The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1899-08-01
AN EXCITING BATTLE.
A WICKED ENCOUNTER BETWEEN A
MAN AND A BEAR.

MAN AND A BEAR.
1t Ended In q Clinch ana q Roll
Down a Snow Covered Mountain
Side-A Close Call, In Which the
Man just Escaped with Hia Life.
To roll down a 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 few scratches and bruises
and big bearskin to show as signs Of
his terrible encounter.
''It was the wickedest fight 1 ever
got into, said Frank when telling of
his experiences, land have been in a
good many, going out hunting in the
Sierras every winter, as l do.
''This big fight happened up in the
Whitney country It was just few
miles east of the Minarets and in the
spot where a fellow is always pretty
sure to find big game.
at was pretty late in the afternoon,
and I was all alone in camp, as the
other boys had not returned from deer
hunt they started on in the morning.
ST had been DOING in the tent all
day, but came out to have look at the
sky. AS l glanced along the top Of a
| bluff few hundred feet from the camp
I saw something dark moving about.
t6Thof vuoo oroyoh fOr mo I e,Of IN Y,
rifle and started right after it. The kind
of game 1 was going after didn't con-
Germ me at all. but really didn't ex-
pect bear. at least such big cantanker-
GUS bear
'Taking roundabout way through
the snow, I soon reached the top of the
bluff and began to crawl along care
fully in order to get good resting shot
and not come upon my game too sud-
| denly.
FINALLY caught a close view Of a
big dark body moving behind clump
of bushes. 1t was so large that for a
moment thought had been stalking
COW and was ready to kick myself
Then long drawn sniff and deep
| growl told me it was bear I was sight
ing. Instantly 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
a. 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 Weighed 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
! thought my rife ball must have gone
clean through its brain. Without stop
! ping to consider whether my shot had
really been fatal. rushed forward Az
stopped down to see where the bal
struck, the bear jumped up, and then
] knew had only creased it-that is,
just grazed its head or spinal cord and
knocked it senseless for a moment.
Before l could swing my rife for
ward to get in shot the bear had
knocked it out of my hands and was
right on top of me. Somehow man
aged to draw my knife and get in few
jabs that did no damage The beal
Rugged me tighter and tighter, and
kicked harder and harder and jabbed
wildly with my knife Then we bott
rolled on the ground, and the bear tried
to bite my face, but kept off his fast
clawing blows by hugging tightly
against him. I jabbed and jabbed a:
we rolled over and over, and the bears
face and claws were pretty badly cut
and one Of his eyes was put out of ser.
vice. The snow all around was torn NJ
and spattered with blood.
'tBefore knew it we were just OF
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 I could think of doing anything WE
were over the edge and rolling down al
lightning speed.
lit could not have taken more thar
few seconds, but it seemed to me like
years Now was on top Of the bear,
and now underneath. Snow filled my
eyes and ears, and l was scratched an6
wounded and bumped until thought
my end had come.
ut seems to me that kept striking
at the bear as we rolled, or rather shot,
downward, for we were going at the
speed of a cannon ball. Then there was
sudden bump while / was ON top, and
the bear gave moan Of pain and lei
go of me.
THAT gave me my chance, and
drove my knife into his heart
''The skin measured over seven'feet
found out while we were cutting hin
up that when he struck the rock at The
bottom of the hill he shattered his
spine 1t was just piece of luck that
the bear struck the rock and not my
self San Francisco Call.