Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-04-06
BEARS RvD HORSE FIGHT.
Jim BELLS WILD ANIMAL WAS BACKED
TO WIN, AND HE DID.
The Horse was not Above I s Hands Hiqh-
Certainly Most Vicious Brute.

Certainly Most Vicious Brute.
Fully 150 typical mountaineers
hunters, trappers and tarheel loung
ers were congregated about Simp
sons store, the only place of busines.
within 20 miles, when | arrived last
Saturday, says correspondent writ
ing from Simpsons Corner. Hav.
a curiosity to learn the cause of tho
odd combination, I inquired of a
long-limbed, red-hcaded, butternut
hunter.
"Wal, stranger, there's goin' to
come off right away the gosh durnd-
est fight you ever saw right here at
the corners"
"Who are the contestants and
what are they going to fight for?"
"Thar amt no who bout it. It's
b old Jim Bell's stalyun that's goin' to
Sam Carriers two big bars,
2 an let let mo tell you, stranger, it will
ss;fbe afght to member for many a
year, an Pm bcttin' on the stall
yun."
$f "a horse to do battle with two
8afall-grown bears? Why, my friend,
The bears ought to be able to tear
him to pieces in ajiffy."
"Say, stranger, it's parent you
9sloi9t know that boss. Why, that
staESun's the biggest devil this side
5ssof ole Nautchalah. There amt 10
I livin' critter on four legs can down
him. That stalyun's wiped ont half
a dozen bars, killed painter an
near bout cleaned out the creek of
men and critters the last year. He's
dang'us as din'mitc, an nobody can
handle him 'ceptin' ole Jim's boy,
Jack, an how'n thunder he does it
nobody knows. Sum folks say he
hip'ntizes the hoss. Mebbe he does =;
anyway, he's the only human that
can handle him."
"Where can fnd this terrible ami
mal?"
'Right over there in that pen," re-
piled my informant, pointing to 4
big stockade of heavy timbers short
distance down the creek.
When | climbed up and stood upon
wide shelf or string of logs which
. extended entirely around the G0-foot
stockade and looked over at the oc-
cupant of the pen I was forced to
confess that the hunter had rot cx-
aggerated, at least so far as the horse
was concerned. The animal I looked
upon was wild stallion Of the noun
tain breed, common in the highlands
of North Carolina.
Although not above 149 hands in
height, he was certainly the most Vi
cious and savage-looking brute of the
equine species had ever looked at.
He was black as coal, with long
maine and tail and with limbs Of per-
feet symmetry, and but for the man
, nerToi which he rolled his eyes and
curled his lips above his long glisten-
ing teeth as he snapped at the pco.
pie on the shelf, making them dodge
down out of reach, he would have
been perfect beauty. AS it was,
his actions showed him to be q devil
inoarnate.
I had scarcely taken all this in when
four men came up leading two tre-
mendous bears, either Of which would
have tipped the scale at 400 pounds.
The crowd followed close behind,
gard almost before the men had opened
tWo small gates at the bottom of the
lasto tockade to let the bears in a human
Y6elt enciroled the stockade. The
bears were let in at opposite sides,
and almost in flash there began
! the most terrific and bloody battle |
4 had ever seen.
4 | have witnessed in tho Old North
State and in the mountain battles be-
j tween catamounts and bulldogs. !
have seen q panther pitted against
dogs bears and catamounts, and once
witncssGaa battle royal in Texas, in
which t.ro big bears and panther
fought a drove of pcccaries, but in
comparison with the fight which fol-
lowed all of the above seemed placid
as schoolboy play.
The bears had barely time to