Middletown transcript., 1899-05-20
AN EXCITING BATTLE.
A WICKED ENCOUNTER BETWEEN A
MAN AND A BEAR.

| MAN AND a BEAR.
1t Ended In n Cifnch and a Roll
| Down Snow Covered Mountain
Side-A Close Call, In Which the
Man just EscAped With His Life.
To roll down snow covered noun
tain side tightly clasped in the embrace
! of grizzly bear is an experience few
men pass through and live to tell. But
| that is what happened to Frank Lecky
of Fresno, and when it was all over he
had only a few scratches and bruises
and big bearskin to show as signs of
his terrible encounter.
''Is was the wickedest fight ever
got into, said Frank when telling of
his experiences, ''and / have been in
good many, going out hunting in the
Sierras every winter, as I do.
''This big fight happened up in the
Whitney country. II 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 | was all alone in camp, as the
other boys had not returned from a deer
hunt they started on In the morning.
81 had been doing in the tent all
day, but came out to have look at the
sky As 1 glanced along the top of a
bluff a few hundred feet from the camp
saw something dark moving about.
"That was enough for me-. got my
rife and started right after it. The kind
of game was going after didn't con-
cern me at all. but really didn't ex-
pect bear. at least such big cantanker-
GUS bear.
"TakiEg roundabout way through
the snow, soon reached the top of the
bluff and BEGAN to crawl along care
fully in order 10 get good resting shot
and not CONE upon my game too sud-
denly.
'::Finally caught close view of
big dark body moving behind clump
Of bushes. 1t was 20 large that for
moment thought had been stalking
a COW and was ready to kick myself.
Then a long drawn sniff and deep
growl told ne it was bear I was sight
ing. Instantly was all excited with
interest and strainedrevery nerve to get
the beast in line and SO planta 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 fred. Down
went the bear like bag of wheat, and |
I thought my rifle ball must have gone
clean through its brain Without stop
ping to consider whether my Shot had |
really been fatal, rushed forward AS
stopped down to see where the ball |
struck, the bear jumped up, and then |
I knew had only creased it-that is,
just grazed its head or spinal cord and |
knocked it senseless for a moment
"Before I could swing my rifle for
ward to get in shot the bear had |
knocked it out Of my hands and was
right on top of me. Somehow I man
aged to draw my knife and get in few
jabs that did no. damage. The bear
hugged mo 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 |
cfawing blows by hugging tightly |
against him. jabbed and jabbed as
we rolled over and over, and the bears |
face and claws were pretty badly cut
and onepf his eyes was put ont of SER
vice. The snow all around was torn up
and spattered with blood.
tBefore knew it we were just on
the edge of the bluff, and an almost |
vertical wall of snow lay just below us
for over a hundred feet to the bottom.
''This frightened me more than the
bear, for knew what. it meant, but be-
fore I could think of doing anything we
were over the edge and rolling down at
lightning speedv
'It could not have taken more than
a 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
"ouAueu oA!u -puHP0u uhoAA 1nouSn0
my end had come.
'tIt seems to me that kept striking
at the bear as we rolled, or rather shot,
downward, for-we were going at the
speed of1a cannon ball. Then there was
a sudden bump'while was on top, and
the bear gave inoan of pain and let
go of me
"That gave sDe my chance, and I
drove my knife into his heart.
"The skin measured over seven feet. !
/ found ont while we were cutting him
up 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.