The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-01-12
NORTH CAROLINA BEAR DOG
SORT OF HOUND TT TAKES TO
 HUNT BRUIN.

Peculiar Breed of Dogs Raised by
 Hunters of the Unaka Mountains
 Story of Old Jude, q Famous Fighter,
 and Her Last and Most Desperate
 Struggle.
 MT. Marshall w. Bell, young att torney of Cherokee, while in Charlotte Wednesday night told Charlotte Ob- server man an interesting story of a breed of bear dogs that has been in his section of the State for decades.
 Black bears in the the Unaka Noun tains, which form part of the Great Smokies, and lie about the Divide, be- tween the Tellico river on the one side and the Santeetla and Big and little Snowbird creeks on the other" said MT. Bell.
 MT. J. H. billiard and others killed seven bears last season, some of which weighed close to 800 pounds. This year, however, Bruin seems to have disap- peared from our country; the chestnut crop was a failure. and it is generally believed that the Graham county bears have migrated to the Mississippi river bottoms; old hunters claim that they do that occasionally when mast Is scarce. But this year is an exception; we usually have plenty of bears.
 "The Plot bear dog is a growth; he has been in the making for many generations, and is just about as good as there is in the business. MT. Jack billiard of Murphy my home town, is a bear hunter, and he keeps a pack of the famous Plott dogs.
 "Old man Plott, the originator of this breed lived in the Balsam Mountains In looks and general appearance the dog is like g. massive cur of the most repulsive sort He will not run any thing but bear and a coon whose scent is something alike. The average one weighs from ninety ito 110 pounds, and his body is knotted with muscles and his most striking quality of charac- ter is grit of the finest grain. He will fight ito the death, and against great odds. He never gives up even when overpowered.
 If you meet him in the road he will give you what belongs to you if he is not interested with in any way, but will take care of himself if forced to do so. There are two ways to deal with him; let him alone or kill him as quick as possible. If you would strike him use a handspike and back it with every bit of physical force that you can murder He is a solmu sort of dog, and makes but few friends. If you trespass on his rights you must kill him.
 Jude, old Jude, was a typical Plott bear hound. She was kept by John Denton, whose home was on a creek in a wild ssection of the mountains. She whelped a litter of puppies. It required days of searching to find her little ones, which had been deposited in a hollow log in a dense thcket of laurel. Like a lion guarding her young, old Jude watched her babies and it required strategy to get them to the house. Denton tried to take the little fellows while Jude was there, but he soon saw Lndt u WOulu pS lliOlS udllSClous tleti to undertake ito steal cubs from bear. Therefore the next time Jude came up for food Denton tied her and then fetched the puppies in. Yes sir, old Jude had a call from the wild.
 "The story of Jude will suffice to show up the Plott dog in the best light She was fine individual. One day when in her prime she led a race after a 300 pound bear and held him at bay until hunter came and shot him, That is the time she came near being killed.
 "The hunt was on Steel Trap ridge, that leads to Snowbird Creek in Gra- ham. The dogs struck the trail early