Thursday, May 28, 1925
THE BIG BEAR
Continued…
There was some fear that the old bear had moved out on Sunday, as the two hounds from the lumber camp had run a fox all around and through the laurel patch in which he was laying up. But he was such an old timer and had whipped so many dogs, that the baying of running hounds disturbed him not at all. When the hunt was ready – with men stationed on every runway, and the cover approached, the dogs soon winded the bear and jumped him out of his bed and the fight was on. The bear was full of sheep and lamb, and he was not particular about running away very much anyhow. He did not seem particular about coming out in the open, and he gave fight to the dogs. Elmer Poage and Clark Hannah got within forty feet of the fight, but had no chance to shoot for fear of killing the dogs. The bear heard or winded the men, and made off.
He came out on the sod, heading for Cheat Mountain. Doc Gibson and Harry Varner shot at him with high powered rifles. The bear growled and ran about fifty yards and fell dead. One bullet had gone into the shoulder and through the heart. The other hit him in the head. The steel jacket ball broke in two pieces from contact with the skull. The bullets were 32-40 calibre.
This bear hunt lasted fifteen or twenty minutes. The roll was called and twenty-two men and eleven dogs were present.
This was as big a bear as ranges these woods. Eight feet from tip to tip, and around five hundred pounds in weight. His ears had been cut to pieces in fights. On skinning him, a big blue spot was found where some other bear had cuffed him one below the belt. The outline of paw and claw was plain and easily recognized. Two and a half inches of fat covered the body. The carcass of a two year old heifer looked no bigger than this bear when hung up. The fur was in its prime. The pelt was awarded to Doc Gibson for his marksmanship. Mr. Gibson will have a rug made of the hide.
This was a most destructive sheep killer. He had not been in the Elk country more than a week but Elmer Poage’s loss in sheep and lambs is around $250, besides what he killed for Elihu Hamrick, Jim Gibson, Reid Moore and others. He would eat the lambs, sometimes leaving an ear or leg. The ewes he killed were found on their backs, their udders bitten away and their hearts and lungs eaten out. He ruined enough good mutton in a week to have supplied him a year’s living. His week’s board cost the farmers around $400.
About a week before, the Carpenters and others on Williams River routed out a big bear and ran him out of the country. From the size of the track, it is thought this was the same bear. Several weeks ago, a powerful bear whipped out a pack of trained dogs on Cheat Mountain and it is thought this was the same bear.
Just about a year ago, a big bear was killed in this locality, and since then, no professional sheep eater has bothered until last week.
November 5, 1931
The prospect now is that the State roads from Minnehaha Springs to the Top of Allegheny at the Rider Gap and from Bartow to the Top of Allegheny at the Virginia State line will be let to contract this fall. This will be mighty fine, two ways. It will hurry good road connections and will give much needed employment.
WITHROW McCLINTIC
Withrow McClintic was born April 22, 1864, at the ancestral home of his grandfather at Mill Point, the son of William H. and Mary A. (Mathews) McClintic, and died October 30, 1931.
He came of a long line of ancestors, both paternal and maternal, prominent and distinguished in the history of the State and church in Virginia and West Virginia.
His parents moved to the farm at Buckeye in the year 1866 where the deceased grew to manhood and spent his life in the home in which he died.
He was united in marriage April 15, 1908 to Miss Bessie L. Phillips, of Arbovale …
He was interested in the organization of a Presbyterian church at Buckeye and became one of the charter members of the Swago Presbyterian church which was organized September 23, 1923, and was the first ruling Elder elected by that congregation, and upon the dissolution of this church, he returned his membership to the Marlinton church of which he remained a faithful member until his death.
He is survived by his widow, and one brother, the Honorable George W. McClintic, Judge of the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. Three brothers preceded him in death, Hunter H. McClintic, Edward D. McClintic and Lockheart M. McClintic.
The funeral service was conducted from the McClintic home on Swago… Interment in the family plot at Mt. View Cemetery. An immense congregation gathered to pay their tribute of respect to his memory.
Thus is chronicled the passing of one of our most widely known citizens.
Withrow McClintic was a man of iron constitution and unbounded energy. His activities were wide and varied. He underwent exposure and hardships that would have killed men of lesser endurance and stamina. For two years he had been in failing health.
As a stockman and farmer, his business was one of the largest in the state, farming and stocking several thousand acres. As a lumber operator, he was a large employer of labor. In the starving time last winter, he fed at his table, and supplied from his stores for almost one hundred men, women and children – many of whom would have suffered but for his unstinted generosity.
Of the many fine traits of character of this lifelong friend of mine, the one that stands out prominently was his unassuming consideration of the poor.
