Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1891-10-30
PLAYING WITH DEATH.
HOW DEVIL DICK HANDLED CANS
CT INTERCOLLEGIATE.


Threw Stones at 1t ON "A Wager.
"There were Il good many reckless and
dare devil chaps among those whose busi
ness it was to haul and handle uitroglyc.
erin in the early days of that explosive
agent in the oil regions" said George
Place, who WIS one of the first 10 work at
making and canning nitroglyccrin for the
wells, under the Roberts patents; "but
there was a teamster named Dick Warner
who would dare and risk more with the
terrible stuff than any other person there
about. He was known as Devil Dick, and
it was a fit name for him. He had a chum
named Dan Sutton, who was almost as
reckless as Dick, and l lave seen him and
Dick play catch many a time with cans of
glycerin they were unloading, the drop
ping of one of which to the ground would
have more than likely wiped out of exist
ence every person around the we'll.
"It got SO that whenever Dick Warner
had n load OF nitroglycerin to unload at
the we'll everybody else, except Dan SUIT
ton, took to the woods and staid there
until the stuff was out of their custody.
Once Devil Dick held a great can of nitro
glycerin above his head M let a drunken
driller named Patterson throw ten stones
~ AAcAi u vi ! w lCCU, Oll u Ucu
of twenty dollars that he couldn't hit Che
can once out of the ten times. This was at
Roan's camp, and the whole camp watched
the insane proceeding from safe distances
on the hill. One of the stones hit Dick on
the arm, not two inches below the can, and
knocked it out of his hand. He caught
the can, though, before it reached the
ground, or the throwing match would
have ended there and then with the burial
of such bits of Dick and the driller as
could be found, and they would lave been
exceedingly few and small. The driller
came close to the can several times during
the trial, but failed to hit it, and Dick won
his bet.
BOMBARD1NG A LYNX.
I'm those days the woods all through the
oil regions were full of wild animals, and
it wasn't an uncommon sight to see a bear
or a Canada lynx or a catamount prowling
round the camps or isolated oil Villages.
The lynx was frequently very aggressive
and bold, and it was greatly feared by the
drillers and others at the wells. More
than once men had been attacked by
lynxes, and James Carker, a pumper, was
SO badly hurt in fighting off one that had
jumped from a tree upon him rs he was
driving through a piece of woods, that he
died Of his injuries. One day Devil Dick
was on his way to a we'll with IL load of
nitroglycerin torpedoes, and he picked
Dan Sutton up on the way. On Il stretch
of the road through what was known rs
Conway's woods, Dan discovered Il big
Canada lynx stealing along through the
branches of the trees at one side Of the
road, and keeping even with the wagon.
He called Dicks attention to the animal,
and Dick said that it was Watching for a
chance to attack them, but declared that
if it ollowedt them as far as Ciary's open
ing he would get rid of the dangerous
beast.
"Clary's opening was II gap in the woods
and Il ravine twenty feet wide and as many
deep. The lynx did follow the men as far
as the opening, and Dick stopped his
wagon.
CKLIsH SUSPENSE.
"The lynx crouched Il few feet away from
the edge of the nearest wall of the ravine,
and before Sutton surmised how Dick in
tended to get rid of the animal Dick grabbed
up a can of nitroglycerin and hurled it
with all his strength at the lynx, which
was not over twenty feet away. The can
struck the soft body of the lynx square in
one side and knocked the animal over on
its back. The flesh and fur of the lynx
did not offer resistance to the can sufficient
to cause conclusion enough to explode it,
but the car rolled on the ground and slowly
down Il gradual decline chat led from where
the lynx lay to the edge of the ravine wall.
Sutton, t h all his reckles,ness in hand
ling nitrOglycerin, stood ayhaSt at this
deliberate risking of their lives by Dick,
for he knew that the instant the can rolled
into the ravine and struck the rocks below
the terrible explosion that had been so
luckily averted by Dicks good aim at the
lynx would follow. Quicker than Il flash
he jumped from the wagon, tore like mad
up the %ravine, and stood beneath the spot
Where the torpedo would tumble into the
gully when it reached the edge.
"A scraggy bush of some kind grew out
of the top of the wall, and just as Sutton
reached the spot the can of nitroglycerin
had rolled to the edge and struck against
the main stem of the bush. The can had
struck it a trife out of the center, II the
heavier end of the torpedo moved on an
inch or two. until it extended a little over
the edge.
KILLED ON A RAILROAD.
Sutton stood below with approached
hands to catch the can if it fell, but there
it hung against the bush, in u position that
looked as if a breath of wind would topple
it over into the ravine.
"All this had occupied but u few sec
onas. AS soon as the torpedo lodged
against the bush Sutton ran Jack to the
road, shouting to Dick to drive on so they
could get to Il safe distance before the fall
ing of the can and its certain explosion on
the rocks below. But when he got to the
wagon he saw Dick with another torpedo
raised, ready to hurl it after the first one.
He lowered it, though, and looked around
at Sutton as if he was disappointed.
1.-The Internal wildcats give me the
slip, Dan, and took to the woods said he.
Lord! but I'd like to. bust one O. these
shells on him!'
'"rhat was probably the first and last
time a wild animal was ever hunted with
four-quart nitroglycerin torpedoes, and
that was the last trip Devil Dick ever drove
for the company he was working for. He
wasn't discharged because he so recklessly
endangered life and property by throwing
cans of nitroglycerin at a lynx, but be-
cause he drove on from the ravine without
getting back the first can he threw, and
the company would not stand such a waste