Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1896-07-01

Drulns Appetite-lhe BearS wanted Zig
ger Game. but Didn't Get 1.-THE Old
McKane County Guides Story.
General Grant was a great lover OF
trout fishing" said guide, "and the
greatest of all his outings was at Kane,
McKane county, Pa, in August, 1869.
I received letter late in July of that
year requesting that I get everything
ready for two weeks fishing tour on
the Oswayo creek.
"This stream flows through the north
western part of Potter county, one of
the widest forest sections. At that time
I was living at Kane and spent all my
time in the woods hunting and fishing.
General Grant usually was accom-
panied by one or more companions, but
this time he came to Kane alone. It
was then, prior to leaving Kane for Os-
wayo creek, that General Grant wrote
his letter to Secretary of State Fish
concerning the belligerency Of Cuba.
We were delayed "a hours ON account
of that letter, because General Grant
spent the whole day in thinking the
situation over. The general was glad to
get the subject off his mind for the time
being, as he remarked to me, Well,
that settles Cuban matters with me un-
til return from this trout fishing trip
81 had the generals rod and flies in
shape. We got on my old spring wagon
and started for farmhouse near Sharon
Center. The roads were rough, and by
the time we had covered the distance Of
81 miles we were tired out, and the old
horse lay down. 1t was about 10 O'Clock
at night when we reached John Haber-
steen's home in the country. He had
been expecting us and assisted in put
ting up the horse and showed us the
rooms we were to occupy. We did not
go to the trout stream the following
day. Rest is more desirable than trout,
is the way the general put it.
"While Habersteen was not acquaint-
ed with Grant prior to our arrival, he
was a fast friend Of mine, as we had
gone to school together. General Grant
soon made warm friend of Habersteen.
"The first days fishing along Os-
wayo creek was successful, and we re-
turned with a number of trout. 1t was
a difficult place to reach, and the coun-
try simply abounded with wild game.
The general was fond Of seeing deer go
through the woods and was not bit
afraid of bears.
General Grant was an expert fisher
man and could whip stream with any
of the pot fishers. He would never fish
for trout with bait. But if it SO hap
pened that he had lost all his flies, he
would put on whatever he could find
and continue to whip the stream. The
two Of us in five days fishing caught
712 trout, all good sized ones. We ate
some of them, and the rest were packed
in ice to be sent to friends
81 shall never forget our return from
Sharon Center to Kane. We had every
thing on the spring wagon, including
the iced trout. After travelling about
four miles we passed through an excep-
tionally heavy woodland, and when we
were about 200 yards from the woods
two bears made their appearance. They
trotted along after us at gait that
showed us that they We're gaining on
the horse They evidently had scented
the fish and were wishing for a good
meal.
"We did not feel much afraid until
we came to discover that our guns and
revolvers were left behind at Haber-
steen's house. The bears were gradual
ly gaining on US, and it was time to be
thinking about doing something.
"'What's to be done in case Of this
kind?" queried the general.
''.The only thing I know of is to
drive SO fast that they can't catch up.
I replied. But the faster we drove the
more rapidly the bears ran.
"'I know how to get away from
them, exclaimed Grant we will throw
trout to the ground, few feet apart,
and as the bears stop to pick them up
we will gain SO much by every fish,
"Well, that looked like a great
scheme. We began throwing the fish
out, two or three at a time. The bears
began to pick them up, but I'll be con-
twisted If they didn't start to give the
trout the go by and hasten their steps to
catch up to the wagon. All the time
we kept throwing choice trout into the
road to coax them bears to quit the
chase.
"We concluded that the old horse
would have to hurry. The whip was ap-
piled. We lost the bears, and in the vii
lage related the story of the bears fol-
lowing us to several farmers, who got
guns and started after them.
"Do you know what those confounded
bears were doing when they found
them? They stopped at the end of the
trout trail and for distance Of mile
and half back had eaten nearly all
the trout. They evidently wanted big
ger game, and when they saw they
could not get it they were content to eat
trout. The bears were overtaken and
killed.
cat the village we looked to see how
many trout we had left. To our surprise
we had only $50 out CT the zoo. New
York Press