Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-02-28
Misefllansous Rsaaina.
sArTLED WITH ANGRY GRIZZLY

SN' 1851 VIII SNSnr ShIZZL
Cook Who Mistook Bear for Frien,
Has Thrilling Encounter With tn,
Beast.
During the winter Of 1909-10 fount
myself In Spokane, Wash. Trade wal
very slack, and though I tried hard,
failed to secure q position. was no.
tel and restaurant cook, but could no
get anything to do.
>! Things were looking pretty blacl
when one day, quite by accident, me-
a former friend Of mine. After few
words Of greeting, he asked me where
I was working at present, and told
him In how bad a fix was, and how
hard it was to find any kind of job. =
Well" he said, III you would care to
go out to some camp I might get you
something" He added that he was
working in the ONCE Of mining firm
which owned several large mines. and
that this company intended to start a
camp out in Idaho within the next
week.
| Two days later received instruc-
| tions to call on my friends company,
saw the manager. who told me that II
was willing to 60 to small mining
camp to cook for seven men ! could
start that very evening.
| promised to be at the depot at the
appointed time and went back to my
hotel to pack up.
At $40 In the evening took the
train to Butte, Mont, arrived there at
$40 next morning and changed for the
train to Armstead, where met Mr..
Frank Turner, the engineer. and five
miners. The road from Armstead to
Gilmore, Lima county, was at that time
under construction, and for this reason
we had to wait until / o'clock to get a
work train to the latter place. From
Gilmore to the mine was nearly nine
miles, and after arriving there we had
to stop at the only hotel for the night,
and then proceed next morning to the
mine on horseback. .r.a
| Wearied out, we finally reached our
destination, in the heart Of the Bitter
Root mountains, In the forenoon, and
had to commence work at once. had
to cook for seven men-Mr. Turner, his
assistant and five miners.
| was looking around, thinking about
nothing in particular, when heard
some curious sound coming from the
trail leading to the mine. listened,
but neither saw nor heard anything
else, and was just about to go in and
start. on work when the sound came
| again-like the breaking Of small
board. I stared in the direction Of the
noise getting my eyes used to the un-
certain light, and presently saw some
object moving along the trail about
thirty feet ahead Of me. Thinking that
perhaps some prospector had got into
difficulties and was crawling along the
trail, / stood my shovel down and
called out: "Halloa Is anybody
there?" There was no answer to my
shout, so started to investigate. was
within ten feet Of the object, and get
ting ready to pick up the figure could
just discern lying on the ground, when
| to my horror, the mass all at once
Strengthened up and presented itself tc
me as a full-grown grizzly bear OF
immense size! ....... .. ....,. ..r
The bear had one Of the leg-bones
had thrown out under his right arm
Just In the same way as human be-
ing would hold parcel. ! noticed that
Then he let out roar and started to-
wards me. I made a jump backwards
too frightened to think. Next moment
the bear dropped the bone and, raising
itself on It's hindlegs, gave an angry
growl, showing his awful teeth. Then
he came for me, his fore-paws stretch
ed out as If he would like to take me
in his arms. ...
| Wild with fright, turned and ran
for the door of the cook-house; but, to
my horror, I could not open It; the
snow had thoughtlessly stamped
down kept it tight shut. pulled at II
with such force that tore off the lock
and half Of the plank, but the door It
self would not move an inch. All this
happened quicker than 1t is told, and
meanwhile the bear came nearer and
nearer. He was only few feet away
when a thought struck me. Turning
round, with one bound I was In the
meat house, the door Of which, as
mentioned before, stood above the
ground level and opened easily. bolt
ed It behind me with q meat-hook the
instant was in, and ! was not a Sec
ond too soon, for the bear was there
scratching with his long paws at the
boards, almost as soon as l turned
round.
For the moment considered myself
safe, and I sat down on the choppine
block and wondered how I was to gel
rid of the beast. I was, however, reck-
oning without Mr.. Grizzly. Snuffins
round the boards, he came presently to
the open air-space and stood up on his
hind legs to look through 1t. could
clearly see his round head and little
ears. The smell Of the fresh meat and
blood gave him renewed courage, and
he tried to climb through the opening
but found out that the mosquito-screer
was in his way.
BY this time was quite calm again
grabbed up one Of my meat hooks
and holding 1t in my right hand
stepped over to the screen. AS soon as
the bear put his nose to 1t again l gave
him a whack with the hook, thinking II
would drive him away. Instead 1t In
furIated him, and with single blow
he tore a hole in the screen about q
foot long. I tried to hit him again, but
missed, and my hook went into the
screen, making the gap bigger. All
this time, curiously enough, 1t never
occurred to me to shout for help, al
though the men in the bunkhouse
could easily have heard me. simply
waited. wondering what the outcome