The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-02-01
JOHN NESGER'S WIFE
Had a Terrible Experience
With an Old Bear.
Mr.. BRUlN WAS A JOKER
And JoIIied Mrs. MeSsler to
the Point of Fright

Roulette, a.. Jan. s1.-Everybody in the
Pennsylvania hemlock belt knows that
bears are full Of tricks and like TO have
fun with folks NV oand then, but nobody
had the least idea that bears could think
of carrying joke as far as one did in
the Alma neighborhood.
jim Messler's wife started to 90 on an
errand 40 neighborhood a mile away
from fime and half an hour later return
ed home al put out because she had
been stopped by three bears, not ali at
once, but three different times.
The road Jim's wife ha dto take runs
all the way through the woods. Another
road forks from it, also through the
woods, half way to the house she was
going to, and passes the same house,
but with a field between it and the house
When Mrs. Messler go othe fork of
the road a bear rose on its hind feet
right in the middle Of the road hundred
yards beyond the forks
Jim's wife was born in the woods and
knew quite a little about bears. so she
quietly turned into the other road and
went on her way. although it was a
good deal further to take that course.
She had gone scarcely a quarter Of a
mile when bear rose in front Of her
in that road, some ten rods ahead.
1.-THE woods seem to be a little too full
Of bears today" Jim's wife says she said
on seeing this bear before her, so I
guess will go back home an dgo to
James house tomorrow
She turned and walked back to the
main road and headed for home. Before
she had gone a hundred yards, right
ahead of her, again in the middle of the
road, a bear got up and actually pranced
This was little too much even for
Mrs. Jim Messler The Indication was
that she was hemmed in by bears, SO
she opened her lungs and let go a few
yells that made those old woods sound.
so she said afterwards. as if wildcats
were holding forth in them. If the bear
that called them out was having fun
before those yells spoiled it in short or
der, for Jim's wife had scarcely started
on when the bear almost tumbled over
itself in its haste to get to the woods
and under cover.
Jim's wife says that she could hear the
brush snap and crack in the bears path
70 rat least quarter Of mile So
she came home to get some one to go out
and bag those three audacious bears.
Jim Messler didn't want any better
excuse than that to knock off cutting
wood, and he got two more men and
went right out to get the bears. There
wa sa light snow on the ground. They
went to where Jim's wife had met the
first bears. It's tracks led them into the
woods and out again into the forking
road. There the bear had stopped Then
the tracks took course from the fork
ing road diagonally through the woods
back to the main road and led out into
II. There the bear had stopped again
and when bruin had quit that spot he
had gone back into the woods so fast
that the snow was torn up as if = steam
shovel had followed the trail. Then jim
Messler and his two companions Just lay
down and howled and kicked the snow.
Three bearsr roared Jim. "Three
bearsi 1t was only ust one Jolly old cuss
havin' fun with A1irandy!''
And they never took another step on
the bears trail, hut went back home and
jollied Mirandy about the way she was
surrounded by one bear, which same
comprehensive bear is still at large and
undoubtedly on the lookout for more