Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-08-19

80 you think bears won't chase i
man, eh: said Uncle Joe FondaIsmith
OF York county, Pa, TO New York
Sun correspondent "IOu think they Il
turn tail and run and give man the
widest kind of Il berth on the very first
suspicion they have that he is any
where in the woods, do your Then
| wish you had been with me once up
in Elk county, and shared with me a
little experiences | had with party Of
bears in the wilderness around the
head waters OF Clarion river. think
your idea OF bears would be somewhat
different from what it is now. You've
got the book theory about what bears
viii do and what they won't II you
had been with me that time up in Elk
county you would now be nursing
believer in revealed natural history,
sOnal contact with them and obserya-
ton OF their habits and customs.
That is the knowledge l have of them,
and consequently l do not hesitate to
declare that there are times when
bears will follow man with Il design
and persistence that are so wearing ON
the man that he feels that he would
gladly lie down and let the bears chaw
him up if he could only have about
two minutes close interview with the
man who wrote the natural history of
bears.
Il Was at the time | speak OF a great
believer in revealed natural history
and thought from my reading that
knew all about everything, from the
tiger in the jungle to the cricket on the
hearth. One days intercourse with the
Elk county bears changed my mind.
1t was the time the engineers were
surveying the route for the Philadel-
phia and Erie railroad. l was up in
that country locking over some timber
and coal land, and one day in the fall
stumbled ON the engineers camp. |
found a couple of old friends of mine
among the gang, and l settled mysv,
down for couple of days visit ahu 9.
deer hunt. The boys We're kicking
about the salt pork and potato diet
they had been putting up with for a
couple of weeks, for although game
was alleged to be plentiful in the
wu0sds. none of them had been able
to kill even a pheasant One of my
friends said that if be could get one
neal of venison, or even breakfast
of buck wheat cakes and honey, he
wouBl be willing to give up n months
salary.
They had the buckWheat cakes, but
he was crazy for some honey to eat
I an ~ If |
could knock over deeT one day, but
saw none. l ran across a bee tree,
though, and made my friend happy by
telling him that l would 90 out next
day chop down the tree, and fetch in
pail of honey. The tree was about
three miles from the camp. l was not
any too familiar with the woods, but
had no difficulty in finding the tree the
next day. | took with me an AK and
twelve-quart tin pail to carry the
honey back to the camp. The tree
was not large one, but there was
three times more than enough honey
in 1t to ill my pail, and l started foI
camp, feeling good over the treat | was
going to give my friend and the rest of
the fellows The pail of honey was
heavy, but / was strong, strapping
young fellow. and it wasn't any bur
den to me.
Il had gone toward camp perhaps al
eighth of rdle when l came face to
face with a slammiDg big bear that
stepped out of the bush into an open
space Just ahead of me. l stopped,
and. Immediately following the big
bear out stepped two more not quite
So big They all came TO standstth
in the opening, not more than five
rods away.
- Those bears haven't seen or smelt
me yet | said to myself, for, if they
had they would turn and break for
cover That's their nature They're
afraid of man.
so l stepped ahead and made
noise to let the bears know l was
there, so they would dash away from
me in their fright But, to my sur
prise, and against all written rules of
bear conduct, the big bear started to-
ward me, followed by the other two.
This was entirely irregular but 1 had
TO recognize it, nevertheless, and so l
retreated slowly. Why! l said, these
bears must be blind or deaf or crazy,
or without the sense OF smell. BY
rights they ought to be panic stricken,
and mile away from here by this
time
But they came right on, and came
so fast that l found that retreating
from them backward wouldn't do. So
| turned and trOtted along, still sure
that the bears must soon discover that
they were acting in most unnatural
manner for bears. and would fly from
me But they wouldn't They came
right on. and I soon found that 1 had
TO put on nh the steam I was capable
Of to keep out Of their reach. By and
/ by I thought l would stop and fight it
out with them with the ax, but on sec
ond thought l concluded that the three
az them would be more than I could