Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-12-25


ready Walter threw out the first
bird and the hunt was on.
Harry Kopel got the first shot.
He has a steady hand. At IS he
puts out hundreds of brimful mar
TINS without ever splitting a drop.
The bird circied in front Of him
and started going away. He
dropped it at so yards.
A Bird for George
had the second one and missed.
Someone behind me dropped it. g..
1t became bit embarrassing to-
ward the end. On my left were
Gen. Twining, Senator Bourke Hick-
enlooper Of Iowa and Representa-
tive A. L. DOC" Miller of Nebraska.
All had proved themselves to be
excellent shots.
Probably because I was the worst
shot. Walter Clark would say:
Here's another one for George"
Apparently he was trying to
throw them right into the barrel
of my gun, but most of them were
flying pretty high when they got
to me. brought down two or
three. The Austrian Ambassador,
DR.. Karl Gruber, a huge, handsome
man in plus fourSS and ski boots,
was on my right, sharing honors
with me in missing them. But
Senator Willis Robertson Of Vir-
ginia, farther to the right. was an
excellent shot. He brought down
several that we missed. The sun
was in his eyes so he would let the
bird fly over him. turn around and
get the bird going away.
In all 100 birds were released
and only about 20 got away.
The Main Event
But the bear hunt itself tops
everything in my memory book.
We went out Saturday morning
after an 8 o'clock breakfast. The
men who were to run the bears
over the mountain had showed OF
earlier.
The men who went over the
mountain were headed by Raymond
Doyle. an employee Of the Home
stead Lumber Co., who is o pro-
fessional hunter during the season.
He has a rare hound named Old
Smokey, who has been trained to
run bear and ignore deer. There
were six other hounds. They would
run deer If let loose. But once
Old Smokey starts after q bear
they will follow him. Dick Owens,
a slight young man with Eastman
Kodak, and Earl Martin and Andy
Omohundro, two husky young buSi-
nessmen from Charlottesville, each
had brace Of hounds on leash.
About two hours after the men
with the dogs had left, the men
who were to kill the bear started
UP the mountain through o wooded
hollow behind the house. Ewart A.
Hester. our hosts brother. led the
hunters. He was followed closely
by Senator Malone, whose rifle
was equipped with telescope sights.
favored in the West.
The, Senator was warned that
the bear would look SO large
through the telescope that he
would be frightened. He said 1t
helped his eyesight and he was go
ing to chance 1t.
AS we went up the hollow ''E.
A." Hester directed the rifiemen to
climb the slope on either side at
200 yard intervals. First. Capt.
Carl Dillinger Of the Maryland
State Police climbed to the right.
Then Harry Kopel took q position
to the left. Next MIR. Scudder. the
member of the House from Cali
fornia, climbed up the left bank.
Then Bill Roy, assistant parlia-
mentarian of the House climbed the
same side. I was directed to turn
to the left just beyond him. E. A.
and the Senator went UP to the top
of the mountain. a couple Of hun
dred yards above me.
The Beer Gun
sat down near the crest Of the
slope in a position where there
were no twigs for q dozen feet. The
only rifles I had ever fired were 22s
at Ninth street shooting galleries
and at amusement parks. And
here had q Winchester 30.06 high
velocity super-penetrating big game
rife.
checked the safety. It was on.
Then I drew a bead on a spot
below and cautiously pulled the
trigger. To my relief, 1t just
clicked. II the bear came through
the lowest part Of the hollow, there
was just one small hole through
the saplings where I could hit him
without twig DETECTION. I made
ready to do so.
In the next two or three hours
I learned how silent and lifeless
the forest can be. A slight breeze
that started the dried oak leaves
rafting against the twigs sounded
like the crash Of high turf on the
beach. A few crows were cawing
across the valley. But near me
there wasn't even q chickadee.
Once I heard a wild turkey COB
bling across the hollow but I never
saw him.
Finally there was q hallooing
from the ridge. and I saw Old
Smokey go by below me as uncon-
cerned as could be.
One by one we came down from
our positions. Representative
Scudder Joined me on the walk
back.
A Security Leok
ut is quite apparent" he said.
that there has been a security
break here--what the vulgar call q
leak. Someone warned the bears
about this raid. I will see If Sen
ator Malone will take it up before
the Permanent Investigations Sub
committee Of the Senate"
When we got back to the house,
there was a big black bear hanging
from a tripod. Our host tried to