Evening star., 1933-02-02
Bull lmperils Petworth Children


1DNEY FRANKLIN or some other
good American bull fighter, or
even q Will Rogers, could have
~ been very useful in Petworth
this morning. But Petworth,
being q thoroughly modern commu-
in fact, any one who could throw lasso,
and as a result fractions and ad-
ventureSome young bull ran wild for
more than an hour before being cor
raled.
The bull was genuine 1t belonged to
Fred j. Miller, 812 Kennedy street, a
butcher, who had him locked up in a
shed in the rear Of his home, awaiting
slaughter.
The bull would have been dead now,
had not some mischievous boy IN the
neighborhood opened the door Of the
shed about o'clock without the know
ledge or consent OF Mr.. Millers The
animal took advantage Of the open
door and started exploring.
Traffic Worries Beast.
Everything would have worked out
all right If there had been fields In
stead of traffic suffered streets and
frightened pedestrians to greet the
animal. But the screams Of women,
the shrieking of automobile horns and
the changing of bells on the street cars
merely served to frighten him. And
he started on wild run.
Behind that bull ran several hum
dred school children, and a dozen men
the children looking for excitement
and the men trying to stop him.
Finally. at Sherman Circle; the
Police patrol cars and motor trucks
closed in on him. Capture was i'm
minent. But no one had a rope.
The bull carefully surveyed the
situation, snorted like bulls sometimes
do in rage, and made one flying leap.
clearing the hood Of police patrol
car by less than two inches.
Again the chase was on. Over cir
cuitous route the bull ran. He had no
regard for lawns. hedges or fences. and
even less consideration for the crowd
that followed him He cleared fence
after fence. and hedges and traffic Of
fered no obstruction.
Children Endangered.
Near the Petworth School the an
imal charged toward several hundred
children. The children ran screaming
into the school yard. A small group Of
them, however. darted directly into the
path of the charging bull, and prob
ably would have been knocked down
had not Lieut. E. P Carroll Of No. S
Fire Truck Company leaped at the an
imal and changed his path.
BY that time the bull was almost
fatigued from his long run, and the
crowd of pursuers drew closer. Pvt. S.
D. Claterbuck of No. Engine Company
managed to grab the animal by the
tail and hung on as he was dragged
along the street This resistance fur
ther slowed down the animals wild
charge. and made it possible for Lieut..
Carroll and Pvt. p J. Wheeler of No. 2
Engine Company to throw a rope
around his neck.
Error Proves Costly.
The bull, however, resented this inter-
ference and broke into a mad charge
with Carroll and Wheeler clinging to
the rope, and Claterbuck to his tail.
The bull. however. made one mistake.
He should have stayed in the street. but
in a thoughtless moment changed his
course and ran into an alley between
Eighth and Ninth and Upshur and
Taylor streets, and stopped to rest.
This brief respite gave the flremen
their opportunity and they quickly tied
the painting animal to telephone pole.
The chase was over. The flremen were
triumphant
Fifteen minutes later a truck drove
up Mr. Miller, with the assistance of
several men. after much coercing and
jockeying, ultimately pushed the tired
animal into the truck and went away
to the slaughter house.
But the animals life will be spared
for another day-not for punishment.
but because Mr.. Miller said the meat
would not be at its best until the bull
cooled Off Mr. Miller's a butcher. and
he ought to know.