Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-01-08
BEAR HUNTING.
Adventures of Capt. Burr Cole
mans Club.
Something About Snakes and Tanning a
Wild Bear-Stirring Incidents in
the Mississippi Swamps.

1t is pleasing to hear the fishermen
and the duck shooters recount the
exploits OF their clubs on ReelfoOt
lake or White Oak creek. They are
SO accurate and minute in every de
tail, and always reliable-have to be,
for the club would turn them out for
hairs breadth deviation from the
truth and then how charming TO
read Austin Peay's serials on a deer
hunt. He just leads one right into
the chase amid the widest excite
ment, and the reader has to stop oc-
casionally to yell, urging on the
hounds in the race; knock off his
hat, stoop to pick it up-yell again,
"go-it, Rambler, go-it," and then
jump over a bluff and get into a
swimming attitude. He just makes
the reader feel like he was there.
But such sketches are as tame as
chasing grandmother's old goose,
compared to the narration of the
captain of the bear hunters club. We
always enjoy good bear story, and
would rather hear one from Capt.
Burr Coleman than any man living,
because his memory is excellent and
when you get him started he will
tell it correctly, and not keep back
some things like the other fellows
do. We met Burr the other day for
the first time since the return of his
club from the fall hunt in the Miss.
issippi swamps and we collared him
and right there and then demanded
an interview. He first objected, but
finding that no excuse would answer,
he commenced.
"Well, sir, as soon as we arrived on
the hunting ground and established
our tents We commenced looking
around, and soon found plenty of
signs. | told the boys there were
plenty Of bear there, and we went
back to camp for nights rest and
to get ready for business. Next
morning We started out bright and
early, me and Alexander and viii
JosIin together, the other boys in
another direction, carrying six dogs,
our guns, ammunition, hunting
knives and quart of whisky each"
Thought you fellows were prohibit
tionists ?"
$50 we. are :"
Then did you give the bears
whisky?"
"Not but one. rll tell you about
that"
"But what use did you have for
the whisky?"
"Why, fellow Ga little excited)
don't you know that country is full
Of snakes and Il man dare not leave
camp without quart
"Then you give it to the snakes ?"
"No, no, do you think you could
give snake or bear either drink of
whisky ?"
"Never tried it, but should think
a bear hunter might-but go on, we
are interviewing, you know, and
want to know the particulars"
"WelI, it's this; that country is
full of snakes, you can walk on them
for miles, and some farms down
there are fenced in with snakes"
"What kind of snakes 2"
"Why the cotton mouth, the most
dangerous snake on earth. Then
there are plenty of rattIesnakes, too,
but we were late and the rattlers had
all gone"
"But what use did you make of the
whisky?"
THAT is what | was going to tell
you, You will just hold up a little.
You just ought to go bear hunting
once. You see, it's this way: There
amt no danger in the snakes as long
as you are particular and walk on
their heads, but il you happen to
tread on ones tail his head will fly
up and bite you, and then, unless
you have plenty of whisky, you will
be dead man in less than thirty
minutes
"rhen you drink the whisky only
when the snake bites?'
"Oh, no, fellow, we don't drink the
whisky at all can't you understand?
The very minute the snake bites you
have got to cut out plug to the
bone, two inches in diameter around
the bite, aud fill the hole with whis-
Ky. That is the only remedy"
"Will the oritice hold quart ,"
mo, but it soon soaks up, and you
keep on retillug till the hole grows
up"
"How long does it take the hole to
grow up?"
"Well, that depends on what you
have been eating; if bear meat, the
hole will soak up quart pretty
quick, and grow up by the time the
dogs can tree bear"
"But how about it ii the snake
bites before you catch hear?"
"Wen, you have just got to be par
ticular and walk on the snakes
hnnds mill Nnn do nntrh ono thntis