The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1895-02-23
MAN AND BEAR.
An Exciting Episode In Which
Druin Was Greatly Surprised.
Human Ingenuity Was Superior 90 brute
Instinct and tho Man Escaped
Being Devoured by the
Bear.

Ofall branches of railway engineering
there Is none which brings the officer
into closer contact with Woodworking
lot Of men than the maintenance Of way
work. Sometimes there are comical
features even I'm this department, and
one OF these was recently told 10 q
writer for the 81. Louis Globe Demo
crat by well-known engineer. who
hides his real name under the pscudonym
of Jerry Sullivan. IL is tale Of one
Tim, a track walker, who camc In late
one night and reported 20 the other oc-
cupants of the clubhouse that he had
been delayed by an extraordinary en-
counter with bear "Ncar the ind Of
the section, said Tim, 'clcsc 90 the old
tie camp, l was comm along about half
past three o'clock, and just afther
crossin' that little bridge hecrd a nizc
of sumthin' rustlin' i'm the bushes down
at the bottom Of the dump, and thinlin'
IL was n rabbit fred rock down into
i'm, and in a second there was terri
bic slashin' around in thin bushes, and
see IA big cinnamon bear come ont
sneezin' and rubin his nose, and thin.
before ! rightly como TO rae sinses, the
bear seen me and up tho dump lac como.
Well, / started down the track as tight
as | could go, but | hadn't went two
telegraph poles until | look back and
see the bear still comm and gainin' on
me livery jump. SO / dropped me adze
and rinch and stretched mesclf for all
was worth. But Il was no use, the bear
was still gainin', and | was wonderin'
what on airth was goin' 10 do, whin
sec the iron pipe under the track near
tho cut, and / made for that and wint
in just clear, whin the bear jamined his
head in az the ind. But he was too big
60 20 in, and he couldn't reach me, and
so he paved around and snortcd and
bit the ind OF the pipe, and tried first
one side and thin the other. But | was
safe, and lied there and painted and
blessed the man that invinted iron pipe.
"Wcll, thought the bear would 90
nway after awhile, but he didn't he
stayed right there, wild his head in first
wan ind OF the pipe and thin the other,
and when he came round 70 the upper
ind | wished | had held on 20 the
rinch so could hit him n belt over the
nose After bcin' I'm there over two
hours / begin gittin cold, and | see
somcthin' had TO be done, and thought
I'd try smoltin' him out. So / managed
TO light me pipe, and thin ! smoked for
all knew how, but the bear still kept
his head in the hole, and | crawlcd M
closer and blew the smoke right in his
face. He snorted little, but wouldn't
back out, and seemed TO bc gcttin
madden all the time. Thin, whin | was
nearly .{roze 20 death, ! happened I,
think OF The stick OF giant powder n
me pocket, and, thinks i; Now III
settle your hash So puts n fuse in
the stick OF giant, and crawls mp enc
threw II right undor the bears head
and thin touched OF the fnse anc
backed down TO the other ind Of tn,
pipe. / guess that bear thought l VA
going TO run away, for he run acros
the track 20 the other ind; thin, whii
crawled back to get me feet out o
his reach he crossed back again an,
stuck his head and neck into the pip
Just as the giant whit of. Widow
thinlxin', had made a big cannon on
of the wnter pipe, and whin II whit of
i was fred out and landed in the middl
OF the river and was nearly drowned
before | knew just where ! was nj
But finally struck the other bank an'
got out and whit mp to the station AM
tagged tho passenger and rode home
After climbin MP the bank ] lookc'
back and saw smoke comm out of Tn
lower ind OF the pipe and the bear still
loolsin ut the upper ind and tryin' I
sec phwat in blazes had happened.