The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-01-20
Bar STOPS RAILROAD TRAIN
Gets a Red Flag and ~traddIes the
Tr el,

! bear having in his possession the flag
staff OF a locomotive with the red sigma
| flag attached to It at large and roaming
| through the country along the line Of the
| Jefferson division OF The Erie railroad
| and causing much annoyance TO the rail
| road men BY suddenly appearing on tbs
track and standing there ahead Of some
/ approaching train. the staff and
| flag clutched in his forepaws. and either
| compelling the engineer to bring MS train
TO a stop or take the chances Of derailine
his locomotive by an attempt 70 run the
+ bear down. The bear IS. or was, a tame
bear. and came 10 the enjoyment Of its
present pastime in this wise:
About three weeks ago the hear appear
ed in Scranton in company with an Ital-
ian. who was showing of its tricks in the
/ streets Of that city. when a number Of
hoodlums made up their minds TO put the
bear through some performances that
were not on the program. To this the
owner Of the bear objected 50 strenuously
that a pitched battle between the oppos-
ing forces was the result. during which
! the italian was shot in the shoulder by
/ some one in the crowd who had a revoI-
Yer. The police then put the hoodlums
| to fight and the Italian left Scranton
/ with the bear. not stopping even long
/ enough 10 have his wound attended to.
1 He Travelled northward. and 1t was not
/ until he arrived at the little settlement
/ of Burnwood, on the Jefferson division
OF the Erie, twenty-five miles from
/ Scranton that he found that he had a
! bullet in his shoulder and that he needed
surgical aid. Farmer Woolcott. of Burn
| wood kindly consented to house the bear
/ and care for it until the owner could 20
! to Carbonate or Susquehanna and have
/ the bullet extracted. That is the last
any one seems TO have seen or heard Of
the Italian, but the bear remained in
Farmer Woolcott's charge. awaiting its
masters return. having comfortable quar-
ters in the woodshed, adjoining the fam
ily kitchen
An hour or 50 before daylight on We'd
nesday morning Of last week the Woolcot
family We're awakened BY. a great hub
bub in the kitchen and the farmer and
his hired man and other members Of the
family bestirred themselves and investi-
gated and were amazed 70 find the bear
doing what might have been called 2 hill
arious cakewaIk around the room with a
kitchen chair for a partner
Bruin was uttering frequent shorts and
yelps Of evident enjoyment and the sur
prise Of the spectators. great as it was.
was not SO great as to deceive them as to
the bears condition.
He was drunk. and wavered and stag
gered about Ike a sailor a few hours
ashore. The bear had broken our of the
woodhouse into the kitchen through q
connecting door The cellar door had
ban left open when the family retired
for the night and the inquisidye animal
had gone down into the cellar TO pursue
his investigati tons there. He had pulled
the spiggot out Of a barrel that contain
ed hard cider and When the cider in run
ming out collected in Expressions IN the
cellar fog Mr.. Bear lapped il up with
such gusto and in such volume that he
he returned to the kitchen carrying q jag
that would have broken up mixed-ale
party
When the members OF the household
appeared on the scene and the hear got
a focus on them, he dropped the chair
that he was waltzing with and made a
l1Irch for the hired man, grabbed him.
and began dancing him about the room.
The man yelled Justify for help and
struggled franticaIly to free himself. AL
Of which only seemed 70 add 70 the bears
enjoyment Of the occasion. and We snort
ed and howled the louder and Stumbled
and staggered around with his new part
ner held tight In his hug.
AS soon as Farmer Woolcot and the
rest could recover from their astonish-
ment they pitched in TO rescue the hired
man from the bear and get the hilarious
intruder out % the house. Il was not
until the stove was knocked over the
table upset and window or two broken
out that bruia was az last overcome He
was tied with a clotheslns and rolled out
into The yard to snoaze of his drunk.
When daylight came. however. Il was
discovered that the bear had IN some
way loosened himself from his bonds and
had disappeared
Shortly after daylight the Carbonate
express on the Jefferson division. was
a7nroaching Forest CITY. when Engineer
Wood discovered something on the track
a few yards ahead and soon made out
that it was bear The bear stood up-
right IN the middle Of the track. leaning
on long fence stake. which be wss ap-
parently using for a staff Il was i'm
possible to step fhs train and the scar
firmly stood his ground.
A collision was inevitable. 81 the engi-
neer put on q full head II steam and the
PILOT plouEhed squarely between ths hind
feet ~ the bear and threw him in the air
higher than the smokesseck. He came
down sstrlde the pllot and remained there
much 70 the surprise q me engineer.
who. surprising. ~ course. THAI The scar
must have been instantly killed wonder
- chat Il di5 not roll ~ The engineer
shut n steam and when the train had
slowed 6cwE be almost tainted IN his
cab 70 sea that The bear was MT only
not dead bat vas 50 uEch alive tnat 70
ursnchs5 one 81 ne fagstafFs from fhe
f-on- 81 the engine tumbsea oG ths pil7t
and sent shauaiHg away iuto the woods
wi,h H. waving IRE rcd asg as T. vent
Whea the news - this s7t re17a thera
was. ~ course. no dass IS q TIE .asa-
Hty os tbs Rear IL was -hs hilarious
ward II Farmer Woalcat
Twice SINGS then tae bear e reported
as having heea seer ~ the ra5ir7sa-
once near Itarrick center where u ap-
pared r. ths engineer = caa' train.
standing O. me track holding - tae rea
aaE be stole Em Enzar Weols en-
sine. and oare casa g Jnsan CITY wAe-s
- hsld ~ fhe was seeght With fhe sam4
red SAG Ta,s last ht-aP Nas e. Mon
Lav Fast
A man named Prsnt5ca Pasan-
3I7aat Or tns oazszis ard Nestern rs-
road sass thar Rle 81 vas g1z 5ez