The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1901-03-29

III an tNtuiub rum lfllOI
Y V and his nerves shat
.. tered so that he despairs
OF ever being a well man again. Floyd
j. Stafiier, aged twenty-five, has come
out of the wilds of Northern Mime.
sofa after an experience that gave
him all he wanted of the woods and
more, too. For several hours he was
caught in a bear trap In Beltrami
County and surrounded by wolves that
threatened his life. His gray hairs
and shaken nerves are the result of
that experience.
He went into the woods with n party
OF lumbermen. One afternoon he went
10 visit bear trap set some distance
from camp. He followed n route diff
ferent from the usual one, and in con
sequence reached the trap before he
was aware Of ii. In fact, the first no
tice he had Of IL was a click and
snap, and then an excruciating pain
in his leg as the traps jaws closed on
his right Reg just above the ankle.
The teeth cut through the trousers,
leggns and two pairs OF socks, and
biz into the flesh.
Stafiler dropped his gun, and with a
cry of pain knelt down TO try to pry
the jaws of the trap open. Then he re-
membered that it had taken two men
to set it, and that 1t was too strong for
him. His efforts TO free himself LAGER
ated his flesh. He thought OF unfas-
tening the chain and dragging the trap
to camp, two miles distant, but when
he tried he found that Ii was imp0ssi-
bic. Not only was the trap 100 heavy
for him, but at every step It's weight
brought the teeth deeper into the flesh
OF his leg.
Then he bethought himself Of his
rifle. and fired several shots, hoping
the sound would reach the camp. but
the wind was blowing in the wrong
direction, and the effort failed. He
fought off feeling of faintncss that
came over him, for he feared that If
he tainted he would freeze to death.
AS dusk drew on he fired several more
shots, as the wind had died away and
he had more hope that the sound
would reach camp. Then he was con
fronted by new terror.
He heard the pattering of feet in the
woods, and the sound of long,
mournful howl Then came answering
cries from other wolves. drawing near
er In answer 10 the call of the first
wolf. Soon the underbrush seemed
alive with them. and he could see
their eyes shining.
He struggled to sitting position
and filed the chambers of his rife
with cartridges. The wolves drew
nearer. Suddenly about n dozen of
them trotted forth from the woods,
and he could see their dark forms
scurrying about as they made a detour,
drawing nearer as they ran. They
seemed to be planning final approach.
Stafiler fired The wolves scattered,
but did not run away. They sat down
on their launches and watched him.
Stafiler fired again and again, but he
was nervous and frightened and shot
wildly.
Every time he ceased the wolves be-
gan to draw in on him, aud Statller be-
lleved that ii was on a question OF
minutes before the wolves would be
tearing his body. He was almost
ready TO turn the rife on himself when
he heard n human voice near at hand,
and he sank back in faint As his
friends from the camp came 10 his re-
lief the wolves scattered, and several
were killed,
His companions made stretchcr
and carried him back 10 camp, whore
they drc.s his wounds rs best they
could. When they got into the light
OF the fire one of them started.
my God" he exclaimed. Hes
gray-headcd"
And he was right Stafllers hair.
black that day, had turned almost
white
His comrades explained that they
had heard his shots shortly after dark,
and thought little OF them al first, be-
lieveing that he had either found a
bear in the trap and was dcSpatching
II, or that he was shooting at other
game. When the shots continued they
became alarmed. and made their way
to the spot as rapidly as possible. 1t
is their belief that they arrived in the
nick of time.
When Stafiler reached Duluth on his
way home he was supported by Il big
woodsman for he was unable to walk
alone. His snow-white hair in con
trast to his evident youth attracted
a.
He is now resting at home, and 1t will
be long time before he will seek the
woods again.-New York Sun.