Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1892-06-07
eRUIN LIKED WHISKY.
a Funny Accident Which Made Him IN
InebriRto for Life.

Way back in the ffties I was tempo
rarily handling the lines for the Sacra-
mento Overland Stage Company, and it
was over lots of land, / tell you, for my
route ran through the toughest section
of the Sierra Nevadas, says a writer in
the Kansas City Star. One night about
sunset 1 was swinging along the rocky
trail at a pretty good pace, as l wanted
to reach Rabbit Creek before dark,
where we changed horses and got sup
per.
I had three passengers, all men, and
for freight carried a barrel of gin
strapped on behind the stage. The.>
was gin for ''Red Mike" who ran &
frce-and-casy at the mining camp %
Rabbit Creek. Suddenly nay attention
was called Uy one of the passengers to
q novel race which was going on down
the side of the mountain between q
miner and a grizzly bear, with the mn
about a hundred feet ahead running
like q deer. But the bear was gaining
rapidly and 1T seemed that he had him
sure, when suddenly the miner turned
and darted off in another direction. The
grizzly was slow in stopping, but
when he did get Strengthened the
way he snnihilated distance was
a caution to catamounts. Sew
eral times the miner played this
trick, and on each occasion gained on
siderable ground in one direction, but il
could be seen he was rapidly firing and
unless something happened h bear
was lead sure to get him.. We were
wondering what we could do to help
the poor fellow when suddenly the lead
ers smelled the grizzly. They snorted
and pranced and started off on a dead
run. / put on the brake and it was all
I could do to stop them, and wouldn't
have succeeded only the trail was UP
grade
Well, when the horses made their
jump the barrel Of gin broke loose from
its fastenings and went tearing down
the mountain side toward h man and
bear, who were coming along on a dead
run. The man saw the barrel coming
and avoided it, but not SO the grizzly.
lie stood up on his hind legs and reach
ing ont his paws grabbed it. The way
that barrel rolled him down the noun
tain would make o coyote laugh.
The impromptu Journey was brought
to Il sudden ending by an immense
bowlder, against which the bear and
OGbIISl IOI1Sus AIS DlIOCh tbUCu
them, and strange to say, the barrel
stood right up with the head broken
in and only q small portion of the con-
tents was spilled. To say the bea was
surprised would be putting it light.
! He thought he had his quarry and when
he discovered it was only q barrel his
face took on an expression of intense
disgust. However, as is natural for a
bear, he began to lick his shaggy coat,
which had been sprinkled with some of
the gin, The taste vas apparently
agreeable, as he kept on absorbing the
liquor with his rough tongue until the
flavor disappeared. Then he went over
and smclled of the barrel. The inspee-
ton was undoubtedly highly satisfac-
tory, as he Inserted his snout and took
q sup, then he tool q long draught and
in less than half an hour that bear was
drunk MS q Lord.
We watched the proceedings with in
terest, and after we were satisfied that
the bear had n Jag on we went down,
tied him up with ropes, dragged him up
the hill and threw him inside the stage.
We drove on to Rabbit Creek and sold
the drunken grizzly to RED Mike" for
one hundred dollars, who chained him
up in the corner of his saloon and kept
him rs n curiosity to draw trade.
Well, he did draw trade. Mike gave
him n quart of whisky q day, and utter
awhile he became so docile that his
chain was removed. After that fo1
many years he would sleep around the
barroom, and when one Of the boys
would come in and ask the house to drink
the grizzly would walk up to the bar
stand on his hind legs and wait to bt
served with q lineup fall of whisky. HI
was q source of great income, but un
fortunately, being attacked with de
lirium trcmens one day, he killed thO
! bartender and q miner with one blow O
his powerful paw and 1t required twent.
Winchesters and about one hundret
=. pounds Of lead to Cure him of his un
controllable passion for in~toxieants.