The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1896-06-18
DEATH OF a FAMOUS HUNTER
"reminiscences Of Well-hnown PennsyD,
vania Character. kWtI

YEA II VT = ANlOOo HON Ell,
"reminiscences Of Well known PennsyJ,
vania Character. ~
Joseph Main, of Elk county, ofiB&
famous as mighty hunter, died a fe&)
days ago, nearly 90 years old. 1t waH
less than ten years ago that failing eye$
sight compelled him to give up his life
in the woods. He had hunted and
trapped in the Pennsylvania woods
since 1920, and the stories of his ex-
ploits are household words in the west
ern and northern portions of this states
He remembered when elk were vet
numerous in the state, and one of lbs
favorite stories was of the time when
he was a boy and went with his father
on an elk hunt. They followed the elk
from the headwaters of the Allegheny
river until it crossed the river below
where Oil City is now, and led the chase
into Ohio, where, on the third day Of
the hunt, it was killed not far from
what is now Mansfield.
This old woodsman ended his career
as hunter and trapper by series of
successes which he declared weresShe
most satisfactory to him of all hiSex-
ploits. He was trapping in C9nter
county. and had four bear traps put.
he started out one morning to look
after them. The first trap he Visited
lad done good work. 1t had | Bis
bear in it with a magnificent coat of
fur. The old trapper shot the bea4 md
| " on RI another. Thai on li,,-1
a surprise for him. 1t was not bear,
but an ugly, glaring, snarling cata-
mount, the largest one MAIN had ever
seen in all his career in the forest. 1t
was not only ugly, but extremely tough,
fol the trapper had to shoot it five
times before it would die. This trophy
was over four feet long.
After killing the catamount Main
went on to the third trap, and there he
found awaiting him a monstrous old
| timer of a he bear, caught in the trap
| by both fore feet. How the bear man
aged to get both feet into the trap was
| something Mahn could not understand,
as it was a thing unheard of in bear
trapping. This bear was a savage old
chap, and resented its capture with so
much tenacity that he would not give
up until four rife bullets induced him
to. That three traps in succession
should have yielded each so fine prize
was enough to aStOnish even veteran
trapper, but when the fourth one came
to the front with a third bear, as fine as
either of the others, the old trapper re.
joiced greatly. 1t was trapping event
without precedent in the Pennsylvania
woods, and as it was a fortnight since
Mahn had shot the biggest buck on
record as having been Killed in the state,
he was willing to go home and rest the
remainder of his days on the laurels
these exploits alone had won him. And
he fully intended to do so, for he had
lost the sight OF one eye entirely, and
the other eye was failing. But he was
not permitted to retire just yet.
\ few weeks after his great trapping
experience a delegation of backwoods
him to 90 kill a bear or something that
was playing havoc with their sheep and
pigs. The weather was warm, and
Main did not care to undertake the
task, being then almost so years of age,
His neighbors insisted, and he took
down his gun once moro and shouldered
his traps. He put out six wildcat traps
and four bear traps. The next day
each one of five of the former had q
wildcat in it. and the sixth one had tie
| lower part of a wildcats fore leg. Two
OF the bear traps had each a big bear.
Il third bear trap was missing. The
chain was broken loose from the wood
en- clog, and it was plain that bear
he'd walked off with the trap to one of
his legs. The fourth bear trap had not
been disturbed.
Mahn did not intend to go home with
out recovering his missing bear trap.
| He tracked the bear that had it to a
swamp and scared it out. The trap
was fast to one of the bears fore feet.
The bear was inclined to fight the trap
per, but Mahn killed it with two shots.
On his way back home to get help to
carry in this most tnheard of coliec-
ton of sheep and pig stealers the old
man struck bloody trail. He followed
it, and it led him a mile, where it ended
nj the foot of big chestnut tree. On
a branch of that tree, well toward the
top, lay wildcat. Mahn brought it
down with single shot. AS the wild
cat was minus one fore paw, the old
trapper knew he had bagged the cat
that had got out of his sixth trap. Main
| had left his undisturbed bear trap in
the woods. The next day he went cut
and got his fourth bear. Then he put
away his traps and hung up his gun,
and never used them again.-Chicago
Chronicle.
| Dainty Trifes.
Baby pins come in sets OF three, con-
nected by fine gold chains.
Pretty two-tined strawberry forks
show berry vines and leaves in decora-