Abilene weekly reflector., 1895-04-18
WHITE MOUNTAIN BEARS.
And an Ex- Clergyman Who Makes
q Living Killing Thorn.
lll.hsalth and Love Of Nature Caused
Him to Forsaks the Pulpit for
the Forests and the
HlIls.


Him to Forsaks the Pulpit for
the Forests and the
HiIls.
The only man at present in the White
mountain region whose sole occupation
Is hunting bears lives In the Pequalset
Intervale. Do not picture a grizzly,
picturesque character, fond Of relating
adventures and hairbreadth escapes
Perhaps you will lift your incredulous
eyebrows when it Is said that he is a
gentleman and scholar and has been
a clergyman! Yet it Is true. He is a
tall, thin man, with bright, intelligent
eyes, dignifed bearing and gentle man
ner, says a Portsmouth IN. lI CORE
spondent Of the New York Sun,
1t Is not necessary to enter into de-
tails ofhow he happened to abandon
his profession beyond saying that i'll
health was the chief cause; and it may
be added that he has always been pos
sessed with an intense fondncss for na-
ture, more especially the wild and SOL
itary fastnesses Of mountains, only to
be found In following the trail Of such
game as bears, whose haunts they are.
lie has also limited that, brought up on
farm in q region where game was
abundant, his earliest sports and joys
were trapping and cunning; and later
In life, when settled in more serious oc-
cupations, an unconqucrable longing
for the free life Of woods and fields
often overeamc him, and at length the
time arrived when he could not resist
1t, and his health seemed also to re-
quire an open-air life,
But though not now a Clergyman he
is still scholar, especially in all that
pertains to woodcraft, hunting and
trapping. For he knows, for instance,
not only the habits and traits Of the
bear, but has also scientific knowl-
edge Of its anatomy. In this he is self
taught, chiefly by dissecting the ami
mails which he captures. 0fcoursc the
principal money value Of the bear to
him Is in the pelts and the state bounty.
In addition he does quite business in
selling the skeletons to museums, pri-
vate students and sculptors, and he
keeps on hand an assortment Of the
different bones, SO that he can supply
any particular bone required.
This hunter Is also an expert me-
chanic. He designs, forges and puts
together all his own traps, and has
made various improvements In them.
They never lose him a bear, once
sprung upon him, and the country
people, mountain climbers and anna
teur sportsmen are more afraid Of
them than they arc Of the beasts them
selves. They are terrible TO look at,
and make one think of the torturing
implements Of the lnquisition There
is really very little danger to travel
ers, however, from the hunters traps,
for the ways Of the bear are not those
Of men. lie haunts the most inacces-
siblc, rocky and rugged portions of the
White mountains, coming down rarely
to the lakes, cornilelds and sheep pas
lures. In the summer one occasionally
meets stray cub, usually pair, in
the roads, as yet ignorant Of the dan
gers Of civilization.
Mr. NJ, to give him at least an
initial, hunts and traps over about
fifty miles Of mountain territory ex-
tending from the southwest to the
north of Pequaket Intervalc but most
ly over the Chocorua range, in which
may be included the Chocorua noun
tain itself and It's various spurs, Pau
gus sometimes called, In consequence
of its humpy character and It's imme-
diate proximity to an inevitable com
parison with the splendid peak of Cho-
corua, "thc Mountain that lcilcd, y
Passaconanoy, White Face, and the
Southwest Dome. lie knows the most
secret and untrod reccsscs Of all this
distlictprobably as no othcrm man knows
or rcvcr has known them, but precisely as
the bear and other wild animals know
them. lie follows their trail wherever
it may lead, with an instinct Ike an
Indians, lie notes the slightest turn
Of u leaf or twig, the fresh mark on n
rotton log, the footprint on moss where
another would sec nothing. lie seldom
bats his traps, knowing pretty nearly
where the bears foot will fall II Is a
constant wonder how a man Of his
slight physique can tramp his forty
miles day over the toughest md
widest parts Of the Chicorua range,
through the tangle Of "blow-downs
and the thiclsets of spruce and hem
LOCK, llc bttins W bc al NiilcNs WIN
not an ounce Of supernuous flesh, and
long exercise Of this sort has made him
hardy and enduring. lie travels light
ly armed, a gun and knife his weapons.
sometimes only revolver, rs he can
usually shoot at shortrange II the bear
be still alive in the trap
Sometimes the bear Is dead, but not
often, for he will live week With his
leg caught fast in tnp. Attacnrd to
the trap Is stout chain, longer or
shorter. and a. the end q The chalD a
series Of hooks, something like the
lukes Of an anchor These are to pre-.
vent the bear from escaping with The
trap; they catch and impede his travel
ing far Brt somc,imes llc drags The
trap long distances, and then he has "a
be tracked. which Is not difficult, as he
bushes well.inarkcl path in his
frantic efforts to escape. This |; ths
cruel feature Of bear trapping, and ons
shuddcrs to think Of the anguish Of fth'
animal with his leg clutched for day.
between the long, sharp teeth Of th'
trap, driven perhaps clear 70 the bone
But Mr.. NJ is . humane man by ma
- - -.t.s.. L. l., txo..e oftan en thal