Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1919-01-23
new YORK SCARED
BY LONE BEAR CUB
One man Dies of Heart Failure
when Mollie Gets Loose and
Wanders About City.
From the My yord World.

weight, with n reputation 70. tame
ness gained IN ~ estirnapIe career as
mascot Of The End i~nfantry and in
mate OF The Central Park menaeerie,
got loose Tor " hours in the park yes
tsrday morning and rowde enough
excitement into that short period to last
a lifetime.
tragedy, melodrama and comedy
all these divisions of drama min
gleo IN Mollie's great adventure. If it
were not for the tragic par, of it, the
narrative of Mollie's two hours of free
dom would read like Il moving picture
comedy. But it caused the death of
Louis Seeholdt, the aged keeper re-
sponsIble for the escape. who dropped
dead Of heart failure during the eX-
ciie;aent.
"o' the rest, she bit n soldier and
q lo!ccnan, knocked down a yelling
infant who will never have amy faith
III Teddy bears again. scared scores of
chi'uren and nurSemaids. entertained
hundreds of other persons who We're
more curious than afraid, led police.
soldiers and sailors n crazy chase
through the southern end of the park;
wandered for a few minutes i'm the
traffic of Fifty-ninth street, went back
TO the park, climbed trees, was run over
by an auto, jumped right up and
climbed n dozen other trees. and was
finally captured after a thrilling, fight
with u police captain and a sailor on the
shaky limb of a tree so feet from the
ground.
Failed to Lock the Gate.
Ihe cause of Mollie's escape, which
she made at 1910 o'clock, was the
failure of the keeper to lock the, gate
wieh ne went in to clean her cage.
She just walked around him, pushed
''e door open with her nose. and
went out for n little stroll in the
park. 1t was Thanksgiving day, lots
o. folk were out. and Mollie felt
sociable. She undoubtedly had the
best intentions in the world. but no.
body gave her credit for them.
Malie at nee pointed her nose for
Broadway and proceeded to follow it.
n roamed around for a few minutes
before her escape was discovered by
Seeboldt. When the keeper finally
started In pursuit she had evidently be-
come frightened by the attitude of the
persons In the park. Some ran away
screaming and shrieking. and others
ran up close to look at her and yelled
loudly to n another. A few made
Intellectual efforts to catch her.
Then Mollie. began to show what a
bear can do when 1t comes to going
from some place to some place else.
She ran faster and faster for the
southern boundary of the park. dodg-
ing automobiles and baby carriages.
Seeboldt ran after her a. fast as he
could. u he was 60 and soon got tired.
Soidisrs Joined in Chase.
A few hundred feet from the entrance
Mt kQfh ntvon ~@I Ct-tI. No.
is a little encampment Of the last Engi-
neers Searchlight Corps. with four or
five khaki tents on a knoll above the
duck pond. Some of the soldiers joined
IN the chase. They said later that they
suddenly saw the bear leap to the top
OF a big rock, pause a and
then run on. Right behind her came
Seeboldt.
The keeper also paused n moment
atop the big rock But he did not go
on. The soldiers saw him topple over
backward. An ambulance was called.
and DR.. Harlem and DR.. William D..
Sloane both attended him, but the
keeper died within a few minutes.
Meantime. with soldiers still pursu-
ing. Mollie ran out into Fifty ninth
street. Men at breakfast in the New
York Athletic Cub. looking from the
windows. saw her run in their direction.
then suddenly swerved back into the
park.
she Won Wrestling Match.
Just inside the park she ran directly |
at a soldier named Michael Griffin.
: He tackled her and tusled with her for
a few minutes. But she got away and
left the soldier with a torn hand.
BY this time mounted policemen had
Joined the chase.
The police chased Mollie to the west /
side OF the duck pond. where she /
climbed her first tree. From thnt time
until she was caught in a tree on the
sixty fifth street Transverse road, not
far from where she had started, she
Kept on climbing trees: sliding down
trees. running through crowds and
lodging autos.
Captain Bourke climbed also. The cap
tain Is Q veteran. but Is ms hard as a !
rock. and IL strong as q bull. In the
Spanish American war he was a chief
gunner's mate. but in all his pictur- !
es career he never had a more exciting
time than Mollie gave him..
HE. Bluff Scared Her.
He climbed one tree to a limbs feet |
above the ground. when Molie turned
and made for him. They swayed in the |
air. With nothing between the captain |
and death but his nerve. He remem-
bered. he says. that the best. thing to do !
when an animal attacks you Is to put
Up 4 b0ld front. So he thrust out hisN
Jaw and jumped at Mollie-and Mollie |
backed away. She slid down the tree.
Bourke's men were waiting for her. but |
she linnedIaway from them. A hear