The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-14
cent. interest.
BEAR STORIES FRon LICK nuN,
How Tom Jonas Fought and Ragged
Big Binck Bog.
Wnliamsport pa Letter to the PhEadcl
phia Times.

phia Times.
The Lick Run region furnishes the fun
NEST bear story of the season. one of tho
farmers up there lost a black Berkshire
shoat last spring, and the other day it
turned up I'm tho beech woods along Lick
Run and proved to be one of the nervicst
bears" that have been captured in this
neck O. the woods" for long while. Old
Silas Mosteller. who was the original own
er CT the shoat. declares that il always
was the meanest critter he ever did see"
Before it was a year Old it had made its
escape from two log pens and had killed
a dog that attempted to corral II. It's sea
son in the forest evidently had no pacity-
ing effect upon its temper-at least that :
what Tom Jonas thinks since his encount-
er with his hogship.
Tom took two dogs and his doube-bar-
relied shotgun and went up the run after
pheasants the other day. He heard there
had been bear signs seen in that locality
early in the fan, but he made no ealcula-
worked well up into the oak and beech
woods with no success as to pheasants.
Suddenly he heard his old hound giving
tongue up along the creek, ana ne start
ed post haste in that direction. He had
not gone far when he learned that the dog
was al a standstll Instead of on tran,
as he first supposed. and he prepared him
self for shot at covey OF pheasants
which he believed the hound had freed.
Before he got within sight of the dos
however, Tom ran 10 a spot under the
beeChtrees that was freshly rooted, show
ing unmistakable evidences Of bear. just
then one of the dogs gave yelp as
though in pain. Al this minute ION
which he saw his dogs lighting with q Dig
black bear. Old bruin was making things
hum, and it was evident at a glance mat
the dogs were second best in the tight.
Just at this juncture the DOGS gave up
the contest and started. up the hillside,
with the bear after them. THIS was
Toms time to shoot. and shoot ne dlu.
And then he found that his bear was
not a bear, but big, lank, black hog.
His shot had gone home, for the animal
let up on the dogs trail, and after rev
awful sounds, between a grunt and
squeal, started straight for Tom.
Now bear 5if fs M gat % on i'S RoF
came at him was caution He let drive
at the open-mouthed "critter with the
second barrel, but the hog didn't seem
to mind it. Then Tom started for tree,
but ill-luck was with him. for he stumbled
over a log and went spraying amonS the
underbrush. Fortunately for him his dogs
were again at the mad hog neeis, ,yeip-
ing like coyotes. Tom gTasped his nunt-
ing knife, and when the black beast
rushed upon him he plunged the blade into
its grizzly neck. The hog bit him in the
shoulder, but before it could get a firm
hold the dogs were on the beast and II
turned to fight them. The blood was
gushing from the knife wound in its neck,
and after five-minute unequal struggle
the hog gave up the ghost. Toms Shout
der was terribly lacerated, and II was
feared at first that the bone had been
crushed but this was not the case. AL
though rot fat, the hog weighed 2l5
pounds. 1t was fairly peppered VITA shot
from Toms gun, but had It not been Tor
the dogs Tom would probably have come
out of the contest a dead pheasant hunter.
Elmer and Lewis Probst, and Ward
Reeder, none of whom is over is years
of age, were coon hunting on a branch
of Queens Run the other night. They
were accompanied by two dogs, and when
working their way through a laurel thick
ct the dogs got into a fight with some sort
of an animal. The boys first concluded
it was a catamount, and We're about 10
make tracks for home, when Reeder de-
clared that he was going TO see what sort
of a creature it was. So the boys lighted
their pitCh-pine torches and. drew near
to the scene of the combat. when they
learned ii was a bear with which the dogs
were fighting. Their torches frightened
bruin and he made for a thick hemlock
the dogs leaped after him and chung to
the bears shaggy coat Bear and dog
kept going up uhtil they were fully twenty
feet above ground, when well-directed
shot from the boys gun brought the bear
tumblng to the foot of the tree. He fell
plumb on the yelping dog, and nearly
was far from dead, and the torches made
him frantic with fear, The second dos
was on his back In a jiffy, and, fearing
that they would shoot the dog, the boys
into the thicket for rod or more until
an opportunity was afforded them to give
A bears frantic dislike for fire was
queerly illustrated up in the Youngwo-
mans Greek region this fall During the
extremely dry weather fire began burning
in a tract Of timber land along the creek,
and the lumbermen were sent to back
fire." that is to run fires against the ad-
away from the stacked bark While at
this work they applied the torch to pile
of dried hemock bouehs, walking entirely
around it, so that IL made big circle OF
flame. A few minutes afterWard they
were startled to see emerging from the
run Of fire an animal about as big as C.
small dog. It's fur was abiaZe and as
the creature scampered whining away the
men discovered that il was q. woodchncx
1t made straight for the butt of a big
hollow log a hundred yards up the raVfne
and into this opening the smoking fellow
craWled. 1t had been in there but an in
slant when the men heard above the
cracking of the. hemlock bOughs mighty
squeal coming from the direction Of the
log.
That there was something more than
the poor little WoOdchuck in the log was
evident from the way it shook; then all
of sudden Jared loose by the commo-
ton, the log started on a. roll down to-
ward the creek. ending up O rod below
against two hemlocks that stood just on
the bank of the stream. 1t had no soon
er stopped than out popped a half-grown
cub followed an instant later by an
other The end Of the log. was so situa-
ted that as the bears rolled out they
went "kerplunlx'' into the creek few feet
below. But the cubs were only part of
the family, for before they had scram bled
out of the water an old mother bear
came pushing herself out of the log and
her shaggy coat was smoking Her hair
had caught fire from the flames In the
woodchucA's fur. Like her cubs, she, too.
dropped uncerernoniously into the pond
of water below. She remained almost a
minute dousing herself around in IL to
put out the fire in her hair. But the Door
wocdchuck was not 50 lucky. Next day
the men found its singed body ~ ng in
side the old log.
The Baker brothers, in the Black Forest
region, continue 10 use their beer-keg
trap-inaugurated last winter-with great
success. This trap is made by driving
long, sharp spikes through the edge of a
beer keg, then placing bait on the
bottom Of the keg. The keg Is then
chained to tree The bears force their
heads past the spikes to get at the piece