Evening journal., 1900-07-25
AN EXCITING BATTLE.
A WICKED ENCOUNTER BETWEEN A
MAN AND A BEAR.

IL Ended In n ClInch and "A Roll
Down snow Covered Mountain
side--A Close Call, In witch the
Man Just Escaped with His Life.
To roll down snow covered noun h
tain side tighey clasped in the embrace
Of a grizzly bear is an experience few /
men pass through and live to tell But |
that is what happened 10 Frank Lecky |
of Fresno, and whenf it was all over he |
hard only few Scratches and bruises
and a big bearsldn to show as signs Of
his terrible encounter.
"It' was the wickedest fight ever
got into said Frank when telling Of
his experiences, "and havelbeen in a
good many, going out hunting in the
Sierras every winter, as do.
"This big fight happened up.in the
Whitney country. 1t was just a. few
miles east of the Minarets and sin the
spot where a fellow is always pretty
sure to find big same
''It was pretty late in the afternoon.
and l was AL alone in camps as the
other boys had not returned,f from, a deer
hunt they started on in the morning.
II had been DOING in the tent all
day, but came out TO have a look at the
/ sky. As l glanced along the top Of a
bluff few hundred feet from the camp
l saw something dark moving about.
"That was enough for me. l got my
life and started right after it. The kind
d game / was going after didn't con-
Germ me at all. but I really didn't ex-
pect bear. at least such big oantauker-
ous bear
''Taking a roundabout way through
the snow, i soon reached the top Of the
bluff and began 80 crawl along care-
fully in order to get a good resting shot
and not come upon my game too sud-
denly.
"Finally l caught n close view Of a
big dark body moving behind a clump
Of bushes. 1t was so large that for a
! moment / thought had been stalking
a cow and was ready to kick myself
Then a long drawn sniff and a deep
: growl told me is was bear l was sight
ing Instantly 1 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
3 branches Of the brush.
suddenly one of the horses down in
the camp neighed loudly and attracted
I the bears attention. As the bear turn
z ed and exposed his side / fired. Dowr
went the bear like bag of wheat, an(
/, l thought my rife ball must have gonl
clean through Its brain. Without stop
ping to consider whether my shot ha,
y really been fatal / rushed forward. Al
= l stopped down TO see where the bal
struck, the bear jumped up, and theI
n l knew had only creased it-that is
just grazed its head or spinal cord ant
!, Knocked 1t senseless Tor a moment.
Il Before could swing my rifle for
ward TO get in, shot the bear ha
knocked IL out of my hands and wa
right on top Of me. Somehow man
aged to draw my knife and get in a fsy
r jahs that did no damage The bea
hugged me tighter and tighter, and
kicked harder and harder and jabhe,
= wildly with my knife Then we b0tl
= rolled on the ground, and the bear triel
{ to bite my face, but l kept off his fas
clawing blows by hugging tightl
against him. / jabbed and jabbed a
., we rolled over and over, and the bear
face and claws were pretty badly Gu
2. and one Of his eyes was put out of ser
q vice. The snow all around was torn a
e and spattered with blood.
- "Before 1 knew it we were just o
the edge Of the bluff. and an almos
vertical wall Of snow lay just below n
for over hundred feet TO the bottom.
v "This frightened me more than tn
bear, for 1 knew what il meant. but be
fore could think Of doing anything W
were over the edge and rolling down a
lightning speed.
l. 1T could not have taken more thai
a few seconds, but il seemed TO me li1
years Now / was on top of the bear
and now underneath. Snow filed m.
# eyes and ears, and was scratched an
u wounded and bumped until 1 though
s. my end had come
IT at seems to me that 1 kept strikin
' at the bear as we rolled, or rather shot
downward, for we were going at th
, speed of a cannon bali Then there wa
K a sudden bump while was on top an
the bear gave moan Of pain and le
- 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 hir
up that when he struck the rock at tn
j bottom of the hill he shattered hi
spine 1t was Just a piece Of luck tina
the bear struck the rock and not my
I self San Francisco Call
\ sr.....f e.