The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1891-02-07
A FUNNY BEAR FIGHT.
1t Was Triangular Affair and Brought
Into Play Some Novel Weapons.

1t Was Triangular Affair and Brought
Into Play Some Novel Weapons.
Archie johnson, one of Leon County's
(Fla.) colored citizens and well-known
hunter, relates the following peculiar
bear story: According to Archie's tale,
he was1returning from colored love-
feast meeting in Jefferson County few
days ago. accompanied by colored
preacher, when they were attacked by 4
huge black bear in broad open day time.
They were walking, it appears, along
the road beside rail fence, when all at
once hoarse growl greeted them and
bruin scrambled over the fence and made
for them with open mouth. At the first
sight of his bearship, Archie's compan-
ion, who was a preacher, lost all his
''trust in the Lawd.' scaled the fence
and rapidly climbed a small pine sap
ling that stood by, leaving Archie to
face the bear all alone and unarmed,
save big bottle of vinegar bitters
that he was carrying home. Archie
dropped the lunch basket that he was
carrying and made rapid tracks for the
nearest pine tree. Bruin was after
meal, however, and he was not inclined to
let Archie Or the worthy divine escape
him. Running up in front of Archie,
the bear stood upright, and, with open
arms, advanced on the bewildered
Archie, who was so alarmed at the huge
proportions of the beast that he stood
still to receive the attack. -
The big bear advanced growing and
showing his white teeth to great advan-
tage, while his outstretched claws, to
Archie's scared vision, appeared to be
three times their size. Just as he
reached Archie the latter recovered his
wits and brought the big bottle of bit
tiers, that he still carried, down with
whack on the BEARS nose, drenching his
eyes and mouth with the exceedingly
strong liquid To say the bear was as
tonished doesn't do him justice; he
stood still for a second, and then, growl-
ing ferociously, began rubbing his head
with his paws, trying to rid himself
of the singing fluid. Archie jumped
to the fence, and. selling a big
fence rail, returned to the attack.
AS the bear was partially blind
ed, Archie had decided advantage, and
he kept lodging nimbly around the
beast, hitting him resounding whacks
over the head with the fence rail.
The bear roared with pain and rage,
and sprang from side to side trying to
catch his MIN ble-footed adversary. But
Archie's blood was up now, and he was
bound 10 get that bear. Again dealing
bruin a tremendous blow, it took effect
on the BEARS tender nose, when the
huge beast, with a bafled cry of pain
and savageness, turned and fled, run
ming, as luck would have it, directly
toward the tree wherein the colored
preacher was perched offering advice to
Archie in his fight. Seeing the bear
coming with such terrific howl, the
preacher began yelling to Archie to kill
him.
The bear, hearing the preachers
voice, began scrambling up the tree,
while Archie, running up behind him,
seized his stump of tail and tried to
pull him down. The situation was
truly comic. In the pine tree, astride
one of the lower limbs, sat the yelling
divine, his dangling limbs offering
tempting prize to the bear; half way up
the tree was the bear, his huge red
mouth wide open and his uniniured eye
fixed with a grim look Of detef7nina-
ton on those dangling heels, and cling
ing to the bears tail was Archie, yell
ing with all his might and trying to
impede the bears upward progress.
All of sudden as the bears big
mouth neered the preachers heels the
latter lost his grip, and with cry OF
dismay fell over on the bear. Bruin
was greatly alarmed at this, and he and
Archie dropped, all three falling in
confused mass at the bottom of the tree.
Bruin was the first to recover, and he
rose and began limping off in the woods,
showing that he had had enough.
Archie, however, was uniniured by the
fall, and Selling his old weapon, the
fence rail, he ran after the bear. Catch
ing up with bruin, he. began clubbing
him, and by rare good luck managed to
hit him a fatal blow. The bear tum-
bled over very soon, dead. The divine,
now recovered, came up to congratulate
Archie on ''their'' victory. Archie says
that on his next bear hunt he will take
shotgun along with him instead of a
preacher.-St. Louis Globe-Democrat