Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1906-11-30
FIGHT WITH A CROCODILE.
ALLIGATOR Joe," Unarmed, Taekleo
Monster and Captures Him.


AS he stands on the edge of the lit.
tie lake and blinks under the glare
of the electric lights Alligator Joe"
looks q big, fat, harmless man. That
seeming half acre of bare skin that
covers his arms looks flabby dangling
out of the armholes of his Jersey, and
the simple, child-like smile that he d.
reefs toward you is conclusive evidence
that he is not the man you would pick
out to have a fierce struggle with
crocodile.
The man next to you says: Come
on there mister man; let's be up and
doing.' and Joe, seemingly having ex-
hausted his breath in the unheard
speech, steps carefully into the edge
OF the lake. He advances few feet
without having made a ripple in the
water. Always his eyes are searching
the surface of the water intensely.
Now he is up to his armpits, and you
judge from his looks that Joe is get
ting nervous. He seems to be staring
fearfully into the darkness of the wa
ter, and you begin to worry for him.
He stands still now, and your nerves
twitch as you watch. Suddenly you
see him move slightly, and following
his steady gaze you see right before
him the two glazing eyes of croco
die resting on top of the water Joe
is looking at them very hard, strain
ing his very eye-sockets. And the
crocodile is looking with equal intent
ness at Joe. AS this tableau contin-
ues several minutes you can not help
but think of the size of the jaws of the
crocodile you saw in the pen near by.
Joe suddenly makes feint as if to
move toward the crocodile-but the
animal is no longer there. AS Joe
shifts his position uneasily your men,
DRY of those huge jaws makes you
squirm. The water is calm again eX-
cept for the head and arms of Alliga-
tor Joe prOtruding patiently near the
center. Again he waits, and before
long those crocodile eyes come to the
surface once more and the gazing con-
test is renewed.
1t seems an hour that the man and
the animal are looking into each 9TH
er's eyes and you are almost tired Of
watching them. when there is a sound
of a splash in the water and neither
Joe nor the crocodile is in sight.
There Is hardly a ripple on the SUI:
face to show where they went down,
and your heart stands still as the Sec
onds pass and the peaceful surface is
not disturbed. You begin to think
what you'll testify before the coron-
er's jury. You are sorry that the
thing was started, anyway.
Hes still alive!" the man next TO
you shouts, "but lord! what fight he
must be having"
You wait for another glimpse of
Joe's head. This time he comes to the
surface with splutter of water and
he seems to be actually sitting upright
and riding on something.
Thank heaven, he's got him. you
exclaim-and by that time the man has
disappeared again. You see that he
is jerked down, too, and you mop the
Precipitation from your forehead. AT
ter that they come to the sgurface
rapidly. Now the crocodile is seen
and the man is missing. Now Joe's
head appears for breath and is yank-
ed under again as the animals tail
appears with vicious slap.
IF Joe gets one of those, he's a
goner," you think, and you move for
ward nervouslv to watch the next
struggle on the surface They are
fighting hard now, and each time Joe
comes to the surface he looks very
tired and you can hear him puff for
wind. UP the! come again and roll
over each otbAafin the water.
You can only see Joe's feet kick
ing desperately in the air and then the
crocodiles tail Shaping after them.
AS you sit fascinated you realize some
how that they are nearing shore and
finally you see alligator Joe's" head
come up near the bank and hear him
gasp to the men standing near, "The
rope, quick"
He disappears again, but when he
comes to the surface he brings with
a mighty jerk the half open jaws of
the crocodile, soon followed by its
blazing eyes. Joe is riding it now,
and as he pants for breath he makes
lunge and grasps the head Of the
animal and bends it back by main
force. He catches the rope as it is
thrown to him, circles it about the
crocodile's neck and makes another
half hitch around it's nose. Infatuated
the crocodile makes another last effort
to shake his captor from him, but the
man on the shore pulls hard at the
rope and soon there is exposed to
view twelve feet of struggling, untan-
ned handbag leather and very large
man who shakes the water out of his
eyes like dog. The man is wearing
that child-lika smile just as he was
first, and as they tie the CROCODILE
nose and tail together and place him
on a large wheelbarrow you suddenly
discover that your heart is beating
much louder than all the noise of the
park and you sit daZed.
Alligator joe" dripping and breath
ing heavily. is standing near as you
rise weakly and start for home.
How in the world do you do it?'
you ask him.
why. it amt SO hard" Joe says.
with his innocent smile. "Ah jus
wait till ah gets a good chance an
then ah JUS dives fob one O his foah
legs an grabs it. Then ah swings
nah other ahm around underneath
him an ah hugs him tight. All all
gor to look out fob is his jaws an his
tail an when ah gets out q breath
undeh watch, ah JUS kicks us both
to the surface and takes blow an
goes undeh with him again. It's JUS
match of trim him out"
And you thought Alligator Joe"
was fiat. You look over his 300
pounds again and glance at the crocO
die Then YOU come to the conclu