686 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Nov. 29, 1913. 
as much as 60 kg. flesh of a bullock. In another 
case it had pulled out a whole shank of 50 kg. 
weight and bounded with this load in the jaws 
over a fence of 1Y2 m. height. The bites on the 
oxen are very deep. The distance of the two 
laniary teeth is 10 cm., while those of the wolves 
have but 6 cm., those of the bears and tigers 
8 cm. Moreover, a ball of hair was found, which 
the beast had lost by the counter-thrust of a 
furious bullock. A skinner declared this ball 
could come only from a lion. 
The Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria 
shows very much interest in the “Bauernschreik.” 
He inspected several times the divers kinds of 
trails which the hunters on the Stubalpe had 
moulded in gypsoplasts. The director of the far- 
famed imperial menagery to Sihonbrunn near Vi¬ 
enna is charged to report orderly to the Emperor 
about the progress of the singular hunt. 
Besieged By A Bear 
Two of the first English settlers in the town 
of Addison, Vermont, were John Strong and Za- 
dok Everest. Early in the fall of 1776 Strong 
and Everest had to go to Albany for provisions. 
Pioneer women seldom worried, but for some 
reason Molly Strong felt uneasy after her hus¬ 
band had gone. She and her sons got in a 
good supply of fuel, and did the chores early. 
When they came back to the cabin, the baby 
was crying for his supper, and Mrs. Strong gave 
him a cup of warm milk, and sat him down in 
front of the fireplace. She had just swung the 
kettle of samp from the fire, when she heard a 
noise. Looking round, she saw the blanket that 
served for a door swing aside, as a great bear 
thrust her head into the room. The children 
screamed, and the bear backed out in haste; but 
Molly Strong knew that she would return. 
“Quick, children!” she said, as she caught up 
the babv. “Climb the ladder. Let sister go up 
first—now Johnnie—now Frank—hurry—hurry!” 
When the others were safe in the loft, Mrs. 
Strong climbed up with the baby, and drew the 
ladder after her. She laid it across the hole, and 
then she and the children sat down and waited. 
The floor of the loft was made of round poles 
laid closely together, but not fastened; it was 
dangerous to move about on it. 
Peering down through the pole floor, they 
listened and watched for the bear to come back. 
They could hear her moving round the house, 
and once a big paw crashed through the oiled 
paper at the window hole. Finally, she came to 
the door, and, after blinking uncertainly at the 
fire, walked in. Two cubs followed her. The 
old bear presently upset the pan of milk on the 
table, and the cubs began to lap it up eagerly. 
“I’d like a taste of that myself,” Frank whis¬ 
pered. 
“So would I,” Johnnie replied. “I’m awful 
hungry.” 
Next the bear found the pudding-kettle, and 
took a mouthful of the boiling samp. Jumping 
back with a cry of pain and rage, she broke the 
pot with a swift blow of her paw, and then sat 
up on her haunches, growling and whining, and 
began to dig the pudding out of her mouth. The 
cubs sat and watched her in grave wonder. 
That was too much for the children, who 
burst into laughter. Instantly the bear gave a 
loud roar, and rushed toward the hole with the 
ladder across it. Mrs. Strong gave hurried or¬ 
ders : 
“Get me a pole, Frank, quick! Now get 
another. Punch her if she tries to climb up. 
Be careful-—don’t fall through.” 
Under forest regulations in Colombia, rub¬ 
ber gatherers are required to give the trees a 
rest period in tapping them for gum. The size, 
number, and location of the incisions are regu¬ 
lated by law. In the United States similar regu¬ 
lations are in force in the tapping of pines for 
turpentine on the Florida national forest. 
Salmon In Ireland 
But our conversation, as is generally the 
custom among anglers, happily ran often in fish¬ 
ing channels. Wonderful stories were told of 
the capture of big fish—the last achievement al¬ 
ways outdoing its predecessor. Many were worth 
preserving, but perhaps none more than the fol¬ 
lowing, in which, however, the victory was not 
on the side of the angler. The major was the 
spokesman, and here is his story: 
I do not think that in any river in Ireland 
salmon attain such a size as they do in the 
Shannon. I have never had the good fortune 
ro be engaged with one of the monsters of that 
river, but I have seen specimens from time to 
time during my long fishing experience, which 
"an angler might even feel proud of exhibiting 
as trophies of his skill. Among others I well 
remember a salmon which weighed forty-two 
pounds taken by a relative of mine a few years 
ago at Castle Connell. I was not present at the 
capture, but from the graphic and animated ac¬ 
count of it given by the successful sportsman 
I can well imagine that the scene must have 
been one of rare excitement. My relative had 
hooked his fish from the bank in a deep and 
rapid part of the river, above and below which 
were ledges of jagged rocks, over which the 
water tumbled in foaming cataracts. If the 
salmon passed either barrier, he must inevitably 
have escaped, as the angler could not have fol¬ 
lowed the fish up or down stream, the spot where 
he stood being a jutting point from which there 
was no egress but at the place where he had 
entered. In such a situation, and with an antago¬ 
nist of so much weight and strength, both great¬ 
ly increased by the rapidity of the current, noth¬ 
ing but the most consummate skill and the utmost 
strain of good ash, gut and silk judiciously ap¬ 
plied could have gained the victory. 
But even this splendid salmon is quite 
thrown into the shade by one which was hooked 
four seasons back; higher up the Shannon be¬ 
tween the fords of Meelick and Banagher, and 
which formed the great topic of talk among the 
fishermen in the neighborhood for many a day. 
1 he manner of it was thus: One morning in 
June, about 5 o’clock, a professional fisherman 
residing in the last mentioned town was plying 
his craft on his own account, not happening just 
then to be engaged by any of the amateur ang¬ 
lers who visit those fishing waters. At one of 
the favorite "stands” he rose and hooked a 
salmon, but as it took the fly under water, he 
could form no just estimate of its size. But he 
had not long contracted an alliance with his fish 
when from its peculiar play, well understood by 
the experienced angler, he felt assured that it 
was a heavy salmon. He, therefore, made up 
his mind that the conflict would be long and 
arduous, more especially as he was alone in his 
boat, not an easy thing to manage, by the way, 
while playing a vigorous salmon. However, as 
my friend Davy was no novice in the art, he 
set to work systematically and coolly, giving line 
or winding up as occasion might require, and 
every now and then rowing strenuously in order 
to keep as nearly as possible over his fish. This 
exercise he maintained steadily for about three 
hours, never once obtaining a view of the salmon, 
which, as generally occurs with very heavy fish, 
obstinately persisted in working near the bottom 
of the deepest part of the river. By this time the 
salmon had made his way up stream close to 
Banagher, more than two miles and a half from 
where he was hooked. Having gone thus far, he 
stopped, and retracing his course downward, pro¬ 
gressed in the same steady and determined man¬ 
ner, exhibiting not the slightest weariness or 
diminution of strength. Not so Davy, on whom 
the continuous and anxious exertion was begin¬ 
ning to tell. He was, in fact, nearly “dead beat,” 
when a most opportune ally appeared on the 
scene. This was his brother, in the employment 
of Captain W., an English gentleman, who was 
residing at a fishing lodge near Meelick, and who 
had sent him on an errand to Banagher. 
In the execution of his orders he was rowing 
up the river when he fell in with his brother 
Davy, “sorely bested” by his tussle with the big 
fish. With such odds the gallant salmon might 
now well have been looked on as doomed to the 
gaff, and certainly so thought the two brothers. 
With a fresh hand at the tackle and the boat 
properly guided, they felt confident of a speedy 
victory. But they were mistaken. The game 
went on as before, steadily, heavily, doggedly. 
Another hour or more passed. Davy’s brother 
could stay no longer. His errand had already 
been too long delayed, so handing the rod back 
to Davy and getting into his own boat, he left 
the affair just as he had found it. Another long 
rough-handed bout had Davy, when after the 
lapse of another hour or two the brother on his 
way back from Banagher found him still at 
work, and apparently without having come a 
whit nearer the desired conclusion. Having re¬ 
lieved him of the rod just long enough to permit 
him to rest himself, he hastened home to Cap¬ 
tain W., to whom he related what he had seen, 
and obtained permission to return to his 
brother’s assistance. 
The amazing powers and endurance of the 
salmon were now most severely tested, as the 
two brothers relieved each other alternately, and 
adopted a system of aggression and persecution 
which compelled the fish to exert himself much 
more frequently and strenuously than he had 
been inclined to do hitherto. Like most very 
large salmon when hooked, he had trusted main¬ 
ly to his vis inertia, and sinking to the bottom 
of a deep pool, he sulked and defied all attempts 
by the rod and line to draw him thence. Now, 
however, his pertinacious enemies provided them¬ 
selves with large stones, which they dropped 
down over him, and even strove to dislodge him 
by the application of a long pole. In a paroxysm 
of rage or terror, occasionad by some such 
poacher-like malpractices, he forgot himself so 
far as to afford his persecutors the first distinct 
view of his silvery proportions. With a sudden 
rush he made the check wheel scream, as the 
line hissed through the water for some thirty 
or forty yards, and he leaped up several feet in 
the air, falling back with a clap and a splash 
which were heard at a great distance. Through¬ 
out the day this protracted struggle attracted 
numerous spectators. All the anglers left their 
sport to watch the progress of the conflict, and 
all in turn becoming wearied, retired, until at 
nightfall the two brothers and the salmon had 
it all to themselves. Captain W. was sitting 
after dinner with some brother sportsmen who 
were his guests, and the bottles had performed 
sundry rapid gyrations round the table, when the 
