6i6 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[April 17, 1909. 
One-Armed Sharpe. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
The bear story of E. H. Kniskern in a recent 
issue of your paper, narrating how a trapper of 
DuBois, Pa., killed a bear with a .38 caliber 
revolver, prompts me to go him at least two 
better and tell how a one-armed man, unaided 
and alone, found and dispatched three bears 
with his axe. 
It took place in Windham township, Wyoming 
county. Pa., on land now owned and occupied 
by the Willcox brothers, and in the year 1839 
Elisha Sharpe, who then lived at Bainbridge, 
N. Y., lost an arm by the premature discharge 
of a cannon, July 3, 1830, while making prepara¬ 
tions for the celebration of Independence Day. 
In 1832 he removed with his wife and two 
small children to Windham township, Wyoming 
county. Pa., at that time a wilderness with deer, 
bear and wolves in plenty, where he purchased 
several hundred acres of timber land, built a 
dam on the headwaters of the Little Mehoopany 
Creek, erected a sawmill and began lumbering 
operations. The sawed lumber was hauled to 
the Susquehanna and rafted down that river to 
Port Deposit, where a limited market was found. 
One day, while at work alone some distance 
from home, his attention was attracted to a 
cavity found by the partial uprooting of a tree. 
Upon investigation he found it occupied, and he 
proceeded forthwith to stir up and rout out the 
occupants. Very soon a bear with a snarl of 
rage appeared in the opening, and before it was 
fairly outside the den a swift blow of the axe 
cleft its skull and it dropped dead at the lum¬ 
berman’s feet. The first bear was quickly fol¬ 
lowed by another, which received a mortal 
wound from the deadly axe and went reeling 
off a few rods into the forest, where it was later 
found and dispatched. Hardly was the second 
bear clear of the opening when a third and 
much larger bear came forth. But the man was 
fully master of the situation. The axe de¬ 
scended again and the third bear fell dead. 
These bears, two yearlings and an old bear 
of gigantic proportions,, were loaded upon 
the sled and taken to the house, and it never 
occurred to this one-armed slayer of three bears 
that he had done anything heroic. It was con¬ 
sidered only a commonplace incident in the 
wilderness life of those days. 
Sharpe, although his left arm was off near 
the shoulder, was an expert axeman, even for 
those time when it was a tool so much used. 
His manner of using an axe in felling a tree 
was to stand with his back to the tree and strike 
backward instead of forward. They tell a story 
of how he once hired to help at the lumbering 
a husky young fellow who prided himself on his 
chopping. When starting for the woods, Sharpe 
picked up an axe and was asked by the man 
what he could do with it. He replied casually 
that he could cut away the brush from around 
the trees to be felled. When the first gigantic 
pine came crashing to the earth the young man 
found that the man with but one arm was a 
skilled axeman. Although he exerted him¬ 
self to the limit the result was the same with 
each succeeding tree, until the fellow got angry 
and quit, not relishing being so badly beaten by 
a man with but one hand. 
A. B. Sharpe, a grandson of Elisha Sharpe, 
now occupies a modern dwelling that stands 
where “one-armed Sharpe,” as he was widely 
known, erected his humble log cabin some 
seventy-seven years ago. 
Although great changes have taken place it 
is still a noted locality for fish and small garfie, 
and I have spent many happy days thereabouts 
with rod and gun, and each season many sports¬ 
men make it their headquarters for a few days’ 
shooting or fishing. Bon Ami. 
Fox Hunting on the Cape. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
One of my earliest experiences in fox hunting 
was on Cape Cod with Col. Earl E. Ryder. 
One morning we had started a fox which I 
saw when he jumped from his covert, but had 
no time to shoot. Our dog. Sport, an English 
foxhound, soon came to my call and at once 
took the trail and followed in full cry until far 
out of hearing. 
I followed in the direction they had taken 
until I came to a point where two roads inter¬ 
sected and where one could see for a long dis¬ 
tance in either direction. A farmer’s house 
stood near by, but I had what appeared to me 
to be a good stand to secure a shot, and there 
I resolved to remain. I ensconced myself be¬ 
neath the screen of some bushes and waited 
patiently for the return of the quarry. 
Nearly an hour passed without my hearing a 
sound and I was fast losing my confidence, when 
I saw down the road in the cart rut something 
which I at first took to be a bunch of leaves 
blown along by the wind and coming directly 
toward me. It was, however, the fox, and I 
had just raised my gun preparatory to giving 
him a salute when I heard someone shout. At 
the sound of the voice the fox stopped, but 
presently started on again. As he did so the 
farmer raised another shout and then the fox 
darted across the road and entered an old field 
where his movements could be plainly seen. 
There was a snake fence bordering this field 
and the fox made for that fence. As soon as 
he got there he ran along parallel with the fence 
for several rods and then jumped over it. Again 
running a short distance he jumped back into 
the field he had left and so continued to do 
until he finally disappeared in the woods. 
It was perhaps half an hour before Sport 
arrived hot on the trail, but he was unable to 
follow that fox beyond the point where the fox 
had first jumped the fence. When the Colonel 
came up I told him the circumstances and he 
said it was the first time his dog had ever been 
fooled in that way. A similar occurrence is 
narrated by C. W. Webber, author of “Old 
Hicks, the Guide,” in his “Romance of Natural 
History.” Fox Hunter. 
Bird News. 
The Avicultural Society of California, with 
head offices at 717 Market street, San Francisco, 
Cal., has established a little magazine of eight 
pages with a cover devoted to the interests of 
the bird fancier. The first and longest article of 
this first number is on Outdoor Aviaries, a sub¬ 
ject that should interest many a country dweller. 
The editor of Bird News is Frederick W. 
D’Evelyn. The business manager is W. W. 
Cooley. 
On the White River. 
Calico Rock, Ark., April 9.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: Duck shooting the past season 
was very fine on the White and other rivers of 
this State. The past winter was very mild, and 
many ducks spent almost the entire winter on 
the splendid feeding grounds among the numer- 
out small lakes and streams in the lowlands of 
Arkansas. 
A party of five sportsmen recently went down 
White River from this place. Our craft was a 
small houseboat built for the trip, and con¬ 
veniently fitted up with comfortable sleeping 
quarters, cook room, etc. The motive power 
was a 2o-horsepower gasolene engine. 
We started Nov. 20. Few ducks are to be 
seen on upper White River, though two fine 
mallards came down at the hands of Hert and 
Light. The second morning opened bright and 
warm, and Light thought the bass would strike, 
so he and I put our rods together, got into a 
rowboat and moved to a likely spot, where I 
made a cast into the rough waters under a 
shoal, and at once my reel began to sing. In 
a few minutes I brought in a aj^-pound black 
bass, and as I turned to Light, I saw that he 
had on a fish that was even better than mine. 
In a short while w-e had eight fine bass. We 
dropped down to lock No. i and found the 
Government boat, Cleveland, dry-docked in the 
lock for repairs, and no way for us to get 
through, but they had a lar.ge derrick boat 
there, and we persuaded them to put us over 
the dam at our risk. All hands went to work 
to get the houseboat over the dam, which was 
very interesting to the onlookers who had 
gathered to see a houseboat hoisted into the 
air, passed over the dam and deposited on the 
waters below, but the members of our party 
could readily be picked out in the crowd, as 
their faces were long and they were looking 
pretty blue, for it was feared that out boat 
might go to pieces any minute. Thanks to the 
boys, our little floating house was placed safely 
below the dam and' our journey continued. 
We made few stops until we got into the 
lower White River, where we found ducks 
plentiful and some deer. 
At a point some forty or fifty miles below St. 
Charles we took the small boats and paddled 
up a bayou to Roland’s Lake, about a mile 
from the river. The lake we found to be alive 
with ducks and hundreds of them were feeding 
in the bottoms. At this place we got Roland, 
who lived on the river, to go to the lake and 
drive for us. He found good stands for us, and 
all then went out to start the ducks. They were 
soon in the air by the hundreds, but scattered. 
I heard the report of a gun across the lake; it 
was Hert, and down came a mallard to his 
credit. Then the shooting began all around, 
and we soon had all the ducks we could use. 
Roland told us that the lake was full of bass 
and other game fish, and there was sport again. 
We found them very eager to take the wooden 
minnow, and when we returned to camp, we had 
plenty of ducks and bass for the party and for 
Roland’s family. 
During our outing we spent about three 
weeks hunting, fishing and boating. The 
weather was delightful and the entire trip a 
success. Chas. C. Nickles. 
