ENCOUNTER OF A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER WITH A BEAR.

Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 2, 8 April 1876, Page 2

ENCOUNTER OF A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER WITH A BEAR.

(sew vork her Aim.) Two women, mother and daughter, named Butler, Hying on that spur of the Catskill of which Mount Prospect is the termination, recently had an encounter with a bear, in which was manifested a heroism worthy of those early days in American history when the settlers were compelled to be continually on the alert against ferocious Indians. Mrs Butler is a woman about thirty five, and her daughter Jennie is sixteen. It is the custom of the husband and father to he absent in the woods sometimes two or throe days, leaving his wife and daughter alone with a goon watch dog and rule 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 were squealing in the pen, a log enclosure, a short distance from the house. A sudden change in the cries emitted from the sty, and 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 hear with a slioto weighing sixty or seventy pounds tucked in under

one fore leg, and trying to climb out of the enclosure. The Butlers hud lost three hogs already by the inroad.-, of bears or other animals, and the won. U 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 boar, Mrs Butler seized a heavy maul, used in drivingwedges in logs, and her daughtersnatehed the axe from the wood pile, and the two moved at once to the pen. iucy jumped inside the enclosure. Emboldened by this, the dog also leaped over, and commenced harassing Bruin in the rear. The women rained blows heavy and thick on the bear, which presently dropped the pig, and turning on the dog, had him in his embrace in a twinkling and crushed him to death. The efforts of the women

to despatch tlio bear were redoubled. The bear was now raging with fury, and advanced with his jaws distended upon the girl, who was wielding her axe unmercifully. With one swoop of his great paw he 'struck the weapon from hoihands, and the next minute had pressed her into the corner of the pen; but the terrible blows that were showered upon him bj 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 elude his grasp and retained possession of her weapon, which she used to good advantage. She shouted to Jennie to hasten (o'* the house 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 tin; nun. Toe blood from the wounds in-lih-ted on the hoar by the axe and maul poured on the floor of the pen and over the shnggv coat of the monster. Bound and round the enclosure the contest waged, until at last the hear struck, the woman's weapon with his paw and sent it dying on to the ground. Ho pressed Mrs Butler into a corner, where sire dropped into a crouching position, ami placed her hands over her eyes expecting to he torn to pieces the next instant. Just then her daughter returned with the rifle, tfhe pushed the barrel through a clink in the log and fired. The hear staggered an instant on Ins haunches and fell hack 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 it was a long time before her mother' could summon strength to climb out oB the pen to her aid. She finally got Iwt into the cabin, and succeeded in restoring her to consciousness. Neither of the women were hurt to any groat extent, the daughter having the flesh torn under her arms where the bear seized her and being considerably scratched about the body.