The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-12
THE GREATEST FIGHTER.
ron ABILITY TO KILL THE AMERI-
CAN GRIGGLY HEADS THE LIST.

Harris. of an Old She bears Bat
tIe With a Drove of Peccaries-She
Fought to the Death to Avenge
Her Cubs.
New York, Nov 9.-The crowds were
talking about the fights they had seen,
and q DISPUTE arose as to the most perfect
TYNE Of fighter Finally the matter was
referred to Capt. Jack Harris, an old In
dian fighter, who had also seen service in
botb the Civil and Spanish Wars. Capt.
lack considered the question for a min
,,ta and finally said: For pure concen-
rated killing ability 1 think the Ameri
can grizzly is ahead of all. And when
that grizzly is an old she-bear and some
injury has been done her cubs you have
reached the limit of hard, desperate, reck-
Ices fighting. Just once in hunting ex-
nerience of years have I seen a grizzly
with cubs killed.
81 was hunting near the Colorado line
q couple of months ago, when ran
across a grizzly bear with two fat cubs.
The old bear was lying on a ledge in the
shade, while the cubs were playing and
mmbling about in the gully of a little
dried up stream just below her. A grizzly
with cubs is a mighty good thing to let
alone unless a man is one of a well arm
ed party, and, as the bear hadn't seen
me I was content to let it go at that and
keen out of her way. So I turned and
went up the side of the valley. hadn't
gone but a short distance When looking
hack I saw a drove of about 100 peccaries
coming down the valley. Now every hunt-
er knows what it means to disturb pee
carries He must kill off the last one or
he is a dead man. And the drove will
keen up the chase until they have run
down or starved out the man or animal
they are after.
THE course the drove were taking would
bring them less than hundred yards be-
low me and right past the old bear and her
cubs, but the wind was blowing from the
opposite direction and from the ledge on
which she was laying the old bear couldn't
see the peccaries coming. Pretty soon the
drove reached the top of little decline,
in plain sight of the cubs, and came
swinging down with that fast little trot
which eats up the miles amazingly. and
which they can keep up for hours and
days as many a reckless hunter mas 1ouhd
out to his grief.
The fiercest, strongest grizzly in Amer
lea would have hurried to get out of the
path of those pigs, but the cubs didn't
know enough to appreciate their danger.
Perhaps they thought the fierce, hard-
fighting piccaries were only lot of swine
and that it would be good fun to STAN
pede them. Whatever may have been the
idea In their furry heads, the instant they
sighted the enemy both cubs started for
them on the run.
1T was all over in less than minute.
The cubs each picked out a peccary and
pounced on Ii, but, instead of stampeding,
civ 1al 10 h.
er in their eagerness to have a share IN
tearing to pieces The two foolish cubs.
There wasn't a trace left of the fat cubs,
except scattered pieces of fur and flesh
and bones. Then came the real fight.
when the cubs attacked the drove the
noise aroused the Old grizzly. l was near
enough TO see the whole show and it was
plain that her first impulse was to hurry
70 the assistance of her cubs Then she
hesjtated Just for a second for old huntress
that she was she knew what it meant to
tackle those peccaries 1t wasn't taking
a long chance for her life; it was going
against the real thing, as it was sure
death for any animal to NEEDLE with that
drove of sharp-tusked little pigs. Then
one of the cubs made a last dying effort TO
crawl from under the drove, who were
rending it to pieces, towards the protec-
ton of its fierce, old mother. The old
bear saw her cubs last struggle and start
ed forward.
But it wasn't as if she was gons
against something that wouldn't fight.
The pigs saw her coming and they didn't
loee any time on their part, but went for
the old bear on the run. The grizzly was
an unusually large one and, frenzied at
the fate of her cubs, she looked the incar-
nation of hate. Her big jaws were open,
her eyes glazing, the bristling hair on her
head and body was standing on end; alto
seIher she was the persOnifcation of de-
moniac fighting ability as she rushed at
the peccaTies. The terrible odds against
her had been forgotten in the thought of
her dead cubs, and with the glory of last
great fight before her she was ready to
join them in death.
Ahead of the main body of the pecca-
rles We're two or three that had not been
~ oi the killing of the cubs and so were
HIst In the charge. The bear met the first
one gave it a swinging blow with her
a"se paw which sent a disemboweled pig
H9lhS through the air, crushed another
gl'Ier her front paw, and then the whole
uIoVe were on her in one vicious snap
9'7 wave For the first few seconds all
'ould see was a dark, swaying mass of
%'SIy peccaries, all trying to get at the
Dedt' those nearest tearing at her with
1e.r usks and springing on her back in
elsr eagerness, and those farther away
am llhg over The others so as to get
mo me fight. A drove of peccaries after
sight D-0' - ''o' 4 Pie''S
hut these particular wild pigs were
,'' up against an animal that was going
1S quietly let herself be torn TO pieces
III II 1t was fighting the peccaries were look
Tor there WASN'T anything in North
t'silea that was more anxious to obiige
t,A than that fierce Old grizzly, who had
' seen her cubs killed. 1t was only for
1fst few seconds that the piccaries
t"7el over her. Then the old mothers
sIe eAdous lighting ability showed it.
r,r one sweep of her big right front
H." cleared a little space in front OF
of incidentally smashing in the head
c an uniueky peccary as If it had been
nv Iuql under a trip hammer Then
c, 'E'r made smashing blows, first with
r raw and then with the other. The
te force of the blows was CROUCH 20
hsl9" IN a peccary's ribs, or break his
eT5 ana besides this the claws at the
M ' oI the paws made slashing GUS four
IL I've inches deep. I saw one pig Dodge
risl elween the swinging paws and spring