bfuin
seemed to be getting n'.easy, too But he
could stand it no longer as the smoke was
sufoesting him. So taking his pocket
knife, he opened the blade and started to
slide down the tree. thinking that possibly
he would be allowed to go on his way un-
molested, but determined to fight it out if
necessary.
The bear was then lying close to the
ground, but q short distance away Nelson
dropped from the tree when about half
way down and started up the road on a
run in the direction his horse had gone as
fast as his legs could carry him, but he had
gone but a few steps when he stumbled
and fell. Before he could arise Bruin was
upon him and he received a heavy blow
on the back from the animals paw. All
Nelson could do was to try and dodge the
blows aimed at him Several times the
bears sharp claws pierced and tore his
flesh. In the struggle Nelson finally sue
ceeded in reaching the spot where he had
left his Winchester and with great deal
of trouble managed to pick it of of the
ground. The pocket knife, which he had
thought OF using, proved useless TO him in
defending himself. But now with a rifle
in his hand he felt as if he stood q good
chance if he could only find an opportuni
ty to use it.
The bear seemed to realize this fact, too,
for she made several attempts to knock it
out of his hands; but by lodging around
Nelson managed to get in such position
that he was enabled TO fire three shots in
quick succession at the animal, two of
which took effect.
Nelson then killed the cubs, knowing
they could not live without their mother.
He found that the horse had broken loose
from the blackboard and run into the
woods. The wind had changed and
blown the smoke away by that time. He
did not, however, go to Grand Marias, but
'hoofed" it back
His clothes were badly torn, and he was
painfully, but not seriously, hurt from the
wounds he received.