Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1899-09-19
IN TNC CITING BATTLE.
q WICKED ENCOUNTER BETWEEN A
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q WICKED ENCOUNTER BETWEEN A
Ran ka.3 = BzAs,
1t Ended la :, c.!ssi, and HOr
Down "a saavv COVERED Mountain
s.dy-A cga.c caiI. In which the
Wan Juyt Escaped Niith ITS Life.
TORCH down snow covered noun
tain side tightly clasped in the embrace
of grizzly bear is an e:sper.ence few
men pass through and live to tell. But
that Is what happened to Frank Lecky
CT Fresno, and when it was all over he
had only a few scratches and bruises
and a big bearshin to show as signs of
his terrible encounter.
''It was the wickedest fight ever
got into said Frank when telling of
his experiences. ''and have cen in a
good many. going out hunting in tho
Sierras every winter. as l do.
''This big fight happened mp in the
Whitney country. 1t was Just few
miles east OF the Minarets and in the
spot where fellow is always pretty
sure to find big game,
''It was pretty late in the afternoon,
and 1 was all alone in camp, as the
other boys had not returned from deer
hunt they started on in the morning.
II had been DOING in the tent all
day, but came out to have look Mt the
sky. As / glanced along the top of
bluff a few hundred feet from the camp
/ saw something dark moving about
"That was enough for me. l got my
rife and started right after it. The kind
of game l was going after didn't con-
earn mo nj on hut I roolIy- ,li1V,if
pect benr, at least such big cantanker-
Gus bear.
Taking IL roundabout way through
the snow, soon reached the top of the
bluff and began to crawl along care
fully in order to get good resting shot
and not como uron my game too sud-
denly.
FINALLY caught a close view of
big dark body moving behind clump
of bushes. 1t was so large that for n
moment 1 Thought had been stalking
COW and was ready to kick myself
Then long drawn sniff and deep
growl told me it was bear l was sight
ing, Instantly l was all excited with
interest and strained every nerve to get
the beast in line and so plant bullet in
the right spot. The bear, however had
mind to keep his eyes on me and kept
moving about as he peered between the
branches of the brush.
"Suddenly one of the horses down in
the camp neighed loudly and attracted
the bears attention. AS the bear turn
ed and exposed his side fired Down
went the bear like bag of wheat. and
thought my rife ball must have gone
clean through its brain. Without stop
1
really been fatal rushed forward. AZ
stopped down to see where the ball
struck, the bear jumped up, and then
| knew / had only creased it-thnt is,
just grazed its head or spinal cord and
knocked it senseless-for moment.
Before l could swing my rifle for
ward to get in shot the bear had
knocked it ont of my hands and was
right on top of me Somehow 1 man
aged to draw my knife and get in few
jabs that did no damage. The bear
Rugged me tighter and tighter. and
kicked harder and harder and jabbed
wildly with my knife. Then we both
rolled on the ground, and the bear tried
to bite my face, but l kept off his fast
clawing blows by hugging tightly
against him. l jabbed and jabbed aa
we EOleu OVER anu over anu Tue ueuf
face and claws were pretty badly cut
and one of his eyes was put out of SER
vice. The snow all around was torn up
and spattered with blood
"Before l knew it we were just on
the edge of the bluff, and an almost
vertical wall of snow lay just below us
for over hundred feet to the bottom.
"This frightened me more than the
bear for knew what it meant, but be-
fore could think of doing anything wa
were over the edge and rolling down at
lightning speed.
'It could not have taken more than
few seconds. but it seemed to me like
years. Now was on top of the bear,
and now underneath. Snow filed my
eyes and ears, and was scratched and
wounded and bumped until thought
my end had come.
at seems to me that / kept striking
at the bear as we rolled, or rather shot,
downward. for we were going at the
speed of cannon ball. Then there was
sudden bump while was on top, and
the bear gave moan Of pain and let
go of me.
"That gave me my chance. and 1
drove my knife into his heart
1.-THE skin measured over seven feet.
found ont while we were cutting him
mp that when he struck the rock at the
bottom of the hill he shattered his
spine 1t was just a piece of luck that
the bear struck the rock and not my
self. San Francisco Call.
short sighted.