The morning times., 1895-12-25
TALKED THE BEAR TO DEATH
Jud Sc Savsge'~ Method of D!spo-ing of
u FerociouS Bruin.
Anaconda Standard.

Judge j. A. Savage OF Livingston met
with rather exciting experience the
other day Will. duck shooting at Dsily's
Lake, in company with party of Living
ston people, composed of Sam Wilson, j, A.
Mclaughlin, A. Brown. Joe Briggs, +. S.
Webster and C. C. H. Smith. The day in
question several members of the party re-
manned on the lake until the shadows of
evening began to fall. and then struck out
for camp, sc:ne distance away. The Judge
became separated from his companions and
in the gathering gloom lost his way aud
found himself in the mountain Businesses,
with nothing but a shotgun loaded with
bird shot with which to protect himself
should be encounter any OF the wild beasts
known to abound i'll the mount aims around
him.
Ashc was vending his weary way 4 round
the base of a towering mountain the still
ness OF the trackless waste was broken in "A
sudden and startling maner by big bear,
which the judges dog had started from its
retreat. BrUin had taken after the canine.
and dog and bear came tearing down the side
of the mountain, headed straight for the
Judge. displacing loose rocks which crashed
ldownthrough the underbrush andmade noise
enough for an avalanche His first impulse
| was to open fire upon the bear, hut on second
thought he concluded that this would be
worse than folly. If his shotgun had been
a rifle the Judge would have felt no fear for
his safety. but as il wis, lie decided not to
| shoot until the bear was right upon him.
There was not a single tree i'll sight. Even
| if there had been, the judge, with his two
hundred pounds of avoirdupoiS. would have
had might hard time climbing it. Ii was
| too dark to run, besides the ground was so
broken as TO preclude the possibility of out
footing bruin. 1t was a uckllSh position to
be placed in. but Judge Savage. alwa VS. fer
tilein resources, was equaltotte emergency.
In this connection 1t Is pertinent to state
that the judge is not only an eloquent bar
rister. but polished gentleman and dip
lomatist as well. Ithas been his experience
that human hearts are susceptible to ap-
peals for mercy, but until he met the bear
the other night the thought never occurred
to him that the wild beasts of the forest
could be brought under the potent spell
of pleading eloquence.
As the bear approached the judge fired
in the air, and raising his voice TO its
fullest pitch, sent forth a blood Curdling
yell. The ruse worked like n charm, for
bruin came to a sudden stop, while the
dog circled around and cringcd at the feet
of its master. 1t was then that the judge,
as if addressing a jury, began an inn
passionate appeal. 1t is not known to
what lofty heights of eloCuence the judge
attained, as no one was present. except
! the gentleman himself, and his weli-known
modesty would prevent him from dwelling
on his own address, even were he able to
/ recall the language used. Tie judge vol
untecred the information. however, that
| at first the bear sat up on its launches ana
then crouched down to the ground like
| cringing cur. As he concluded his address
| hruin uttered a series of lCGg. agoniZinS
walls, half human in their appeal.
| The judge then cautiously backed away
| from the prostrate animal until its grzZlcd
form was lost in the darkness. Mr.. Savage.
| after wandering around for some little time,
finally struck the trail and reached camp in
| an exhausted condition. He related his eX-
perience with the bear, but his companions
| Were inclined to be soeptical and in order
| to convince them of the truthfulness of the
/, story he Offered to take them TO the spot in
the morning and show them the tracks of
the animal.
This was readily agreed to, and so when
morning came and breakfast was over the
| entire party, with the judge in the lead,
| started out TO view the spot Where Mr.. Saw
age held the audience with bruin the pre-
vious evening. As the party approa ched the
place designated by the judge, that gentle
| man uttered an exclamation of surprise and,
pointing to a ia rk object just he youd a clump
| of bushes, said: There's the bear, Just
ahead of us, right where / left it, and eX-
actly in the same position
The judges dog had already scented the
| animal and bounded toward it, awakening
| the echoes with its loud barking. But bruin
neither moved a hair nor batted an eye.
Several shots were fire in the air, but still
the animal remained perfectly still. With
leveled pieces the party approached close
10 the bear. and found, to Mr.. Savage's
great surprise, that bruin wasa ctually dead.
The judge was then accused of having shot
the animal but this he strcnuously denied.
A critical examination followed. but not a
particle of blood was found anywhere on
the bears body; neither was there a single
wound. mark or bruise of any nature or de-
| scription on the carcass.
The explanation was simple enough: The
judge had actually talked the poor bear
to death.