The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1909-01-22
Observation-Disclosures
Pluck and
Adventure.
DODGING SHELLS.
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DODGING SHELLS.
The memory of the famous siege of
Ladysmith is still fresh in the minds
of Americans, and many will still re-
call the eagerness with which the
news was scanned each day, to see
whether the place had surrendered to
the beleaguering Beers, or still held
out.
''In Ladysmith every man is hero
and every woman heroine" says
Cecil Harmsworth, in book entitled
Pleasure and Problems in South
Africa" Everybody in town had been
under f1re-hotel proprietors, trades
men and cab drivers. During the IA
nous four months siege, every day Of
the week but Sunday, from sunrise to
sunset, projectiles screamed over
their heads and exploded in the midst
of them. Yet the situation was not
without its humors.
They tell in Ladysmith an amusing
story of two elderly ladies, who dur
ing the siege were driving simple
pony cart down the principal street.
A she'll from Bulwana alighting at
the cross roads caused the ladies to
rein in. When the explosion was
over the reins were loosened, and the
ladies logged on their way in COM
plete unconcern.
At Mr.. Hamp's, the chemists, you
are shown a plain bedstead with one
iron of the foot rail bent in semi
circular shape. Mr.. Hamp, it seems,
lay asleep, when another Of Bulwana' S
ninety-six- pound shells broke through
the wall above him, passed over his
recumbent form, through the foot
rail, and out into the yard, where it
exploded.
They tell you, too, in Ladysmith,
of the officers servant who was shaw
ing himself one morning in the yard
at the back of the court house, by
the aid Of a mirror suspended to the
fence. Yet another ninety-sfx-pound
shell passed between the man and his
mirror without so much as injaring a
hair of his head. 1t Is not related
whether he cut himself.
When you consider the amount of
ironmongery that was hurled into
Ladysmith during the 120 days, the
marvel is that anybody escaped. The
number Of casualties from this cause
was amazingly small. By all ac-
counts, the moral effect of she'll fire
is tremendous.
LITTLE GUN KILLS BIG BEAR.
To kill big grizzly bear, weighing
nearly 500 pounds, with .32-calibre
revolver, is something that few men
accomplish and very few would care
to attempt, says the Vancouver
World. Yet that is the unusual feat
which DR.. A. Mckay Jordan accom-
plished about a week ago while visit
ing some mining claims he is inter
ested in near Jedway.
DR.. Jordan, who has just returned
from a three weeks visit to mining
properties on Queen Charlotte Island
Is having the skin of the bear dressed
by a local taxidermist. The eight
small bullet holes in the skin are In
themselves proof of his unique ex-
perience. OF course 1t Is very doubt
full if the bear would ever have been
bagged had he not been caught in the
water and practically at the mercy
of DR.. Jordan and his friends.
They were taking load of sup.
plies to new camp in small boat
and while passing through a channel
between two islands, which was only
a couple of yards wide, came upon
the bear swimming across the chan
mel. They headed him off from the
shore despite the animals angry
snarls. Dr. Jordan was the only one
of the party who had anything in the
shape of a firearm, and that was only
a revolver with .32 short cartridges
He emptied one load of these at the
half-immersed bear, but the bullets
had little effect except to glance of
the hard skull and make the anima
redouble his efforts to get away from
his pursuers and reach shore.
DR.. Jordan and his companions go1
closer to the bear with their boat, and
in the meanwhile the revolver was
loaded up again. Two more shots
were sent into the animal at short
range and finally one, right over the
temple, fired from a distance of less
than ten feet, did the trick. The
bear doubled up as the bullet crashed
into his brain. The bear was Sc
heavy that the four men in the boa
were unable to drag him on board
and the carcass was towed ashore tt
be skinned and cut up.