St. Paul daily globe., 1892-03-21
HARD TO KILL.
Eight Shots Had No Effect on an
tnraged Beast.

tnraged Beast.
Gov. Cara Galan, of this state, is well
known as an expert and daring hunter,
for whom no adventure is too danger
GUS and no situation too periious. Not
long since, however, he came near TAX
ing his last hunt. The governor was
visiting the Santa Gertrudis mines, and
while there decided to escape from his
duties, it only for little while, and
take round with dogs and gun over
the Sierra de Santa Rosa, says MeXi-
can correspondent of the st. Louis
Globe Democrat. This mountain fur
nlshes splendid grounds for the hunter,
as its receSSeS are almost wholly undiS-
turbed. but it is covered with Il dense
growth of trees and of chaparral, which
makes it difficult to pass in many places.
1t is we'll known that its slopes and
gorgeS abound with bear. and it was to
hunt this animal, which in these mount
AIMS is very large and feroeious. that
Gov. Galan started out. lie took with
him his servant, Anastasia Menchaca,
and pack Of fine hounds, which they
kept in leash until they reached the
Sierra.
No sooner had they released the
hounds, however, than tho leader struck
trail and went through the chaparral
followed by the entire pack. making the
mountain ring with their musical cries.
The governor and the servant followed.
as we'll as they could, though the un7
derbrusE was so heavy that they made
their way with the greatest difficulty,
going most of the way half bent, and IN
some places having to crawl oil their
hands and knees, pushing their guns BE-
fore them. The trail soon led them int9a
deep and dry arroyo, where the vegetn-
ton grew thicker, and it became al
most impossible to proceed. The gov
ernor was about ten steps in ADVANCE OF
Menchaca, and could not see him for
the overhanglng shrubbery. 1t was
evident that the hounds Were on hot
trail, and were even within sight of
their game, as tue yelling oil the dogs
and the breaking OF the limbs grew
every moment louder and more exdlted!
Suddenly a great commotlon ln tue
rear caused Gov. Galan to turn, TO be-
hold his servant on the edge OF the ar
roya in pursuit Of 4 bear cub. The little
creature was OH it's Mind feet, showing
fight" in ludicrous imitation of an old
bear and striking with its paws right
and left whenever Menchaca came near
It. He could have killed it at any lnin-
ute, but he was anxious to capture it
alive, and with nothing more danger
Gus than a small stick to defend him.
self, was trying to drop the moose
of rope around its body just back
of the forearmS. so Interested had
Gov. Galan been in these maneu-
vers that he had forgotten all
about the possibility that there might
be larger game at hand, but all at once
he heard the yelping of the dogs, ac--
companied by rushing sound, and
turning suddenly, was just in time TO
avoid a blow from the paw OF a huge
bear that stood erect Just behind him.
He says himself that the leap he made
was a most extraordinary one; and per-
haps he was not through leaplng yet
when he fred At any rate the bear
was merely wounded, and her anger
was increased tenfold by the pain OF the
wound. Menchaca being nearest, she
in upon him so suddenly that
he had no chance to load the
gun, and was forced to defend
himself by clubbing that weapon and
beating the bear over the head with it,
For a few moments pandemonium
reigned. All around the bear were the
dogs. biting, yelping and doing their
hest to pull the enormous beast down.
The servant swinging his gun, shouted
to the dogs and urged them On.
The governor, in the meantime, was
firing at the bear whenever he could get
a chance to shoot without dangerof kill
ing Mcnchaca. Once in awhile the bear
would turn his attention to the dogs for
minute, and whenever he did one of
the dogs would he lying twenty feet
away. bruised and bleeding, if not dead.
Gov. Galan was loading and firing as
fast as he possibly could. Ten times
already he had shot the bear, and
one would have supposed that at
least seven of those wounds were fatal :;
yet there she stood, fighting with all
her might, and it was entirely due to
the clamor of the hounds and not to the
governors craftsmanship that Man.
chaca still stood there able to use his
weapon.
But all at,0nce the bear seemed to
realize that the pain from her wounds
came from another quarter, and, with a
roar, she turned and came at Gov. Gal
an. The moment before he had fred
one load from his gun. He had but
one load left, and there would be no
time for reloading. That one little
charge of powder and shot was all that
stood between him and death--but it
did its work well. He shot the bear in
the neck, and she fell forward agains
his feet dead.
Examination showed that she had at
least eight fatal wounns. How she had
lived so long was mystery She was
very large. even for that region, and
her worn and broken teeth seemed to
indicate that she was very old. One OF
the dogs was dead, and another so badly
hurt that it had to be shot. With the
exception OF some painful scratches
and torn clothing, Menehaca escaped
without injury. When the bear was
dead and quiet was restored they fOund
not only the cub they had first seen, but
another also. and successfully captured
both and conveyed them safely to the
mines,