River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-01-15
BRulN TAKES A RIDE.
The Coweatcher of an Engine Picks Up .
Bear ard Takes Him to Town.

The Cowcatcher of an Engine Picks Up q
Bear ard Takes Him to Town.
AS the Warren accommodation train
on the Eldred & Southeast Branch rail-
road was. passing through Wilder's cut,
deep and narrow passage through the
rocks ten miles east of this station, En-
gineer Dan Elwood saw a bear come
into the cut al the western end, only
twenty yards away. The bear appeared
suddenly around the edge Of the rocks,
and stopped on the track facing the en-
CINE. 1t seemed to be paralyzed at the
sight of the locomotive rushing toward
it, and he stood motionless until the
engine was almost upon it. when it
arose on its hind feet The train was
running at the rate of fifteen miles an
hour. Instantly on seeing the bear
on the track tie engineer shut
down steam, but the distance was too
short for the speed of the train TO be re-
duced much, and the pilot plowed its
way under the bear, the sharp point
passing between the animals wide
spread legs.
Elwood turned on full force of steam
and the fireman climbed out of the cab
window and ran along the guard rail to
the front of the engine for peep at old
bruin. He was then lying on his belly
on the cowcatcher, his head almost
touching the headlight Both hind feet
We're firmly planted between the lower
bars of the pilot. one ON each side of the
tip, and his forelegs were tightly hug
ging the bars at the top. The collision
had evidently left the bear uninjured
1t was plain that he did not intend TO
take any chances by voluntarily getting
off the engine while it was in motion,
and the engineer concluded to run into
Olcut and trust to good luck for the
final capture of the bear.
Station Agent Dick Jacobs stood in
the depot door at this place when the
train came rolling in, and the sight of
bear clinging to cOw-catcher was such
| a singular spectacle that he stood in
| amazement with mouth and eyes wide
open, unable to move or speak When
the train came to full stop the bear
saw its opportunity to escape from its
perilous position and it took advantage
of the circumstances. The engineer at
this time was directly opposite the door
of the station, and only the sight of bruin
making tracks for liberty awakened
Jones from his mute-Ike and motionless
condition. The engineer called loudly
for some body to get gun. The sta
ton agent became thoroughly aroused
and he started down Dorr street shout
ing at the top of his voice: Bear! Bear!
Bear
The engineer and his fireman joined
in the chase to capture the bear, which
ran to Longs Hotel, jumped up on the
piazza, and, after giving several of the
guests a good fright, started off toward
Cady creek. A crowd quickly gathered
and pursued the bear and pelted him
with stones as they ran. On Cady street
John Cameron's big shepherd dog
bounded out of the yard and attacked
bruin with much ferceness. The bat
tie between dog and bear continued
about one minute. The dog was an
easy victim, and his death followed.
The bear continued. and was not far
from the creek when Lawyer Giles Beers
appeared on the roadway with double
barreled rifle. He headed off bruin. and
the animal attempted to escape by
turning off into a small alley leading to
Gully's stable. The alley stopped there
and bruin was caught. He made a bold
attempt TO fight his way back, however,
and raised up on his hind paws. ready
to attack any person who interfered
But Beers had arrived at the entrance
of the alley, and he promptly emptied
the contents of both barrels into bruins
breast. He dropped on ali foGrg The
crowd pushed hs~sr the dying bear, but
the sight of the feople at short range
starred up his anger, and with a
desperate effort he turned upon them
for last attack. The crowd turned,
and a rush was made for the entrance
TO the alley. In this scene of excite
ment and confusion John Carmody,
twelve years old, was thrown down,
and his leg was broken. Beers was the
coolest man in the crowd. He slipped
another cartridge into his rifle, and be-
fore the bear could do any damage, Lad
sent Thrill bullet into bruin. 1t crashed
through his head and he fell over dead.
He weighed three hundred pounds.
It was not until the bear had been
killed that Engineer Elwood and his
fireman remembered that a train load
of passengers were at the depot wait
ing for the train to continue its jour
ney. 1t was then twenty minutes late,
and it is probable that the bear hunt
will be an expensive one to the engineer
and fireman.-N. y. Sun.