Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1909-04-17
STORIES OF BEAR HUNTERS;
EXCITING PURSUITS OF BRUIN

bear showed its nose out of the hole anc
began TO snarl and snap its jaws.
From hole on the opposite side,
where Balch was standing, a second
bear stuck its nose out and snapped
and snarled. These apparitions were
so unexpected that both men dropped
then axes. Palens AK slipped into the
hole II had made in the heap OF
leaves and sticks and Balch's dropped
down among the roots of the tree.
The men had seen bears before, and
as soon as they recovered from the
start the appearance of these two gave
them and had sworn some at them
selves for being scared into dropping
their axes they got heavy cudgel each
and went to whacking the noses of the
bears, which caused the noses to dis.
appear within the mound of leaves and
sticks.
"Balch had rife, but II was home,
ann home was three miles away. He
wanted those bears, but there was no
way to make sure of them without
gun, so Palen said that II Ralch would
go home and get his gun Palen would
stand guard over the bears and keep
,em from getting away until Balch gor
back.
Joe started on a run for home. He
ran all the way there and all the way
back with the gun, he says, and jim
says IL must be so, for Joe was gone
less than an hour. But that hour had
been tense time for Jim.
Joe had scarcely started for his gun
before the bears attempted to get out
from beneath that roof with fire in
their eyes. First one bear would en-
deavor TO come out at one of the holes,
when Jim would whack II on the nose
with his club. BY the time II was beat
en- back the other bear would make a
break to get out of the hole on its side
of the mound.
They kept Joe jumping from one
side of the mound to the other, to and
| fro. and constantly swinging his club.
| II Joe had been gone 10 minutes long
| er Jim would have had to drop and
surrender to the bears.
Joe got back with the gun in time
| to relieve Jim and rescue him. Jim
| dropped his club and stepped back.
Now come out, darn you," he yelled
! to the bears.
But the bears wouldn't come out.
| Whether they were shocked at jim. s
| language or knew there was man out
| there with gun, Jim nor Joe doesn {
say, but they wouldn't even show the
| tip of their nose at either hole.
After vainly trying various means to
| induce the bears to come out, Joe Balch
| dropped piece of blazing pine into one
| of the holes. Both bears then came out
of the den with a rush that dismantled
| ii and Joe killed them"
The Rabbit and the Boys Got Away
Roulette, Pa, Special: Three boys
were hunting rabbits the other day on
the old Nelson place. on the East Fork
of the Snnemahoning. They started
rabbit and it ran into shock of
| corn in the field.
one OF the boys ran to the shock to
kick it and scare the habbit out. The
other two stood ready to shoot 1t when
1t made its appearance.
The rabbit jumped out on one side of
the shock, but neither boy shot at 1t,
for on the other side a bear tumbled
out of the shock and rising on its
hind feet surveyed the youngsters as II
in astonishment. The boys got away
| So did the rabbit.
| The bear was killed by hunter
James Webber, in the same field nexi
|