Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1891-02-19
SHOOTING WOLVES.
A Hound Frightened Into Uselessness-
Catching q Deer in q Bear Trap.

1 SnOO tNN1 WOIVESs
A Hound Frightened Into UseIessness-
Catching a Deer in q Bear Trap.
! On a bitter cold night in January,
1910. said an aged Lehigh woodman re-
Gently, I heard one of my hounds bel
| lowing around the outside of the house
as though something was chasing it. I
then lived in the old road that ran
through the woods from Tobyhanna
Mills to Moscow, right where the
Drinker Turnpike now is, and there
were a good many wolves in this region
then. 1t was moonlight night, and I
jumped from the bed and looked out of
the window to see what the hound was
ye,piEg tor. Two wolves were chasing
it round and round the house as tight as
they could leg it, but the hound was
swifter on foot than they were, and it
managed to keep a few feet ahead of
them at each turn. The wolves didn't
bark once, but their tongues hung out,
and they acted as if they had run long
distance. I had two loaded muslets in
the house, and I placed one of them in
the corner by the door, cooked the other
and opened the door a few inches to get
| shot at the wolves as they came around
| in front of the house. The frightened
hound saw the crack in the door, dashed
| into it, threw the door wide open and
knocked me off my feet. Both wolves
rushed in, and the hound leaped upon
| the bed, that stood in a recess. The
wolves hesitated when they got to the
side Of the bed, and shut the door in
hurry, banged away at one of the
wolves and shot it in the head. killing
it instantly. Then I grabbed the other
musl1et, and the second wolf made
spring for the window. It knocked out
three or four panes of glass but it
didn't break the sash. and it fell back
ward, gathered itself up and sprang
again. By that time 1 was ready to
shoot, and bored hole through the
VOLTS heart just as the beast struck the
window. The hound hadn't been hurt
| at all, but the wolves had scared it SO
that it wasn't worth copper for hunt
ing purposes after that night.
One October I set bear trap in the
woods, about half mile north of the
Lehigh Falls. The next morning the
trap was gone, and the iron hooks on
the end of the drag made trail toward
the Lehigh river. I followed the trail
over the dry, bare ground until it struck
a moist bit of earth, where I saw the
prints of deers hoofs in the soil.
L
around there, and I made up my mind
that deer had got caught in the trap
/ in some unaccountable way. So I fol-
lowed the trail, and hadn't gone many
rods before 1 heard a deer bleating like
every thing in the thick bushes, some
distance ahead. I hurried forward to-
ward the stream, and in a few minutes
I came in sight of large buck that had
got tangled up in thick clump of sap
lings. He was bleating loud and
| houncing hard to get free, and
l saw at once the cause of
his suffering. A big catamount was
tearing at the bucks right saddle, and
it had already gnawed a hole in the ham
as large my two hands. The buck
| couldn defend himself with his horns,
| and the catamount seemed to know it,
for it kept tearing away at the bleeding
flesh. I have killed more than hun
bred catamounts and wildcats in this
section, but can't recall the time when
pulled the trigger with so much salts
| faction as I did when / fred at that
bloOdthirsty creature. 1 stretched it
out with bullet, and then I loaded up
and put an end to the bucks misery.
He had stepped into the trap with his
left fore foot, and the jaws had crushed
the bone Of his leg. In trying to leap
through the thicket the bucks antlers
caught in some limbs, and the trap and
drag had pulled the poor beast down, so
that he was unable to back up or go
ahead. 1t was then that the cowardly
catamount, which knew better than to
tackle sound buck, pounced upon him
and began to tear his flesh. 1t was the
only deer that ever knew of getting
caught in a bear trap.'-N. Y. Tribune.
Wen That Flows Gold.
There is wonderful well down in
Del Norte. 1t is an artesian well with
an abundant flow Of pure water suffi
Gent to irrigate a considerable body of
land. That would be enough for anyone
but San Luis man, but this is mineral
water. 1t is effeervescent, very palata-
BILE and extremely healthful. Nor is this
all; the force of the water brings up
from the depths an occasional lump of
native silver or gold nugget. The
frugal farmer has placed sack Of wire
netting over the mouth of the well to
catch the metal and prevent it from
choking the COWS. Local scientists
claim that at great distance down and
under an enormus pressure the water is
washing away ledge of rock whose
softer parts go into solution and give
| the water it's mineral qualities, but
whose gold and silver, not being dis
solved, are brought to the surface in
metallic state.-Pike's Peak Herald.
The Lost Opportunity.
Little Johnnie-Say, dad. what makes
the baby cry every time it wakes up?
Brown-Well, from what 1 know Of
babies, it cries from vexation to find
that it has kept still for a reasonable
| length of time.-Jury.
THE GENERAL MARKETS.
! KANSAS CITY. Feb is.
CATTLE-shipping steers--.-s so IS