The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1908-10-23

BELLED THAT BEAR.
From Big Indian to East Windham
the men in the Catskills are saddened
over the departure Of Elmer Ford,
who for twenty years has held the
title of the champion bear hunter OF
Greene County and who, in his pc
culiar methods of tracking and killing
his quarry, could give cards and
spades to the mightiest nimrods in
the Adirondacks, writes the Black
Dome Valley IN. Y.) correspondent
of the New York World. William
Butts, of East Windham, enjoyed the
reputation up to the time of his
death. Trophies of his prowess are
still displayed in the Butts Hause,
which he kept for many years and
where he had tame bear that in
time became a hopeless victim OF
strong drink. Butts, mighty as he
was on the trail, never did the things
that made Elmer Ford's name a syno-
nym for reckless courage.
1t was Ford's contention that the
keenness of the human eye was su-
perior to brute strength and brute
courage and he demonstrated this on
many occasions. AS many as twenty
times he has entered a bear den un-
armed and chased the animal out
after gazing at him steadily for two
minutes. That was simply to prove
that he possessed hypnotic power
which he could exert at will. His
great feat, however. was to enter
den, crouch on all fours and compel
the bear to leap over him and make
for the open.
This was his invariable practice
when he was accompanied by green
horn for whom he was acting as
guide. In the fall of 1899 an Eng
lishman who had hunted elephants in
Africa and tigers in India visited the
Catskills on the strength OF a story
he heard on shipboard that in the
mountains of Greene and Columbia
Counties could be found the flercest
and largest bears on the American
continent. The visitor brought an
arsenal with him, and after due in
quiry engaged Elmer to take him
through the woods. They struck a
trail on the south side of Windham
High Peak and followed it for eleven
hours, bringing UP At nigntfall IN the
thick brush near the summit Of South
Mountain. In the morning, after g
nights rest wrapped in blankets in
the shelter of a temporary shack,
they came within gunshot of full
grown black bear The Englishman
was given the first shot, and tumbled
bruin over with a shot in the head.
He was much disgusted to find that
he had shot an animS weighing about
400 pounds, when he expected at
least 500 pounds of bear meat.
Il guess those people on the boat
were handing you a lemon" said
Ford. "This is the wrong place to
find grizzlies That b'ar is about as
big as we get 'em, but so long as
you're disappointed I'll try to show
you some fun"
There was an hours rest and
snack of luncheon and Ford led the
way up the mountains side. 1t was
steep and wearisome climb, but
after reaching a clearing the guide
pointed to a big fat rock between
two trees.
Underneath that rock" said he,
els a bar hole. l see by the signs
that ole mister bar is to home. I'm
goin' in to get him. You stay here
and watch ME, and when he comes
out just give it to him
Ford put his rife in the crotch of
his arm and crawled into the den on
all fours. The Englishman watched
him, and as soon as his eyes became
accustomed to the darknes he saw
two cleaning eyes in the farther end
of the cave. Ford advanced to within
three feet of the bears head and then
gave a sudden yelp. The bear, a
female, leaped clear over his back,
dashed out of the entrance to the den,
struck the Englishman in the chest
and bowled him over. Before he
could recover the bear had dashed
through the brush and was out OF
sight.
"Why didn't you shoot?" asked
Ford, as soon as he could stop laugh
ing.
God bless mel" replied the Eng
lishman. Il never heard of boarding
the bear in his den before Indeed, l
was not sure that there was a bear
there at all, don't you know"
In the following autumn Ford laid
wager that he would go into the
a nd CT Of ho1l lc
around bears neck. When he came
back he claimed the stakes, but the
stakeholder said it would be necessary
to prove that he had done what he
agreed.
wait" said Elmer.
Two nights after that he led four
men from Big Indian up the side of
Black Dome and pitched a camp. In
the morning the camp was awakened
by a commotion in the underDrush.
A big she bear came plunging down
the mountain frantic with fear, ap-
parently, for with every jump there
was a clang of an old COW bell fas-
tened around her neck. Behind her
came two cubs, each wearing a string
of sleighbells.
Thought 1 might as we'll do ii
right while 1 was about it," said
Elmer.
TRIALS OF AN EXPLORER.
Frank N. Meyer went out to China
with sort of carte blanche commits
sion from the United States Govern
ment. Here was the proposition for