The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1893-11-06
TWO nMPUDENT BEARS
HOW THEY INTERPRETED WITH
"A SOCIAL DANCE.
RHough Peppered with Bird Shot Mr..
Bruln stin Lived--A ThievIng Bear
Sneaks q Farmers Pork
Barrel Away.

A social party at the Pocono Noun
tain House, on Mt Pocono, Penn.
was nrcken up for time by bears one
night Mrs Belle Smith and her
daughter Mittie were on their way to
the party in buggy. As they were
approaching the big watering trough
at the roadside. within stones throw
OF the Mountain House their horse
began to show signs of fear. and tried
to turn around in the road. Mrs
Smith, being an excellent horsewoman.
put the horse under the whip and
with a snort he sprang forward. and
then stopped short within few feet
of the trough and began to rear. His
snort was answered by another, but OF
a different kind.
That's a bearr" exclaimed Mrs
Smith.
Mittie Smith peered forward and
began to scream. Two big bears were
refreshing themselves with bath in
the watering trough. When the girl
screamed the bears jumped out of the
trough and made down the road di-
rectIy toward the house, but turned
off into The woods just before reach
ing it Mrs. Smith drove on, and
after handing her horse over to the
hostler rushed into the house A
cotillon was on, but the music and
dancing stopped short as she hurried
in among the festive throng and cried:
There's two big bears right yonder
across the road"
The women screamed and rushed
up stairs and seut themselves in any
room they could find The men
gathered up all the guns the neigh
borhood could provide, and the social
party turned into a bear hunt by night.
The impromptu hunters crashed and
t1oundered and stumbled about in the
woods for two or three hours, but the
bears lay low The men then re-
turned, and festivities were resumed.
The bears lay lower next day, how
ever, for Hunter Joe Cortright killed
them both. less than two miles from
Mt. Pocono
ROmaine Whitaker was out pheas-
ant shooting near that place and
while walking in an old road he saw
a big bear shuffiing along toward him.
AS Whitaker had no shot heavier
than bird shot he did not care to take
the risk of trying to shoot bear with
it, and he waved his arm and shouted,
supposing the bear would be frighten-
ed away. But instead of being
scared brCIn seem ed to like Whitta-
kers frantic movements and noise
and trotted closer. Then Whitaker
concluded to pepper the bear with
bird shot any how, thinking that the
smarting of the pellets might be suf-
ficient to turn him around or into the
woods. The hunter blazed away. and
the result seemed to tickle the bear
amazingly. for he stopped, rose on his
hind feet caressed his nose and face
with his paws and then lay down in
the road and rolled over and over like
a cat on a bunch of catnip. That
made Whitaker mad. and. giving the
bear the contents of his second barrel,
he turned and hurried away into the
woods himself. He saw no more of
the bear, but it is reported that a
hunter named Van Auken killed bear
since then IN that locality, from which
half a handful of bird shot was taken
when it was dressed. and Whitaker
believes that this bear and the one
that was so pleased with him and his
gun were the same.
George Young of the High Knob
region tells an extraordinary story of
an impudent bear that came under
his personal observation. Young
lived in an isolated place near the
Monroe county line. Two weeks be-
fore he bought barrel to pack some
Of his winters pork in. He left the
barrel IN his door yard when he went
to bed that night. When he got up
in the morning it was gone. Aspork
barrels were hard to get in that out
of the way locality. he spared no
pains to find some clew that would put
him on the track of the missing bar
rel, but in vain. There was no one
whom he could suspect of stealing it.
and its disappearance was a mystery
that disturbed him greatly
The day before Thanksgiving Young
was out pheasant hunting. Near the
headwater of Bright Brook, two miles
from his farm. he was passing along a
small scrub oak ridge and something
in hollow at the foot of the ridge at
tracted his attention. He went down
to inspect it. and what was his sur
prise on approaching it to discover
that it was his missing pork barrel
The bottom of the barrel was towards
him. He went up to the barrel and
put his foot on it. Instantly there
was great scrambling inside, and
! out popped a bear rhe hear gave
one look at Young and shuffied rapid
ly away and disappeared in the brush
There was no way 10 explain the pres
ence of the barrel in that spot except
by the theory that the bear had stolen
it in the night and rolled it ali the
way from the clearino tO tho foot ot