The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-07-04
TORN BY HIS TRAINED BEAR.
SNOWMAN WINCHERMANN MAY
DIE or HIS WOUNDS.
Tony. His Biggest Hear. Pitched Into Him
When His Back Was Turned-Had
GrudEe Against His Master. It's Sala
Muscles Torn From Trainers Arm

When His Back Was Turned-Had a
GrudEo Against His Master. It's Said
Muscles Torn From Trainers Arm.
William F. Winchermann, an animal
| trainer who learned his trade of Hagen
beck Of Hamburg. had scrap yes
terday morning with Tony. the largest and
! most intelligent Of the Winchermann troupe
OF performing bears. AS a result Wincher-
mann is in a serious condition at the New
York Hospital. He may get well, but the
surgeons were making no guarantees to
that effect last evening
Winchermann, who Is SO years old and
lives, when in New York, at 81 Seventh
avenue, has just returned from Hamburg,
where he went about eight weeks ago
to buy more bears. He had closed his
season in the variety shows and found
lodgings for his bears and his monkeys
In the stable of the Union Transfer Com
pany at ia West Eighteenth street. Then
he and his wife sailed for Europe and re-
turned with several cages of young bears
and monkeys on Thursday.
He went around to the stable yesterday
morning to give the members OF his original
troupe some exercise and a bath. Tony.
black Himaiayan bear, which Wincher-
mann bought five years ago from Hagen
beck when it was only year old, was the
last to take his turn in the bathtub.
Winchermann went to the second floor OF
the stable, unlocked Tonys cage and
ordered him to come out. The bear hadn't
seen his master for eight weeks, but he
obeyed the command good-naturedly,
waddled out of his cage and downstairs
to the ground floor Of the stable.
There Winchermann put him through
some of his PAGES and gave him a good
scrubbing Tony submitted to it without
so much as growl. When the bath was
over Winchermann said:
Now, Tony, you're clean again. Go
back upstairs and dry off.
and his master turned for a moment to
J look into the cage of one of the newly ar
rived monkeys. He had hardly turned
his back, when he felt ms if somebody had
torn off the calf of his left leg. In another
instant he realized what had happened,
for Tony, leaping from behind, reared
on his hind legs and knocked Winchermann
down with one blow OF his paw.
Having downed his man, the bear sprang
upon him and, before anybody in the stable
could give any assistance, the brute had
torn away the biceps Of the left arm, then
eaken mack at the right arm and finally,
sitting down on his masters chest, had pro-
ceeded to chew up the left leg at his leisure
Winchermann' cries brought assistance
The bear was felled with a truck stake
and Winchermann was taken to the hos
pital The surgeons were three hours III
patching and stitching him up, and last
evening it was said that If the man survived
his injuries il would be two months before
he would be able TO do anything, and even
then 1t was doubtful if Winchermann would
ever again have the Use of his left arm.
Last evening Mrs. Winchermann, who
had been with her husband all day, said
mir. Winchermann is resting fairly com
fortably now, but il was the narrowest
escape he ever had. just before we went
abroad he had to punish Tony severely
Bears have long memories and are very
cunning. The probabilities are that the
brute took the first chance he got to square
accounts"