The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-08-17
THE ROANOKE TIMES, SATURDAY, AUGUST H. 1895

that this big capitalist was OUT OF my way
took what cash had and succeeded in
making deal with tho hard pressed own
CIR. Tho property turned out u regular
gold mino for mo"
An English Lord and a Black Hear.
Congressman Robertson of Louisiana,
who is himself q great hunter in the cane
brakes and along tho gulf coast. tells a
good story on Mr.. Ransom, our minister
to Mexico, an English lord and II black
bear. Tho lord had como over for the pur-
pose of enjoying tho hospitality of tho
south and having n good hunt. Mr.. Ran
som, then United States senator, was
his host and was determined the English
man should not be disappointed in either
expectation. Tho visitors fondcst desire
was to kill a bear before returning to Eng
land, and Mr.. Ransom promised him his
ambition should be gratified. So q hunt
was arranged in the mountain region of
North Carolina. Tho Englishman was
dressed up III u fnultlcss sporting rig. Ho
had checked kniclierbockcrs, gaitcrs,
peaked cap and u monocle. Ransom and
his guest, with a trusty follower who was
dead shot, set out with u pack of hounds
In an hour the dogs started up three bears
"A mother and her two cubs. Ransom
and tho lord followed tho pack after tho
mother bear and came upon her just us she
was finishing tho last Of tho dogs. She
made IL rush ut her human foes rs If she
would eat thcm also, greatly to the English
mans CONSERVATION, but the senator shot
her In short order Hc wanted to give his
guest the shot, but tho circumstances wcro
not congcnial to delay and politcncss.
In few moments n shot was heard and
Ransom knew that one of the cubs had bit
the dust for his man never missed fire
Tho question was then how to get bear
for the lord Only one of the trio remained,
and the dogs were in hot pursuit of him,
judging from their cries. The senator pro-
posed to rolnain by the body of the mother
Dear while tho lord and tho man followed
the dogs after tho remaining cub. Tho ut
tcndant was quietly ordered to give tho
lord tho shot, oven if the bear were to get
away. Ransom strollcd around, listening
to the pack bowling on the trail, when no
CHANGED to look up, and there was the cub
In n tree but fow feet away. His first i'm
pulse was to shoot; but, remembering the
consuming desire of his guest to have tho
honor of killing n bear, he ran after the
lord and shouted to him to make haste.
At this the bear started to como down out
OF tho trcc, and Ransom was in q guam
Diary. If he shot tho bear, the lords heart
would bc entirely broken; if he didn't
shoot, tho animal would get away.
At this critical juncturo n happy inspi-
ration came to tho senator. After yainly
endcavoring to push tho young cub back up
the tree with his gun he whipped off his
hunting belt, threw it about the bears foro
feet and tied them securely to the tree. Then
he cut piece OF grapevine near by with
his knife and tied the hind legs In tho
samo manner. OF course the bear wrigglcd
to get away and was Just about to mako
How.
the Englishman came up hot and excited
"Gvc it to him Give it to him." cried
Ransom, who had backed away, and tho
lord let drive into the poor little bears
body. Delighted that his victim did not
run away, he fired n second shot and
whlle the attendant was cutting away the
grapevine and tho belt Senator Ransom
was wringing the hand of his guest and
rendering his congratulations on the shoot
ing of the first bear. A few years later
Mr.. Ransom visited England and heard
many stories of the hunting feats OF this
| particular lord, who was looked up to as
| quito hero because no had killed a bear
in America.
Frontier Jury.
a good story of frontier life is told by
Congressman Brodcrick of Kansas. Mr..
Brodcrick was II lawyer out in Jackson
'''o oSHlNf WHICH, lIlSlO county n1u
only 100 voters. Tho lawyers used to drive
| about from tho house of one Justice of tho
peace to that of another trying cases.
Once / had n case of obtaining money
under false prctcnscs, " said Mr.. Brodcrick.
and 1t was stubbornly fought OH both
sides. After trial running through two
days the jury retired to n lumber shed ON
the Justices farm. They were out several
hours SO long that we all thought they
would surely report II disagreement. Sud
denly we heard q tremendous noise in the
| shed. Boxes and barrels were apparently
being knocked about, and every one sup
posed the jury had gotten into n free fight.
Tho Justice and all the lawyers rushed for
ward to quell the insurrcction when the
door opened and the jury walked out in
good order. Our fears were instantly
changed to amusement. A verdict of not
guilty was reported, much to the surprise
| OF every one present, even the lawyer for
the defense 1t turned out that the iury
had disagreed from the start, and after a
| number of Intellectual efforts to get toscth.
or some one had suggested deciding the
| case by means of wrestling match. Each
side selected champion, and inasmuch as
tho man who represented those who favor
ell acquittal proved IA better wrestler than
tho other fellow tho verdict was rendered
i'll favor OF the defendant.
WALTER WELLMAN