The Detroit times., 1908-06-12
BEARS FIGHT FOR.
As MINUTES IN
BRONX zoo
FIERCE STRUGGLE WHEN CRAZY
MIKE, A JAPANESE, ENTERS
DEN or FiTz,f AN AMERICAN
BLACK BEAR.

NEW lOHhs June lV.-Au Ahtii
can black bear and japanese bear
fought for AZ minutes minutes in the
Bronx ZOO. One thousand persons
looked on. Pale faced women shrieked
This is awful! Separate them!"
Open mouthed. staring small boys
Rugged themselves in shiyering de-
light.
IL would have been a fight 10 the
the death but that a general alarm"
brought Director Hornaday and all the
Keepers TO the den where the combat
ants were locked IN fierce embrace.
Then, torn. bleeding and exhausted.
the bears were driven apart. Both
were severely hurt. DR.. w. Z. Blair.
who attends the Zoo folks, does not
know how badly yet.
There never was such a bear fight
outside the jungle" said Director Hor-
naday confidently.
Crazy Mike Was an Intruder.
The Yankee bear, which is called
Fitz because It's fighter. mad good
cause TO attack the Japanese, which is
called Crazy Mike because sometimes
IL seefns TO be a candidate for an ur-
sine lunatic asylum. Mr.. and Mrs.
Crazy Mike live in fine den. and
right next door live Mr.. and Mrs. Fitz
in q pit just as good. Between the
dens, under the rocks beneath which
the bears sleep. is a gate. Somehow
or other Crazy Nike opened this gate
and. wandering from his own freside,
shuffied into the black bears den and
engagingly said How dye do?" TO
Mrs. Fitz.
The American bear, smaller, but
older and more wiry than the Japan
csc, rushed at Cray Mike and the
spectators said, gave him a cuff on
the head that Bob Fitzsimmons would
have admired. Then, growing saw.
agely, the bears went at Ii. Neither
tried to sidestep nor shirk. The long
duel was fought In a space OF % feet,
between the gate and the swimming
pool IN the center of -tAe-dea,-N Now
rearing on their launches, the bears
struck 'round-arm blows. tearing each
Others hides until their shaggy coats
were ensanguined; again, on all fours.
and circling warily. they bit and drove
in their sharp claws when crimsoned
froth dripped from their painting
inoulAios AON lhCg bAaPpAI anu AoAtNN
over and over trying 10 crush In each
others ribs.
Tried TO Drown Fitz.
The Japanese bear knocked FitZ
into the pool and tried nightly To
drown him. Just then a woman ran
20 Keeper Spicer. crying; THE bears
are killing each other; oh. it's dread
fulT Spicer did not hurry; he thought
some bears were at play. But when
he reached the den he knew death
struggle was going on.
Spicer grabbed six stout. heavy
clubs which are used as bear persuad-
ers on occasion. and bravely entered
the den. He did not wait to get too
close to the fighters. for chance blow
would have smashed his skull or
broken his arm so from a few feet
he hurled the clubs at the combatants.
Five hit either Crazy Mike or Fitz.
The clubs might have been straws for
all the bears cared, but the sixth club
hit the Japanese on the snout and
down he went dazed. FitZ seized him
by the throat.
Bears cost money. SO Spicer sent
the general alarm which is used when
a tiger escapes from its cage or an ele-
plant goes on the rampage or some
such pleasing incident occurs. Direc-
tor Hornaday, William Ferguson, Grief
keeper OF the bears; Keepers Truman
and Bayreuther and a dozen others.
armed with prong5 and clubs, an
swered the alarm a-running. Just as
they reached the den the bears. in
desperate hug. fell into the pool. BY
this time all the animals around the
Dit knew something was wrong and
filled the air with their frightful cries:
the buffaloes. on their range next the
bear pits, were raising the mischief,
Finally the keepers beat and prodd-
ed the bears away from each other
and drove into his own pit the Jap
anese, streaming with blood and limp
ing. like his antagonist. Both bears
were so exhausted that. breathing la
boriously. they fell at full length.
But, after resting a few minutes. as
IL by common impulse, they jumped
up rushed to the dividing bars and
clawed and bit each other Then Mr..
,Hornaday told Keeper Ferguson to
'tak&.he Japanese to a cage 500 feet
away. Keepers arranged benches IN
line TO restrain the crowd and Crazy
Mike. so weary he could scarcely lift
leg, was forced along the public
path TO the cage, one minute being
whipped, the next tempted by a piece
OF juicy meat.
n N an lHlTn TIlTTT