Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1913-01-14

"a the Bruce mlll Will OH fOAs6 ICdA
attached to lizard" loaded will
sacks of grain. A lizard was a sort
Iof sled, made of a tree fork shaped
like letter v, with boards lait
Eacross for a bed upon which to la.
the load. The team was hitched t
| the point OF the v. This primitive
sled was not uncommon in early
times, though, no doubt, there are
many young people in this commun-
4 ity who never saw or heard Of one
Though the settlement OF the
county up to January 1, 1851, had
been slow, the settlers had from
time to time gone to Des Moines,
Iowa City and even as far as Keo-
kuk for supplies, and the fame Of
the splendid country along the
Boone and Des Moines rivers had
gone forth. So the year 1852 was
destined to be an important one in
the settlement of the county. The
first settler to come in 1852 was
Benjamin Bell, familiarly known
Throughout the county as Uncle
Benny Bell He came UP from Des
Moines, where his family was stop
ping for the winter, early in the
lyear, and, after looking about, re-
turned, and in the spring brought
his family, including his father,
BENZ. Bell, and they rented the, Press
Bell claim and lived there during
their first year. They came, of
course, with an OK team, but Uncle
Bennie brought horse along. AS
the wagon with the household ef-
fects was going down a steep hill
Mrs. Bells spinning wheel she had
brought all the way from Indiana,
and had guarded with great care,
fell from the wagon and was brok-
en-. 1t was upon this wheel that
the fax and the wool for the family
clothing had been spun and it was
regarded as quite serious accident.
During the year Mr.. Bell staked out
a claim and prepared to move to It'll
by the next spring.
For the benefit OF our boy read
ers. as we'll as others, We insert here
an account OF the capture Of a deer
by Jasper Bell, the Oldest son of
Uncle Bennie. Jasper was thirteen
years old at this time and tt was his
business TO prepare and brlng In thel
kindling for the morning fire. It]
was late in the fall and ice had
frozen for four or FIVE feet along
each side of Boone river. but the
center was open. Jas. had forgot
ten to get in his kindling at night
and was ordered out of bed just atl
day break to supply 1T. He ran out
to the woodpile without dressing
himself and was clothed only in his
nightclothes. When reaching thel
woodpile he chanced to look up the
hill towards the house and saw an
antlered deer. He forgot his un-|
dressed condition and ran back tol
the house calling the greyhound
and bulldog. Returning with them
he pointed out the deer. No sooner
did the hound see the deer than she
went after it like a shot and the
deer ran down the hill. The bull
dog headed 1t OFF and 1t plunged in
to the river and swan across, but
was unable to land on account of
the ice. The bulldog plunged in and
seized the deer by the throat. I'm
der the water they went. then upl
again, and fierce struggle took
place, churning the water into foam.
The dog held on and gradually wor-
ried the deer out while he towed
him toward the shore upon which |
young Jasper stood shouting at the
top Of his voice: Sick 'em Bull.
hold on Bull" When the dog reach
ed the edge of the ice. las ran out
and taking him by the short stubby
tail. lifted him up and taking hold
OF his hind legs tried to draw him
onto the ice. yelling all the time:
Hold him fast. Bull" All this
noise and racket brought Uncle Ben
ME to the scene and as the deer was
about worried out, half drowned, he
took 1t by the horns and killed 1t.
He then drew 1t upon the fee. Then
around and discovering Jas.
in his unclad condition said: You'd
better go to the house. boy, or you'll
freeze" Jas. then remembered. for
the first time, his lack Of raiment
and scampered off to the house
quick.
Former Resident Dead.
The funeral OF the late Mrs. Pat
rick Mahoney Of Platt, South Dako-