The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-12-10
AND BROWN BEAR.
baltle Royal to Determine Which
Should b the Boss Of
IN the Pit
Black Was Of q Pacific DISPOSE
tion. but Not Wanting in
Fighting Qualities.
n Brown was . Mighty Mean Bear ON Con-
sral PrincipIcs-He Was Very
soundly Drubbed.

UvN- -
sral PrincipIcs-He Was Very
soundly Drubbed.
Black bear and brown bear, both Ameri-
! met In what came near being deadly
combat III tho bear pit at the Philadelphia
zoo ths other day, and when the steam OF
battle cleared away black bear was on top.
Brown bear is q splendid young specimen
Of tho bear family and has a formidable
record as 4 fighter. He was presented to
she Geological gardens by James r.. Cooper,
the circus man. Several days ago Superin-
tendent Brown was notified that the bear
would be delivered at the gardens at a GER
tain time. At the appointed hour one of
Mr.. Coopsr's circus wagons came across
Girard avonus bridge at almost a callop. 1t
drove into the gardens and three men
jumped down and told the Geological
keeper to make haste and get the bear in
his quarters. The keepers did not under
stand the reason for suoh haste, but the
circus man said the reasons were ample and
no would give Q later.
Tho circus man was Mr.. johnson, the
head animal man of Mr. Cooper's shows.
Bruin was in a heavy iron-bound box and
did NOT look dangerous. The box was taken
from the wagon and loaded on a low truok.
Superintendent Brown had given orders to
place the. brown bear in the pit with the
three black bears and the young grizzly.
These directions were told to Mr.. johnson,
who was formerly the keeper of Bolivar, the
man-killing elephant. He looked at the
four bears in the pit and drew Head Keeper
Byrne to one side.
THAT brown bear" he said, ''is more
vicious than Bolivar. If you turn him
loose in that pit he will kill your black
bears and your grizzly and eat thorn up"
This was a contamination to be avoided.
A hasty consultation was held, and it was
decided to put the brown terror in the little
dsn at the side of tho pit for the present.
This den is built in the solid stone wall, Is
circular and about six feet in diameter.
There is a small door leading to the pit and
another to the outside, both protected with
iron grating and heavy oak doors, Once
inside, the brown bear tore savagely at the
door to the pit in an effort to reach the
black bears and the grizzly. Animal Trainer
johnson gaid that he had broken his cage
several times while he was with the CIRCUS,
and started ON rampages that threatened to
depopulate the menagerie.
Only a week before he had broken looss
and attacked q fine large polar bear, and
after a fierce fght had killed him. Since
then his rations have been reduced and
they were trying to starve him into a con-
dition approaching docility. This was con-
Bsrne, and he concluded to follow it for
several days before turning the newcomer
into the pit.
1t is the experience Of al! animal meR that
before there can be peace in any collection
OF animals or birds there must be one reeog-
nized as king; b recognition can only
bc secured by bathing for and earning it.
Keeper Byrne realized that there would be
a fight as soon as the brown bear was turned
In with the others, and in order to make
the fight as nearly equal as possible he de-
termined TO let the brown fellow train down
TO the fighting weight OF the largest black
bear.
This condition was believed to have been
reached yesterday afternoon. Outside Of
Mr.. Byrns and two or three under keepers,
no one was at the pit when the iron grating
and oak door of the den was thrown open,
except q Philadelphia Press reporter and
artiat who happened to be in the gardens at
the time. The black bears and the young
grizzly were lolling in the sunlight, unsus-
piclous of danger. "Old Joe," the eldest
and largest of the black bears, was almost
doing in the corner opposite the den.
Old Joe has been in the Zoo for the past
fifteen years and Is locked upon as n of
the ratriarchs of the institution. His eye
sight is growing dim, but he is still power
full of sinew. He is complsisant. however,
and 10 never looking for a fight. So when
the young grizzly was introduced some
years ago into the colony of black bears
and began cutting the young ones ard run
nina theeconomy of the pit with q high
hand, Old Joe made no protest and allowed
the grizzly to assume the kingship SO long
Rs he did not interfere with his comfort
All had known of the proximity Of the
brown bear, but he had been forgotten
when the oak and iron doors swung open.
The brown bear rushed into the pit with
blazing eyes and a growlthat brought black
bears and grizzly to their feet with a jump,
The growl Of the brown bear was a chal-
lenge and was recognized as such by the
Others. Old Joe slowly raised himself on
his launches and with an answering growl
accepted the challenge. The staggering
grizzly skunk away into a corner and looked
frightened. The young black bears hud-
died togather in another corner and whined.
The champions faced each other, each on
his launches. This black bear stood nearly
q foot taller than the brown, but the latter
was broader and they weighed about
equally.
This antagonists rose slowly to their full
height and sprang ut each other with a saw
age growl in unison. Their powerful fore
arms clasped each other and the long claws
sank deep in their heavy fur coats. They
swayed for a moment, and then black bear
succeeded in burying his teeth in brown
bears neck, and they fell to the floor with
q heavy thud. Black held his grip as they
rolled over and over, but brown did not
whimper, and fought furiously to shake
himself loose. They rolled against the big
dead tree planted in the middle of the pit.
Brown bear dug his claws into the wood
and dragged their combined weight to an
upright position. Black bear lost his hold
for a minute and fell back. Brown bear
pounced on him, but was tossed into the
air by a powerful kick from the black fell
lows four paws and landed with n mighty
splash III the middle of the bath tub. Black
benr wac ON his feet in an instant. and
when the brown fellow came up spluttering,
Old Joe sprang on him, grabbed his head
between his two front paws and forced 1t
under the water.
He tried his best to down his antagonist,
but the latter was too strong, and tearing
himself loose jumped out dripping on the
floor of the pit. During this dive sion the
little black bears had made a break for the
tree and scrambled up with the speed and
strength of mortal fsar. They fought
among themselves for the highest limb and
huddled together i'll 4 great black ball. Tn
grizzly tried to follow, but as grizzlies are
not built that way he failed and skunk back to
his corner with d dismal howl, and cover ed
there on his launches trying his best to
squeeze through tho solid masonry during
the continuance of the fight.
The champions faced each other again ON