The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1938-07-21

And that brings is t. Lotie Howco who, on February 1e, 1881, was
visiting with her mother and her sister, Inez, O a farm nar Osborn.
S. C.. where a wild boar hunt "a in progress.
A bunch of men from the neighborhood had been out all day. comb
ing the marshes with packs of dogs. roping bears and herding them
with sx or seven boars-bI. vicious fellows, waisthigh to a ma
and weighing three }. four hundred pounds-animas that could break a
mans leg with their huge, crunching jaws and which frequently did dis.
embowel the fierce dogs that hunted them with sweeping blow
of their long, protruding tusks.
The men backed the wagon up to a strong enclosure and were
untying the boars n by ne and cautiously proddng them into
the pen. Lottie, her mother and sister were standing njr by,
watching the proceedngs-and then-suddenty-a terrible thing
happened.
Attack by a Savage Boar.
The men had unloosed the largest boar and were prodding it toward
the pen when it turned, squeezed between the wagon and the enclosure,
and rushed out into the open, crashing its great teeth and foaming at
the mouth. 1t headed straight for Lotie's mother. who vas standing near
est the pen, and before she could turn to run, it a on her, throwing
her in a heap to the ground, biting at her savagey.
1t was the most terrible sight Lotie ever beheld in her life. Charlie,
even move. Sister Inez, paralyzed with fright, clapped her hands over
her ars and began to scream. Lotte herself "a numb with terror
and for precious seconds-seconds that seemed like a ltetime-she stood
rooted to the spot. All the rest Of the me were or the other side of the
pen, or N the wagon, too far away to reach thu. spot in time to do any good.
Then. all of a sudden, Louie came to life. She can't explain
what happened, but it seemed as if a spring inside her had sud-
denly been released. She sprang forward, threw herself on the
snaring, screaming, rolling tumble of woman and beast, singled
out the boar and began beating and mauing and scratching it
with insane frenzy.
Surprised Him, So He Fled.
The boar could have killed Lottie with one thrust of its sharp pointed
tusk. Lotie's mother had been saved from death thus far only by her
long skirts and thick clothing. But taken by surprise, the boar couldn't
quite figure out this wild new menace that came beating and kicking at
his Misunderstanding and scratching at his eyes. 1t was a thing of fury.
1t didn't seem ne whit afraid of the boar. And an animal will often
reason that if you are not afraid of him, then he must have good cause
to be afraid of you.
This one did just that. snarling and granting, he turned to fee from
this inexpHcable nw attack. He got about three steps. and then he
found himself tangled up in the ropes of the men who, by this time,
had come around from the other side of the pen to deal with him.
The next thing Lotte knew, she was back or the porch Of the farm
house with her mother, looking V herself for injuries. She doesn't
even remember helping her mother to the porch, and to this day she
can't figure out how she came out of that fight without a scratch O her
body.
coDyrght-wNU Service.