Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1892-06-02
NEW WAY 70 FIGHT BEARS.
Two Pennsylvania Farmers Kill One With
Harrow,

Two Pennsylvania Farmers Kill One With
~ Harrow.
Late one winter afternoon Ellis J..
Barber, a farmer of Meadow Run
started for his new place on Coon
Hill, in Jackson township. with a.
sleigh load Of farm NO implements. 1t
is seven miles between the two farms
states the Scranton correspondent of
the New York Sun. and for two miles
and half the road runs through the
Peabody woods along Beaver Creek.
William Finch. Il hired man. rode in
the back end OF the sleigh 10 steady
the load, and shepherd dog belong
ing to Farmer Barber stood near
Finch with his paws on the endbourd.
The going was bad, and it was past
shutdown when they reached the
woods Before they had gone IL mile
in tho forest the sleigh got struck in Il
pitchhole. and while the men were
pryng the runners up the dog began
to growl.
They paid no attention to him in
their hurry to get out OF the woods be-
fore nightfall, and as soon as the
sleigh had been rightcd they jumped
in and started on. The dog continued
to growl and Finch lookct back TO
see what was annoying him. 1t was
dark then, and Finch saw bear
slouching and shifting toward the
sleigh. He was only a few yards be-
hind it. and the dogs noise didn't
scare him Il particle. Barber was
driving, and while Finch was calling
his attention TO The bear the dog
sprang out OF the sleigh and went
bounding and barking toward tho big
brute. The bear gave tho dog u cuff
and knocked him down the bank.
where he kicked up the snow as
though he had got enough. Instead of
following the dog the bear sat up in
the road and glarcd at him. barber
stopped the team and Finch Jumped
out grabbed the dog and put him in
the sleigh. The bear had clawed a
chunk out OF his jaw and he Law down
and whined.
Barber then started the horses. and
the bear Immediately followed the
sleigh, licked his chops, and acted as
though he wanted to get another
crack at the dog. The horses soon
got wind OF the bear and became SO
reslive that Barber was afraid to let
go OF the lines. Fearing that the bear
might climb into the end of the sleigh
and not having any club to hit him
with, Finch caught up the crippled
dog and carried him along the top of
the load to the seat The bear wad-
died to the left side Of the sleigh, held
his nose high and shifted. The
team pranced and snorted and Barber
yanked the reins till they came to
stand-stll
The instant the team stopped Finch
lifted a three-cornered harrow from
the top of the load and dropped it on
the bear teeth down. The teeth
pierced the bears hide on each side OF
his spine and the bear beloved,
jumped ten or twelve feet and shook
himself savagely. AT sight OF the
bear with the harrow on his back, the
horses sprang to the right and upset
q part of the load. Finch grabbed
the head and turned them back to the
roadway. and the bear went roaring
up the road i'll the aim light and try
ing in vain to shake the harrow off.
AS soon as Finch had quieted the team
and fixed up the load he went after
the bear. He got Il log as large as he
could carry. and he threw it on top of
the harrow with all his might The
weight of the harrow drove two OF
the teeth deep into the bears back,
and the bear sprang from the road
with a roar and took for the woods.
Finch took up the log and chased
him, and just us he was about to
dump it on the harrow again the bear
made a dash between some trees.
The harrow caught fast and the bear
pulled his body from under it rolled
over two or three time and made a
dash down the ravine toward the
creek. leaving streaks of blood in the
snow, which, although it was nearly
dark, Finch could plainly see.
Finch made up his mind not TO
follow the bear SO he hurried to the
sleigh and Barber drove on. On
Thursday morning they started for
Meadow Run, and when they reached
the woods they carried the harrow to
the road. Finch then ran down to
the creek where he found that the
bear had bled to death within fifteen
yards from where he had rid himself
OF the harrow. In the afternoon
Barber and Finch skinned the bear,
cut him open and found that there
was not particle Of food in his
stomach.