The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-11-06
TWO QUEER CHARACTERS.
The Man Who Can't Be Killed, and the
Man Who Hunts Bear.

pleasant vagabondage wishes to see a
great deal OF very peculiar kind of a
world in a short time, he should set his
face toward where the sun plays hide
and-seek among the San Juan Mount
aims. Not only is man around in all
sorts of shapes, with bedrock of silver
and gold for all sorts of enterprises, but
the brutes over which he is popularly
supposed to have dominion are gathered
into the argentiferous defiles as a last
ditch, resolved to dispute possession.
Nature, in many of the silver-lined
canyons, disappointed in placing jagged
mountain. and fretting torrent as threat
ening door and threshold before her
choice places, adopts the popular old
barbarous style of putting lions and
bears along the vestibule. d And it is
"much richness - in mining camp to
hear the old graybeards, with an eye
non est or mouth twitched sideways
from disagreement with apowder-keg,
tell of nip p-and-tuck contests that were
Jest the narrowest 'scapes - that let a
fellow get out with barely enough anat-
omy left to swear by. There is one
character here,
|
now under treatment for the last of a
dozen misfortunes. Miners affirm that
Nature has tired herself out trying to
kill him, and is occupied now in invent
ing a compound more deadly than Sci
ence dreams Of There is a fear, how
ever, that, if it tears, Dave to pieces, it
will destroy the world also. This mans
struggles with Fate commenced two
years ago, in burning cabin near Sill
verton He attempted to save a keg of
powder that was on fire, by carrying it
outside In his arms The result was an
explosion which blew him through the
roof, and scattered the logs far and
wide, and was even powerful enough to
knock down the hosting mule. Dave
escaped with singed eyebrows, and a
slap of one of the flying slaves that he
says reminded him of schoolma'am
days Early last winter he was in the
cabin ON the Highland Mary mountain
side, when the snow-slide came down
which killed his three companions. 1t
knocked Dave into the mouth of the
tunnel, where he was safe! A month
later, the inhabitants of Silverton were
startled by the roar of q loud slide on
Sultan Mountain. Looking out, they
saw Big Dave sliding ahead of the snow
ON pair of the snow-shoes they make
here-a board about as long as
a canoe, slightly turned up at the
front. He beat the avalanche for a
hundred yards, until one of his shoes
struck projecting stump and caused
David to turn somersets into an adjacent
ravine, where he was again saved.
Three months later, he fell down 40
foot shaft; and the Superintendent at,
firms that he struck on a three-foot
drill, and buried it so far in the rock
that they had to blast it out. This lat
ter part is, however, denied by a few.
The last affair, and for which he is now
temporarily in bed at the hotel in Sill.
verton, seems to have been a last de.
spairing effort of Nature to kill him
After firing a fuse in the Aspen Mine
/ he discovered that he had forgotten the
cap to his powder-can, and Went bach
after it. He found it, and was fired out
1 of the shaft with about three tons Q.
blast-rock. It has taken Silverton g two
doctors three days to extract the quartz
from Dawes frame, and he-is, SNOW pro
nounced good for a little diversion witt
4 nitro-glyceline or lightning, or any 9th
er force which may wish to waste it
surplus energy. e.....ss..s,s ....e.ss,.s.T.,
i A couple Of tenderfeet,," or i"pil
8 grims,'' had an encounter in one of on
CANYONS Yesterday with three grizzlies
and last evening drew me to a miner
fireplace that L might learn all tn
thrilling particulars of how BIS righ
arm was 50 bitten clear to the bone
SIR, Just at the critical point of tn
narrative, where the bear as big q
an OK, sir ''-was preparing to swallow
the pilgrim, and winking to his awe
stricken companions to stand in line to
their turn,
BIG ALECK sssS@
came in. B. A. is one of San juan
! characters, and would go hang himsel
! if any new conner got the drop on th
/ matter of hair-breadth affairs. " Sto
{ right there!'' quoth Aleck the Big
, ssthat amt nothin' to my fight with OF
(, Clubfoot. This 'ere latter individus
caved up in Arasta Gulch; and by som
misfortune probably by bein' turne
, suddenly round. when he was yer
: Young, by a mountain zephyr-a conpl
of his feet were twisted wrong end tt
with the heels in front. This caused
lot of trouble, and great mortalitt
J among the miners, as you never coul
tell by his track which way the bear ws
{ goin'. He was always hungry, an
0 always tearin' fellers up; and, when
+ couple of the boys would strike on
Clubfoot's trail, they'd just draw lo
for directions. Then one would take u
: the track and the other down, agreeil
? beforehand that the one who was wrOn
: should be remembered TO his wife an
G friends by the survivor. As the bes
was trayelin' round pretty frequent, an
the man, who took the right end of Il
track one day, might miss his guess Il
next, it was concluded that l, havin' IL
. most experience with bar, should a.
/, point myself. a vigilance committee
!. sit on the case. So bought two ga
r Ions of 40-rod whisky and three gallol
) of molasses, and obtained hog-trous
& that would hold it when mixed, Bea
!. are powerful fond of sweets, and / kne,
h if got Old Club drunk, Il could fix him
!. Al this noipt Aleck the Rio was inte