The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-16
DEAR AND LION FIGHT.
A Battle which "BrOISe" Col. Boone
when He Had Hoped TO Make a
EFnptuur


when He Had Hoped TO Make ~
Fortune.
From the San Francisco Examiner.
The fight between the lion Parnell and
the grizzly bear. on April in Mexico. just
across the line from Texas, just about
shattered the fortune of Col Boone, tho
tall lion-tamer who was a familiar figure
out on the Midway during the fair. and
last night II was rumored about town that
the colonel. without money and despon-
dent. had committed suicide. But this
rumor could not be confirmed
IL cost Boone a whole lot Of money to
arrange for the fight that he intended
should take place between the bear and
lion I'm this city. and then. when every
thing was in readiness, the police stepped
in and would not allow the animals to be-
placed In the ring
That bear fight here would have been ID
small mint for the colonel but not being
able to put the two big brutes In some
steel cage his greenbaeks were burned
up" and after the fair the colonel. with
his trained animals and ParneI the lion
who would not be trained. but who pre-
fcrred to kill the men who tried to train
him, was taken down to the southern
part Of the state
From town 10 town the colonel moved
with his menagerie, but luck some how
was never with him. Everybody wished
him well, because he was a good fellow,
as show men go, and he gave a good show.
Finally he landed In Laredo, Tex. and In
that sport-loving community on the bor-
der line, where they think less Of cruelty
to animals than in this city, he once more
began the work Of carrying out his pet
tdea-a fight between a lion and a grizzly--
just to see which was the king of beasts.
The fight took place on April !. and Just
because the story came In on that day most
Of the newspapers OF the country thought
u was Joke and did not publish the story
OF the light between the two animals
But they did fight and during the fight
Mr.. Zercombe, editor Of a paper in Iare-
do, succeeded In taking an excellent In
Simultaneous view Of the bear and the Hon
just as the latter was closing In on tho
bear after a cat-like spring.
There were not many spectators around
the steel enclosed hattie ground. The
price OF tickets was too high but thoso
who were there saw a battle royal between
two ferOcious beasts, the story of which
is best told I'm the words OF Mr.. Zercombe,
the newspaper man who took the pictures.
Tho bear secured as the Hons andago-
mist Is called 'Ramadam.' He Is a Cali
fornia silver-tipped grizzly, and one of the
largest OF his kind. He has the record OF
having KILLED two of his keepers In one day.
and his lighting qualities are undenlable.
Within the ring was erected large cfrcu-
lar steel cage, fifteen feet high and twenty
feet in diameter. The crowd was COM
posed largely Of officials, soldiers and
prominent business men from both sides OF
the Rio Grands.
when all was in readiness the canvas
covering was withdrawn from the large
cage, disclosing the grizzly lmpatently en-
circling the interior Of the cage. Tho
smaller portable cage, containing Parnell.
was backed up to the large one, and while
kamadan retired 70 the further side OF the
ring TO watch what was going on, the trap
door was opened. and with a spring Par
noll grapped with his antagonist After
q short struggle In a upright position they
n g. la 1t a
his antagonist In his favorate upright atti-
tude, and though battling ParnelIs grab at
his throat, his slower neck and jaw action
We're clearly Indicated By his allowing siis
Hon for the moment to get him IN "A posi-
ton where he could not do effective work
except with his claws.
The bear. though lacking in the power.
size and supplenesa OF his jaws was pro-
tected by his heavy covering Of thick hair.
and with additional advantage Of his
powerful back, and was enabled to throw
his opponent heavily whenever IL came to-
what might be termed hand-to-hand con-
hict.
Though IN the third fall, as in most OF
those that followed, Ramadam was on top,
the lion was getting In by far the most
effective work by a style of innghting
that must have been uncomfortable I'm tho
extreme After the first onslaught they
fought without snarl, growl or whine.
"Once enTaged by the punishment he
was receiving the bear turned his body
completely over and rising again to an
upright position hurled Painell through
turned q complete somersault, landing ON
his back IN the center Of the ring Rising
again as II made Of rubber Parnell rushed
upon his antagonist who now fully arous-
ed received him on equal terms, and with
jaws extended they clinched, in which
position a splendid snapshot view was
taken At this point the excitement was
intense. The position Of the ombatants
shifted rapidly. Several times they fell
TO the ground, all the time lighting, only
to get up again and continue the struggle.
Their heads, necks and jaws were COW
cred with blood.
For tn.rty-three minutes they fought
continuously. after an unusually vicious
attack made by Parnell from the rear,
Ramadam suddenly turned and with ter
rible ferOc.ty seized the lion between the
shoulders and shaking him as though he
had been a cat, he raised him INTO the
air and hurled the lion TO the ground Par
nell's head struck the side of the cage,
and he was momentarily stunned and una
BILE to arise for more than a minute. once
the Hon was hoored the bear turned and
walked to the other side Of the cage.
when Parnell was himself again he
arose, and when the bear was not look
ing again jumped at he bear. After this
the fighting was tame. Several times
ParHell repeated his catlike rushes, but
did not follow them up by any effective
work, and Ramadam clearly demonstrate
ed that he would prefer to let the dis
cussion rest for cooler weather"
"A model has recently been made TO illus
iratc the currents Of the Atlantic. The