The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-09-26
In HOTEL CORRIDORS.

4 Dear
| week." said a gentleman at the Ma
tional. "and it made me think Of my
| younger days There used to be great
| number of men travelling through the
| country with bears, but the industry
/ seems to be neglected at the present
| time. 1 suppose the business was over
| worked and failed to bring in the mon
| ey that it did. I never see dancing
bear without thinking Of a little enter
| tainment that they gave at the town
where was brought up and in which I
| took a part. assisted by my dog. In
4 this particular instance there were two
men and a dirty Cinnamon bear, how
ever the bear was not dirtfer than the
men. They were making the bear dance
much to the amusement or the small
boys and idle men who gathered around
| The bear was muzzled SO that he could
not bite and the men would occasional
/ ly Wrestle with him. When happened
along with my dog one of the men was
/ in the midst of a wrestling match with
/ the bear. The dog at once began to
growl and I thought it would be a good
| opportunity for the dog to learn how to
/ fight bear, so said sic 'em, and the
dog went in. The bear evidntly thought
| that it was the man who was response
BILE for the attack of the dog and he be-
gan to hug harder and at the same time
! tried to get away from the dog who was
tearing out large pieces Of skin and hair.
The man did some very rapid and ex-
pert swearing in English and said other
things in his native tongue which did
not understand. The dog seemed to be
enjoying himself; he was apparently
having the time of his life. All the
crowd Joined in and urged the dog on
while an occasional voice could be heard
encouraging the man. They whirled
round and round, the man vainly trying
to release himself, the bear doing his
best to whip the man and the dog, while
the dog was getting his first taste of
bear meat. Finally noticed the other
man coming, he had been away during
the wrestling contest, and / called the
dog off. / never saw a madden man than
that Kanuck. 1t took the united effort
of both to get the bear to let go and
while they were engaged in pacifying
the bear the dog and I went away
saThe average person would not think
so, but some of the best evidences OF
the embalmers' science are to be found
in the graves of pauperS in every city in
the United States,' observed a travelling
salesman for an undertakers supply
house There are two reasons for this.
The most frequent is that often the re-
mains of a pauper is used to teach the
science to assistants and beginners 1t
might be supposed that some of this
work is poorly done, but such is rarely
the case. An experienced embalmer is
directing the actions of the learner, and
the latter is just as careful as though
he was engaged on a very particular
job OF course he proceeds with the
the Job is complete and well done. Then
there are the cases that have died in
hospitals, and it is desired to hold the
remains until it can be ascertained
whether or not the deceased has any
relatives. The assistant is then given
an opportunity to try his hand again.
and the cases where the body is claimed
and the embalming paid for are fire.
Quent enough to pay for the fluid used
in such cases Then another thing that
makes these subjects desirable for the
learner is the fact that they are always
removed from the hospital to the under
taking rooms, where the embalmer has
time and convenience at his hands,"
They were tallxin about prize fighters |
and about good men" in their respec-
tive communities when a gentleman,
who formerly lived in FL Dorado, said |
Back in the early seventies there lived |
in my town a man whom we considered |
to be one of the best men on earth with |
the gloves. We had formed that opinion |
from coming in contact with them The |
boxers name was Joe Phelps and he |
certainly could handle himself in a re- |
markable manner. He was a big, well !
built man, a. little over six feet, and he |
had muscles like iron. His arms were |
SO long that he could scratch his shin |
without STOPPING and that gave him |
decided advantage in boxing. All of the |
young fellows got the boxing fever, as |
they do in every small town, and or |
gained boxing class with Joe as in i
structor. We used an old barn for our |
gymnasium. The barn was also used as |
a place to store hides, but that did not |
interfere with our boxing as we would |
move the hides out of the way The |
boxing class had been taking lessons |
for several weeks and the members were |
all pretty sore from the ticks they had |
received at the hands of the instructor |
who apparently did not know how hard |
he hit or did not care. We had come to |
the conclusion that he was having too |
much fun with US and one by one the |
boys had quit boxing with him. There |
was an Englishman in the town named |
Joe Suffer- He was a stone cutter and |
had arms as long as had Phelps. 1t was |
no trouble for him to lace his shoes |
without bending his knees One of the |
boys learned in some way that Suffer |
was boxer and had at one time been |
in the ring, although he did not mention |
it himself, being a quiet, unassuninsr |
man. He got Suffer to agree to meet |
Phelps and when they got together all |
the class was on hand to see the fight. |
When Phelps got on the gloves he pranc- |
ed around on his toes in a very coItish |
manner while Suffer kept facing him |
with his guard up. There was a pile of |
hides in one corner with a space of |
about two feet between the hides and |
the wall The class was standing around |
the wall wondering which was the best |
man and admiring the movements of |
the men, when Suffers arm shot out /
and Phelps seemed to rise in the air and |
sail over the pile of hides. All that was |
visible over the pile was a pair of feet
Gradually the feet began to descend and |
soon Phelps raised his head and looked |
at us IN a dazed sort of way. He did not |
say a word, but took off the gloves and |
went out. Not a member of the class |
dared open his mouth for fear that Joe |
would whip him, but as soon as he was |
gone we all went over to the saloon and /
drank to Suffers health. That ended /
the boxing class, but it was years be- |
va -.1--