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Show VENTURERS' CLUB JT) LNES FROM THE LIVES 'J p 1 0 P LE LIKE YOURSELFI "Beast of the North" , ,,0 EVERYBODY: ,,-s sixteen-year-old Bob Shrevcs of 1333 Pacific St , ' N. Y., who crashes into the Adventurers Club I j wins himself the rating of Distinguished Adven-' Adven-' ten smncker check is on the way to him right now ,i dragged it down with the story of a fight with a' ;'l;inal-on the streets of Brooklyn. Ss'bcen years since biff tame hunters roamed around Brooklyn ';ramma1s to shoot Hunting parties have been giving it the '"the days when Peter Mtmut was mayor of New York an 5 'belonged to the Dutch. It took Bob Shreves. men eight years ; '.et into trouble with one. in November. 1927. and Just a few ( trom the Long Island railroad station and the Williamsburg ' it twelve o'clock noon, when eight-year-old Bob filed out of -:'ol No. 15 with a bunch of other school kids and started ud i'tmvard his home, which was then at 146 South Elliott place 'ling home for lunch, but he wasn't In such a hurry to get it Jj spwe a moment to investigate a crowd of people across j The Bear Looked Harmless. ..oWd was standing at the back door of a large theater. Young 5 -t'over nd joined it On the sidewalk by the stage entrance $ '..H brown bear. Bob learned later that the bear was a trained 2d n act that was playing in the theater. Two of the train-i train-i ;as t,J(j him out there gettinj a little air. Ht bear was lying down," says Bob. "He was pretty old bokedlike harmless creature. The helpers were holding (jlyby a small piece of worn clothes line tied around the iJ j id hU neck." ? lit be" raay h3ve looked harmless but Bob soon found n jj he wasn't. tte d( other people shared Bob's opinion that the bear wouldn't n ;i. Nearly the whole student body of Public School No. 15 had . j to the theater stage door, attracted by the gathering pcui )H One great paw lashed out in a vicious swing. Al k ::i a mob of kids you never saw in your life. They pushed ,;i one another as they crowded closer. They yelled to one mi d directed loud, shrill questions at the men who were holding 'yo :-e. The bear began to get nervous and then frightened, to :lpers began to get uneasy, too. They coaxed the bear to get :sn began to lead him back into the theater again. Broke Away and Charged the Crowd. iat mob of kids began milling and pushing in their effort to hat i bear in. Bob Shreves was way up in the front row, being u Jf by those behind him, when suddenly the bear fell into a broke away from the two helpers with one toss of his great :i Then, swiftly, he turned around and charged the crowd! ' was coming right toward the spot where young Bob was no JS-and with a mob of three or fojr hundred kids pushing S itkind, there was no way for Bob to escape. A big boy in rjji if him screamed and turned to flee. And in his frantic ef-icii ef-icii 5elaway he ran squarely into Bob and bowled him over. ,mm -3 tat on the ground. For a moment he was confused. All ilir -i now he heard the screams of other kids. Then he looked the bear charging straight at him almost on top of him! affij heart leaped to his mouth and in another split second the e5j m l. One great paw lashed out in a vicious swing at joul 1 Inactively, Bob ducked. "If I hadn't," Bob says, "he ldhi ! riPPed my face wide open. As it was, he took away a brai -7 scalp as big as a man's hand. He was standing over me gerl i8 a"i growling, and suddenly I found myself in his big, fall fS fWa? SUU conscious- I don't know why that slap on the j iito't knock me ont. But it didn't, and at that moment I jbe, "ei (eel any pain np there. But I Could feel the brute is o lie breath out of me with his paws. I could feel my bat acking unael. the pressure. And I could see him tearing g ' filler with his teeth." ,dv.) : cold weather and Bob had on a heavy overcoat. That coat saved his shoulder from being ripped wide open, too. But 42 4 ffas no protection against the squeeze of those powerful Was Slowly Crushing the Life Out of Him. .''"my est was going to cave in," he says, "and my lungs would burst I tried to cry out, but that was impossible. draw a breath." E '. one of the helpers had grabbed up the bear's rope again I9 ran to to get the trainer. Little Bob wasn't even con-l con-l ' ' He wasn't conscious of anything but the big, hairy animal ,iiw Ijueezing slowly crushing the life out of him. The Em" i of tmembered were shouts in his ears and strong hands jo'rej' . ' lagging him from the bear's embrace. leim lice . he toew he was In Cumberland hospital, with a st- lots iIm head and right shulder, and a broken rib and i n him that tf he hadn't had on a thick overcoat he'd tna'med for We u not killed outright. But three months S3 n?.,nt of the hospital, and all right except for a last- ? k :i bip1Shed 880 pounds and stood seven feet tall when erect. GCST i he'i !, Critter Bob ever took on 1 or a fight heioieT a bj. wondering if Schmeling, or Joe Louis, or even Ll Ptune, could have done any better with that animal . .Copyright WNU Service. Il |