The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1895-04-11

countable animal fer these parts. Sew
eral hunts had been made by the col
ored people at night but with no avail
| LET Me SHOOT HIM"
"Bang !" "Bang 7" Bang !" in
rapid succession rang out upon the
stiffness of the 10 O'Clock hour Thurs
day night. Some of the people CT the
town were little startled, but most OF
the less nervous guessed it was some
one shooting at the bear. The hunt
had been instituted on the northeast
ern suburbs Of town. Quite number
of colored boys and men and a few
white boys and men were in the com
pany when it started out. An occsion-
al shot kept up the interest and served
to augment the crowd. The track was
found and it indicated that the animal
was coming towards the town az though
he would make a sort Of circuit towards
the southern part. Occasionally a
match was struck and fresh dirt would
be found on bridge, another shot was
fired and the crowd grew.
Suddenly fresh news came to the
massed crowd that Ike Powell, a well
known colored man, had started across
the fields to Mrs. Gray's, who lives just
outside of town, and had become fright
ened and returned. He conducted the
crowd to the lot at the South end of
Church street where he said he had
been frightened back from his GRAND.
He would not venture through, for
there was deep ditch just inside
After some hesitating one or two with
guns and pistols in hand and some
with clubs ventured through. They
had not proceeded more than few
PAGES along the ditch before some one
suggested that the wild animal in ques-
ton might be in pine tree that stood
on the bank OF the ditch.
To the terrified delight of the crowd
sure enough there was large animal
snugly ensconced on a limb near tho
body of the tree. And as some persons
moved around to the other side he
turned his head watching them closely
as though he would jump. When
some called out that he was making
ready to spring upon the crowd terror
relgned supreme. Some made good
their pedestrian capacity and soon
heightened the distance between them
and the tree. But why longer allow
the crowd, which had now swelled to
two hundred, to be subject to the pos
sible spring of bear, tiger, lion or
whatever it was? Why not shoot him
out? Shoot him out they would.
One, two, three, five, ten, twenty five
shots, and no effect except some slight
twitching of the animals tail or slow
movement of his head
BY this time the grave and sedate
citizens of the town were on the scene,
with new guns carrying double charges
of buck shot, determined to help the
boys save the wild animal now they
had found him and freed him.
After much expenditure of powder
and shot, and counsel on the part of
some that the boys were too much ex-
cited to shoot we'll, with now and then
quiet citizen with new gun or who
was a special marksman taking his de-
liberate aim and doing his best to
| bring down the beast, it was suggested
that he was surely almost dead with ct
least hundreds of holes in his hide, and
so some one ventured to climb little
with pole and push him down. And
down he came! And the crowd scat
tered. Venturing up in few mo-
ments they found that what was left OF
the animal from the many shots it had
received was a stuffed calf-skin. II
had been dextrously arranged in the
tree, small cord had been attached
close to the body of the tree. Hall
dozen boys were managing the Joke
and occasionally while the shooting
was going on one OF them would creeE
up to the tree pretending to be looking
for good chance to shoot him from
the other side and would pull the
string which would witch the tail OF
| turn the head.