The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1908-11-06

bell were out cutting cordwood when
they came upon bears den, and
seeing what they supposed was the
bears nose projecting from the win
ter quarters of Mr.. Bruin, the big
Frenchman, after some deliberation,
struck a savage blow at the supposed
bears nose with his keen axe blade.
AS Soon as the blow was struck un-
derbrush and snow were flying in all
directions, and the two woodsmen
then perceived that what they had
reality the bears foot, which the axe
had completely severed. By this time
the bear had made savage attack.
| Campbell, the smaller of the two
men, succeeded in getting out of
reach, but the big Frenchman, con-
ceited over his personal strength, pre-
ferred a personal encounter with the
bear to running.
Debois raised his heavy double
bitted axe to strike the bear, but in
the twinkling of an eye the bear had
raised his forepaw, which was unin-
| jered, and threw the axe to one side,
| and the next instant the bear had the
| big Frenchman in his embrace. The
man, an adept at wrestling, succeed
ed in tripping his antagonist, the bear
| falling heavily to the ground with
Debois on top of him. In this posi-
| tion the Frenchman actually pinned
| the bear to the ground, holding the
| bears legs apart and clutching Bruin
| firmly by the throat. By this time
| both man and bear were covered with
| blood.
At this juncture two other woods
men came along and wanted to dis
patch the bear with their axes, but,
| under the direction of the big French
man, they quietly opened an artery
In the bears neck and let the animal
slowly bleed to death in the French
mans arms. When the men returned
to camp and Louis Debois was thor
| oughly washed it was ascertained
that he had not received scratch.
Louis Debois, the hero of this en-
counter, weighs 240 pounds and is
six feet eight inches tall and twenty
eight years of age, and halls from the
lumber camps on the Ottawa Rivel
NOT KINDERGARTEN WORK.
There are two ways of keeping
| school" One Is with desk, a book
and ruler; the other Is with boat,
harpoon and a sokn. Mr.. Russell
Jeaffreson tells of the less known
method in his book, "The Farce ISL
ands." The chief industry of the peo-
pie is the killing Of the bottle-nosed
whale. When boat sights grind,
or school, 1t makes for the shore and
runs up coat on the mast for sig
nal.
I Presently all the boats from the
sea and from the neighboring islands
| come fiocking in, making all haste.
The villagers set fire to damp straw,
the smoke of which, seen from afar,
gives out the news.
When the craft are collected they
start for the whales. The first thing
to be done is the driving, work of
considerable art. The keeping of
the school" is very difficult, and a
matter of great pride among the
| sailors.
The boats arrange themselves in
great semi-circle to the seaward of
the school. Then with shouts and
tho spashing of oars and stones the
terrified animals are driven to the
nearest whale bay.
The principal implement used in
this process is the sokn, large.
rounded stone with a hole bored
through it, and fastened to stout
strip Of whale skin twenty or more
feet in length. This is swung around
the head and splashed into the water,
causing a great disturbance.
The driving of the school,, some
times consisting Of 1000 whales close
ly packed, is accomplished with skill
and without stampede. 1t is guided
to bay with shelving bottom and
a sloping sandy beach, where the
whales in terror strand themselves.