Adventurous Minister Shows Bull Who's Boss

1904

Taming a Bull

The Rev. Elijah Kellogg was a most unconventional minister. There are many stories of his daring on sea and land. So undaunted was he that his influence over sailors and other men of adventurous life was very great.

When he was settled at Harpswell he had on his farm a bull that had become exceedingly trying and even dangerous to visitors, who liked to take a short cut across the pasture. The bull, said Mr. Kellogg, must be disciplined and taught some slight respect for humankind.

He therefore harnessed the animal to the front wheels of a heavy cart, preparatory to driving him over the road and showing him who was master. But before the guiding ropes had been adequately arranged the bull took to the woods in a mad rush, leaving fragments of the cartwheels and harness on his trail.

The little minister was not to be outdone. The next day at flood tide he lured the bull to the end of the wharf by a tempting display of fodder and, watching his opportunity, shoved him into the hay. Then he jumped astride his back and with the prowess of a "broncho buster" thrust his head under water until the creature was conquered. Thereafter he was a law abiding beast.

Ship's Boy Gets Sacred Black Cat from Hindu Temple

1912

SHIP'S BOY GETS SACRED BLACK CAT

Strays Into Hindoo Temple at Bombay and Escapes with Life and Feline.

SOMETHING HIT HIM

Daring Apprentice of Tramp Steamer Who Went in Search of Adventure at an Indian Port Had Plenty of Excitement

Philadelphia.—A daring apprentice who had the audacity to steal into a Hindoo temple and kidnap a sacred cat is the tale that a tramp steamer brings to this port.

The apprentice, Albert Berrige, passed behind the veil of one of the most sacred temples of the Hindoos in Bombay, saw with his Caucasian eyes the great idols and returned to the outer world with the sacred cat. The cat once bore, no doubt, a strange Indian name, but since joining the tramp ship the sacred feline has been dubbed Tommy. Tommy is as black as the conscience of a bigamist and is not very different from other cats. Black cats bring good luck to ships that plough the seven seas, so Tommy is held in great esteem. While Berrige's ship swung at her anchor off "The City of the Dreadful Night," as Kipling has called Bombay, the towering domes of the Hindoo temples kindled Albert's imagination, and he chafed at the bit until he had obtained shore leave.

"Be back by sundown, young man," ordered the captain as the apprentice went over the side about midday. There was so much to interest Albert that he forgot altogether the captain's injunction to be back by sundown. Darkness had enveloped the city when Albert reached one of the Hindoo temples, probably the most sacred in all Bombay.

"It was all dark and scary in that temple," said the apprentice in telling of his adventure. "There were big pillars all round with the most scary looking carvings you ever saw. I got behind one of these pillars all by myself and tried to see what was going on. Away off in the distance I saw some lights burning in front of a row of big idols that looked like huge monkeys. The Hindoos who were coming into the temple were making their way toward those idols, bowing and sort of sing-songing. They were so busy in their worship of the big gilded monkeys and things that they would not have seen me if I had been on fire.

"I was so encouraged by my success in getting to the front, near the big show, that I kept on the move through the dark. Suddenly, as I tiptoed along, I put my foot down on something soft. The next thing I knew there came a yowl and screech that made my backbone feel as though a bolt of lightning was running up and down it. The sing-song and the moaning had ceased. There was absolute silence for a moment.

"Suddenly I felt something hit me in the middle of the back. Then I felt sharp claws digging into my hide. The next instant I was traveling like a meteor toward the temple entrance and every manjack of these Hindoos in pursuit.

"When I reached the door two husky Hindoos jumped in front of me. I lowered my head and struck one of them amidships. He went down with a gulp like a man swallowing his adam's apple. I dodged the other fellow and jumped and half tumbled down the steps from the temple doorway. When I hit the street I kept up my running. The Hindoos were soon distanced. I must have run for a mile with that cat clawing at my spinal column. Then when I got up a dark street I stopped and tried to dislodge the cat. I finally had to take off my coat to get the beast to release his claws.

"When I got Mr. Cat into my arms he was as docile as you please and purred in real cat fashion. So I says to myself, 'It's a black cat and that means good luck, so I'll take him on board.' I had some explaining why I was so late, but I had the cat to prove my adventure in the temple and the old man let it go at that."

—Stevens Point Daily Journal, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, October 21, 1912, page 3.