ENCOUNTER OF A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER WITH A BEAR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 80, 21 March 1876, Page 4

ENCOUNTER OF A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER WITH A BEAR.

(New York Herald, 2 3rd December.) Two women, mother and daughter, named Butler, living on that spur of the Catskills of which Mount Prospect ie the termination, recently had an encounter with a bear, in which was manifested a heroism worthy of those early daya in American history when the settlers were compelled to be continually on the alert against ferocious beasts, and still more ferocious Indians. Mrs Butler is a woman about thirtyfive, and her duughter Jennie is sixteen. Jt is the custom of the husband and father to he absent in the woods sometimes two or three days, leaving his wife and daughter alone with a good watch dog and rifle in the cabin. He was away on Sunday last. About five o'clock on that day the daughter Jennie was preparing the evening meal for the hogs, which ware squealiug in the peo, a log enclosure, a short distance from his house. A Budden change in the cries emitted from the sty, aud the furious barking of the dog Joe, caused both mother and daughter to run to the door of the cabin and look out. What was their amazement to see a large black bear with a shote weighing sixty or seventy pounds tucked in under one fore leg, and trying to climb out of the enclosure. The Butlers had lost three hogs already by the inroads of bears or other animals, and the women resolved to rescue this one if possible. The dog was making a great fuss at the outside of the pen, but was afraid to jump inside and attack the bear. Mrs Butler seized a heavy maul, used in driving wedges iv logs, and her daughter snatched the axe from the wood pile, and the two moved at ouce to the pen. They jumped inside the enclosure. Emboldened by this, the dog also leaped over, and commenced harassing Bruin in the rear. The woman rained blows beavy and thick on the bear, which presently dropped the pig, and turning on the dog, had him ia his embrace in a twiukliug and crushed him to death. The efforts of the women to despatch the bear were redoubled. The beat was now raging with fury, and advanced with his jaws distended upon the girl, who was yielding her axe unmercifully. With one sweep of his great paw he struck the weupon from her hands, and the next minute had pressed her into a corner of tbe pen; but the terrible blows that were showered upon him by Mrs Butler with the maul forced him to leave the girl before doing her any great injury. He

rushed furiously upon Mrs Butler, who managed to eludi his grasp and retained possession of her weapon; which she used to .good advantage. ' She shouted to Jenny to hasten to the bouse and bring the rifle and shoot the bear. The girl jumped from the pen, her clothing nearly all torn from her person and hurried after the gun. The blood from the wounds inflioted on the bear by axe and maul poure r d;6n the floor of the pen and over the shaggy coat of the monster. Round and round the enclosure the contest waged, until at last the bear struck the woman's weapon with his paw and Bent it flying on to the ground. He pressed Mrs Butler into a corner, where she dropped in a crouching position, and placed her haods over her eyes expecting to be torn to pieces the next instant. Just then her daughter returned with tbe rifle. She pushed the barrel through a clink in the log and fired. The bear staggered an instant on his haunches and fell back dead. The ball had entered and passed clear through his heart, as was afterwards ascertained. With the removal of the great tension on her nerves Jennie fell lifeless to the ground, and ie was a long time before her mother could summon strength to climb out of the pen to her aid. She finally got her into the cabin, and succeeded in restoring her to consciousness. Neither of the women were hurt to any great extent, the daughter having the flesh torn under her arms where the bear seized her, and being considerably scratched about the body.