The Wichita daily eagle., 1892-12-02

to talk in an off-hand way about hunt
ing. His face brightens at the word,
and, as he pushes back from hisdesk, he
straightens out his tall, slender, wiry
figure and moves restlessly, almost
nervously, as If eager to be handling a
rife and facing a bear. It is an odd
picture for a counting-roon.
Have you hunted much in other
countries than America?" l asked him
No. Not a great deal: though. of
course. I have shot more or less when
ever and wherever have been in camp.
I have not taken the time for very
many foreign trips, but go at least as
far as the Rocky mountains every sum
mer"
Have you found your sport very dan
gerous?"
mo, cannot say I have" said Mr..
Clafin, laughing. Il have been told,
times without number, that was put
ting myself in imminent peril. And,
oddly enough, it is the people who live
in the bear countries that are the most
strenuous on the point of danger. |
never go out without being told by the
people around that I'm going to git all
tore up That seems to be their favor
ite word; but SO far" laughing again,
~ haven't been tore up to any great
extent"
Are the stories of the ferocity of the
grizzly bear exaggerated, then?"
''Yes and no. They are true enough
in one way. 1t is just this: IN the olden
time, when the wiite man was un-
known in the bear countries, the griz-
zly roamed the forests just as he does
now, but the Indians did not
hurt him, and he looked upon
man as his meat, just the
same as all other animals were. So he
hunted the Indian when he found him.
But when the white man appeared with
weapons that the Indians had not had,
Ar Grizzly found out that there was
one animal that refused to become his
prey So he stopped hunting him, for
the bear is the most wary of all ami
mails, SO far as know animals There
are instances, to be sure, when the bear
will, for no apparent reason hey his
own sheer cussedness, attack a man,
but such instances appear to be very
rare So far as | know, he is seldom
dangerous excepting in two cases.
First, he will certainly fight if he is
cornered. And he will make a tremen-
dously savage fight. too. Then he will
certainly follow and destroy a man if
the man runs from him. There is no
earthly use in running away from
bear, for you cannot possibly get away
from him. He will fellow you, and
certainly catch you and kill you if you
run. If you don't run he will almost
always get away from you if he can"
"Have YOU ever faced them at close
quarters?"
Eyes; | shot one once that wasn't
more than ten or fifteen feet away from
me. | was out with a friend on the
trail. and was on one side of hill
while he was on the other side with my
guide ] heard a shot, and judged that
nv friend had found the bear and shot
at him. 1t wasn't at him, either; it was
a she bear with two cubs. There was
sort of trail across the hill that I knew,
and | thought the bear would come
across that way, so | ran to the end Of
il, and just rs ! got there the bear ap-
peared. / fred and knocked her over,
but did not kill her, and she got on her
feet again and disappeared into the
brush before I could fire again with
anything like an aim.
Pretty soon my friend and the guides
came around, and I told them I had
wounded the bear and was going into
the brush after her. That is the really
dangerous part of bear hunting, for
| they will turn on you at close quarters
! in the brush. and one of the guides re-
/ fused to go in. He said the bear prob
ably wasn't hurt, she had been knocked
down by the explosion without being
hit; but I knew better, although we
/ could not find any blood.
NV guide. however-the other one
was a man l could depend on to do any
| thing. and be and went in. We found
/ the marks of the blood after time. and
presently my guide shouted: She's
/ comm fer yer She wasn't coming for
| me- though, but was trying to get up
/ from where she had fallen and l saw
I her and shot her again.
Il am sorry" said the great mer-
/ chant, as he closed the interview, that
/ I cannot give you more interesting and
more valuable particulars about trsv-
/ cling and shooting, both: but it would
/ take considerable time. and unfortun-
atelv time is something / do not have
enough Of"
Dawn A. CTPTIs