Butler Citizen

A Pennsylvania Bear Story.

One of the oldest residents of Kane McKean county, Pa., is Mr. Joseph Jones. He is an eccentric old fellow, and spends nearly all his time with his gun. He was 66 this fall. At the age of 12 he was a crack shot, and but few in this vicinity could then beat him. That place was then little better than an unbroken wilderness, in which roamed thousands of deer, bears, panthers and other wild animals. Mr. Jones says he has shot and killed over 3,500 deer, 325 bears, besides a great many panthers, wildcats, and catamounts.

Mr. Jones spends several weeks every fall in a small hut he has built in the midst of the forest, going there just as soon as the law permits deer hunting. He had a remarkable tussle with a big bear the other day, in which he vanquished the beast, but received serious injuries himself.

While crossing a marsh a mile from his cabin he discovered footprints of a bear. He soon found bruin's home in a cave in a rock ridge a few hundred feet away, and on a bed of leaves were lying two little cubs no bigger than kittens. He had captured the prize and was retreating when he encountered an immense she-bear, the mother of the cubs, who had scented the stranger.

Before Mr. Jones could draw his rifle to his shoulder the animal was upon, and grasping him in her paws, gave him such a terrible squeeze that he fainted, when the bear, thinking him dead released her grip. He fortunately regained his consciousness quickly, and while the old bear was playing with her cubs, the plucky hunter drew his rifle and shot her in the side. The bullet did not strike the animal's heart, and as the brute dashed at him again Jones drew his hunting knife, and with one bold stroke nearly severed the bear's head from her body. Congratulating himself upon his escape, the hunter picked up the cubs and started homeward.

He had gone but a short distance however, when he met another bear the mate of the one he had just killed. His rifle was unloaded. Unsheathed his clasp knife as the beast approached him, he plunged it into his throat, but he had caught him for the fatal hug It was a struggle for life or death, and the brave hunter fought desperately During the struggle the pair reached the edge of a cliff fully a hundred feet high and sloping at an angle of 45 degrees down to a small creek. As the animal grabbed Jones they slid over the edge of the slope and began rolling down. Jones was carried with the bear, and every foot of the distance traversed added to their velocity.

When they reached the foot of the slope they struck against a tree killing the bear and breaking two of Jones' ribs and dislocating his right arm.

He was picked up in an insensible condition and brought to his home in this village, where he now lies in a critical condition. The male bear he killed weighed 484 pounds.