New-York tribune., 1910-06-09
ABERNATHY, WOLF KIM"
RooSevelt'S Oklahoma Friend
Here to Meet Sons and Colonel.
SOME BAREHAND CATCHES
Easy Enough, He Says, Describ-
ing Various Exploits Record
ed with Deep Scars.

John R. Abernathy, the Oklahoma wolf
catcher and United States District Mar
shal, is in New York. to meet his two boys,
Temple and Louie. who are riding over
to greet their fathers friend. Colonel
Roosevelt
Il Just got telegram from the boys at
Havre de Grace" he said last night at
the Hotel Breslin. They are feeling fine
and will be here Saturday Plucky little
chaps amt they?" he asked with fatherly
pride.
MIR. Abernathy has double mission,
though, for when he left what he calls his
little ranch''-it covers 5000 acres-on his
way up. he anticipated the coming of Roose-
velt with almost as much pleasure as he
did seeing his boys again.
''Or course, I'll be glad to see the Presi-
dent Say, # comes kind O. hard to me
TO say President he laughed You
know he's always the Colonel to me- It
didn't take US long TO get acquainted, be-
cause If there's one place you do get to
know a man its in a camp. After you
eat, sleep and drink with him for two or
three days. you know what's I'm him. And
l reckon the boys are as fond Of him as
am. They would have walked over here
if they hadn't rode
Asked about certain stories that he
caught snakes and wolves with his bare
hands, Jack Alternately said that the snake
story was one of those short and ugly
things, but that he had been catching
wolves for some time after the manner of
men of the stone age.
IT'S easy enough when you learn it,"
! he said, in confident way. "All you do IS
to watch the wolf when he springs and
when he opens his mouth jab your hand
away back in it. Your hand is back Of the
| teeth. and he can't bite you. OF course,
you can't get your hand out of his jaws
until they are pried open, but it's not so
dangerous.
"Oh, yes, every now and then you get
bit and the wols catcher nonchalantly
extended his right hand the one with the
large Eagle ring on il. Those two small
scars there are where two teeth went right
through my hand One of the boys pulled
UP the lip, and when I saw the tooth COM
ing through I said to him, Drop the cur
tain, kid. At the same time the mate bit
me on the other hand-see right here.
got blood poison from this other scar here.
That was a wolf knew was going to bite
me. I had just caught one. and the strug
gle with it made me tired out, but I wanted
this one He weighed $50 pounds and was
DIE IellOW. Inc WOTSI scar L We got II
this'-which proved to be a hole in his left
forearm big enough to hold a 5-cent piece.
That was right nasty" he said.
NO, 1 don't know of any other men who
catch wolves that way. A Mexican tried it.
He died of hydrophobia," said the district
marshal, calmly.
When asked. DO you Westerners want
| to see Roosevelt President again?' Mr..
Abernathy looked in thoroughly amazed
fashion at the questiorer.
Why. certainly" he said as though
panied and surprised why, certainly
don't you? We want hira again. but we
don't think he'll take il. When I say we
I don't near me, because ]. don't want to
! see him President agaln-he's too good. Y
| don't want him to have the worry and TO
be imposed on. It's a big job, a mighty
hard job. But the West would like TO have
| him"
Just because Jack Abernathy wears
low. rolling collar and a large gold badge,
with his office inscribed on it, and talks in
a soft, slow drawl is no reason to suppose
that he is particularly impressed by New
York He comes here almost every year,
and thinks it's good town, but
We'll, you see,' he said. there's a great
big country outside of this Cramped little
island-a country that most New Workers
don't know anything about. Why, Okla
homa Cfty's the greatest town you ever
saw. There are a dozen fourteen story
buildings going up there right now