The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1901-08-17
HAIRY GILAs CAGE
$40 PER YEAR.

eyes and made for the nearest spt 9.
tator. t~1s s-.hs st-s /, - <- .-...- %.
:Scat!'' cried the man. pushing ba ok
Il never see no tarantula foam at the
mouth afore. He's shore bad MANI
| Just than Hinkey turned loose Hairy
/ Gila. The two spiders promptly scurried
for each other and the battle was on
Hairy ella drew first blood. He sank
his fangs at the root of one of Bisbee
Bills legs and ripped it off in no time.
Then he tackled another leg. But that
one seemed wired on.
Bisbee Bill pursued other tactics His
one aim seemed to be to jab for the bodyy
He paid little attention to the sprawlins,
hairy legs of his opponent, but struck and
chewed at the body of Hairy Gila Now,
Hairy ella was provided by nature with
something very near HarveyiZed steel
armor. Time and time again the curved
mandibles Of Bisbee Bill raked the rows
of eyes on top Of his foes head, which
counted considerably, though HinkeT
merely sneered at such tactics. Once in a
long, slicing stroke, Stampede's spider am
chored his fangs where two legs joined
the body. Hairy ella was two legs shy
as quickly as if he had been slashed
across by reaping hooks.
oh, Lord!" groaned Stampede, eff Bis.
bee would only stick to that game I'd witt
just too easy. But he's letting himself
get whipped up trying to end the fight
in a single punch
At the end of ten minutes Bisbee Bill
had only four legs left and seemed a
whipped tarantula. He could not scurry
around %now, but just squirmed. Hairy
ella was fighting with new fury. At last
Bisbee Bill Backed weakly toward the end
of the bar, where Stampede was bending
over the blanket. --.t, -.
Your little ole spider is sort of sick.
amt he?" jeered Hinkey. Just then StamA
pede remembered certain methods Bisbee
Bill had used when he had so promptly
cleaned up the other tarantulas at the
J. l. T. He remembered that Bisbee had
backed till he found some slight prcjec-
ton against which to brace. Then he had
reared and had brought his two curved
fangs into his foe with force that had
ended the battle right there. Thinking Of
this. Stampede pinched a ridge in the stiff
Navajo blanket acro1A Bisbee's line Of res
treat ~
When the crippled tarantula felt that
right behind him he braced himself and
waited till Hairy ella came scurryinH
him Bisbee Bill raised himself on his
hairy legs and struck down at the dun
colored body of his foe This time the
two fangs sank deep into the corslet of
Hairy ella. There was squirming mass
of tarantula, then Bisbee Bill backed off,,
ripping his mandibles through the eyes
: of his opponent. "t.
That was the end of the fight Every-
thing begged down right there. Hairy
ella curled his legs up tight around him
and died. Stampede shouted like mad,
and urged everybody to promenade to,
the bar. Then the drummer yelled to thei
barkeeper to set out every bottle he hadt
In the place. Between. the winners and
the losers Tucson was pretty nearly NADER
a dry town that night. Stampede scooped
up Bisbee Bill in the meat tin, but Kim,
key insisted that he take the gilded cageI
The next morning Bisbee Bill was dead.
The Spider Brand of Stampede Maxwell,
grew out of this fight. It has passed into,
local history. Every Sunday you CAM
still see tarantula fights, but they are,
sure to apologize for them and tell you,
of the great fight between Hairy GilaI
and Bisbee Bill in the White Elephant
back in the eighties. "A. M. Mckenzie.