The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1938-07-21
M ea nj tai
by Captain
G. Elliott Nightingale
Copyright. WNU
Il GORILLA US. Il HALF
PINT MOUNTTE

- guard never lived than Bully"
RI. He was everything des-
picable and stood suspected of just
about every crime in the Dominion
calendar from numbering Indians on
hinterland trails, to kicking child
out of his path. He stood about six
foot even, and weighed about $50
pounds, all of it muscle, sinew, and
unadulterated meanness. He was a
big, strong, giant of man, and he
knew it, and he was always pick
ing on someone half his size. He
was handsome devil, to boot, al
though he wasn't quite so handsome
when, one fine morning in northern
Ontario, he attacked the writer of
this epistle and had an ax-handle
wrapped around his head for his
trouble.
Of all his tremendous stock of
mean tricks and criminal pastimes,
however, there were two that
caused even the most hardened and
capable wilderness men to gasp and
keep out of Bully" RS clutches.
One of his pastimes was that of
honing his two-pound hand-ax until
it had an edge like razor. Then
he would throw it at the first dog
that CHANGED to come within forty
or fifty feet. Moreover, Bully"
r.. seldom missed. With an axe, he
was a marksman, and as his IA
vorite two-pounder whizzed through
the air, witnesses knew they were
looking at dead dog.
Another of his most despicable
tricks was to pick a quarrel with
some fire ranger, surveyor, timber
cruiser or lumberjack, or prospec-
tor who might stand about five foot
eight or ten and weigh about one
hundred and fifty or sixty pounds.
He might start an argument over
anything at all, and then, instead
of using his fists and fighting like
a man, he would close in on his
victim, grab him by the collar and
also by the belt, or seat of the
pants, and then lift the struggling
victim up at arms length over his
head. This was quite easy work
for Bully R. for he had the build
and strength of a grizzly bear.
At any rate, having raised his man
above his head, he would let out a
below and begin moving rapidly to-
ward the nearest big tree, probably
a hemlock with diameter of about
three feet. Then, when but a few
feet away he would throw his VIC
tim at the tree, and he crippled
a few men before others were wise
enough to keep out of his clutches
by any means possible. This writer
used nice maple ax-handle, and
escaped injury, but few others
were not so fortunate. At any
rate, "Bully" R. went on for some
considerable time and he was just
about due for assassination either
by Indian or white, when he con-
ceived the idea of heading to the
Canadian Northwest to work during
the harvest season there. Special
harvester's excursions were running
about every ten days or so, and
finally Bully" r. left the train at
a fiag-station in a district near
Saskatoon, in Saskatchewan.
A dozen other harvesters alighted
at this point, too, and they pitched
camp alongside the railroad track,
planning to camp until they hired
out, which might be next day. At
any rate, the first thing that caught
Bully" RS attention was a rather
fine looking husky dog, evidently a
sled dog. Not having his two-pound
AK handy, Bully called and
coaXed the more or less friendly
dog to come to him, and just as the
unsuspecting animal got close, "Bul-
ly's" right foot shot out like a piston
rod and the dog went sailing through
the air, to fall dead ten or twelve
feet away. Just at that particular
moment a Man of the Mounted
appeared, seemingly from nowhere,
but in time to witness "Bully's" ia
tai footwork. Not more than five
foot six, and weighing less than
$50 pounds, the Man of the Mounted
walked right up to Bully" R. and
arrested him for killing a dog worth
$50, and also cruelty to an animal
that was absolutely friendly and had
not attacked. Bully" threw his
shoulders back, took deep breath,
and in flash he had grabbed the
Man of the Mounted and was raising
his load up high. In mid-air, the
Man of the Mounted broke loose
and came down astraddle the "Bul-
ly's" shoulders and back. Then
something happened. The Mountie's
hands were seen to be doing some
thing to a spot somewhere behind
"Bully's" left ear, and all of a
sudden Bully R. went down in a
limp heap. Before he could recov-
er, the man of the Mounted had
the handouts on him, and the "Bul-
ly'' for the first time in his life
was prisoner, and helpless. Not
blow had been struck. Moreover,
the Man of the Mounted didn't even
muss his hair or lose his hat. It
all happened just like that. Later,
it was learned that the lightly built
Man of the Mounted knew just about
all there was to know about jiu-
jitsu. Pressure on certain nerves
in Bully" RS gorilla-like neck had
caused him to crumple. At any
rate, quite a few of "Bully's" old
crimes were dug up and the Cana
dams gave him several years to
think things over