The Daily Alaska empire., 1930-04-12

recommend any regulation to the
 Department of Agriculture that
 will permit his destruction, nor that
 will result in material depletion Of
 the species. nor is the Secretary of
 Agriculture at all apt to approve
 any such regulation should we fool ishly submit one to him"
 No Hunters Are Hired
 Both MT. Terhune and MT Heint-
 zleman agreed that some one had been spoofing MT. White about timber contractor hiring bear hunt CTS. The Forest Service has good Knowledge of the operations of all firms and individuals cutting tim Der in Southeast Alaska And I have no hesitancy in challenging the statement that any one of them has employed hunters to protect their workmen," MT Heintzleman said. MT Terhune, whose bureau is in charge of big game hunters licenses, readily confirmed this statement. No hunters have been licensed as bear hunters by any firm, timber or otherwise" he said
 Commenting on MT. Whites char acterization of Jack Thayers death as due to his inexperience in the woods MT. Heintzleman said this was far from true. Tt is pity he failed to investigate this case be- fore giving it such wide publicity, he said.
 "Thayer was an experienced for ester, an excellent woodsman who had proved his capacity in the six years he was connected with the Alaska district of the United States Forest Service in Tongass National Forest. He was unusually courage ous and not at all likely to suffer from buck fever He was familiar with fire arms and their use, and at the time was carrying a .30-05 Newton rifle to protect his com panion, Fred Herring and himself. "'
 Attempted 60 70 So
 While no one knows just what did happen, all indications point to Thayer sacrificing himself in an endeavor to do just that thing. Herrings account of the tragedy, i on file here in Forest Service head | quarters contains the only descrip- | ton.
 According to it, he and Thayer 1 had just crossed a muskeg swamp and were entering some scrub tim Der. They had just passed a tree where bear had been measuring" 1 himself Both commented on the 1 freshness of the claw marks and ! the unusual size indicated by the heighth the marks reached on the i tree.
 A noise to the rear and left of the l men drew their attention. Turn ing both saw big brown bear aris- ing from a clump of brush. Her ring, nearest the brute, unarmed, and loaded with a heavy pack, i called, tits a bear" and fled to a tree. The bear, Is feet away, was nearest Herring.
 As he neared the tree he heard a shot and the bear bawled as if hit. Intervening bushes hid both the bear and Thayer from his view, but he could hear sounds as of mauling When, after the lapse of a short time, the sounds ceased, he ventured from his refuge. he found Thayer, badly battered and bitten, suffering from injuries from which he died a few hourse later.
 Whether the bear charged before Thayer shot was not m a terial Thayer was carrying the rifle to protect both himself and Herring, loaded with a big pack and un- armed. Tt seems evident he tried to do so," said MT. Heintzleman He was nearer a safe refuge than Herring and unquestionably could have reached safety had he wanted to desert his unarmed companion. Apparently he chose to interpose himself between the bear and the latter. The brown bear, it is well established, can cover short dis tances at unbelievable speed. One charging over Is feet of space would be atop his victim before he could fire more than once. And this. from Herring's deposition toI the Forest Service seems to be what happened D