Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-21
"BUCK FEVER, BY GOSH
Man Who Saw Big Bear Had a Bad
Case of It.

From the New York Tribune.
The old guide sat on the front porch,
1azily blowing smoke at the MOSQUITOES
from his pipe. His theme was the curious
action of people when they see deer or
big game. He called the peculiar action
buck fever
Yes, sir, when I guiding it I saw
lots of people have buck fever They act
the queerest way you ever see when they
get 1t. Why, I have actually seen men
drop their guns on the ground when they
saw a deer, or sometimes they shoot into
the air or into the ground thinking they
actually go plumb crazy. About every man
has way of his own of acting when he's
got the fever. Some will stare and cape
away and not think a thing of their gun.
But the queerest case 1 ever heard of or
see was when / had party from New
York up to Twin Lakes. One of the men
in that party went clean crazy, and it took
him nigh on to an hour before he come
out of it. He wasn't violent, or anything
of that sort, but just out of his head. 1t
was a bear that gave him the buck fever
and l suppose that's why he got it SO bad.
1T was one morning at breakfast time
that it all happened. / was cooking tat
ers Venison and other stuff to eat while
the fellers went down to the brook and
washed themselves. They had all washed
up except one Teller who was late getting
up He went down to the brook alone, and
by and bye he came back. When he came
into the door the first thing he did was to
stand on one foot and swing around on 1T
with his other foot in the air l looked at
him and thought he was doing it for fun,
but / remember afterward that his eyes
sort of bulged out a little. After he swung
around he went to the towel and wiped
his face. After he did that he up and
swung around on the toes Of his foot
again. Then he took his toothbrush and
a cup of water and washed his teeth, and
when he got through III be blowed If he
didn't up and swing around on the toe Of
his shoe with his other foot in the air, just
as he did before.
steve is happy today said one of the
/ fellers; must be he is going to kill deer
Stevenson didn't say word, but planted
himself before the looking glass and be-
gan combing his hair. Pretty quick he
finished, and took another swing around.
He whipped out funny kind of knife and
fixed up his finger nails, swung around,
put on his collar, his tie, then his coat and,
idiotic-like, swung around after he did
each of these things. 1t crazy ac-
lions, but we supposed he was just doing
it for fun. Then he got down his gun,
damned it full of cartridges and started
for the door Where are you going?' said
/. Breakfasts about ready Bearl
bear" said he. and he up and swung
around, and his eyes popped and stuck out
like a scared owls. / jumped and
grabbed my gun and made for the door,
with the other fellows after me. We run
down to the brook. Stevenson came along
and pointed to where he'd seen the bear.
Well, the man had been so long fixing up
that l knew the bear was on the other
side of the mountain by that time. But we
went down to the brook where it had been,
and there, in the sand, was the biggest
tracks of bear 1 ever see
When Stevenson saw them he stuck one
foot in the air, whirled around and fell to
the ground in dead faint. We poured
some whisky down his throat, and before
long he come to. He was weak and shook
all over Did / kill him.? he said. He
seemed to have clean forgot what had hap
pened after he went to the brook to wash.
When we told him what he'd been doing he
seemed surprised. Why he said when
! got through washing / stood up and
looked down the brook and there was an
enormous bear drinking from the water.
l whirIed around on one foot and started
for the camp and the gun, as / suppose.
" Buck fever, by goshr said I, and We all
laughed hard, you bet, for, as say, it was
a most curious case"