Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 230, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 September 1913 — Cop Captures Bat and Has Hair-Raising Story [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Cop Captures Bat and Has Hair-Raising Story

DETROIT, MlCH.—Before this story Is told let It be understood that Patrolman Gustave Feldman of the police court detail, is a man of unquestioned veracity. He has occasionally returned from a fishing expedition with stories of the size of the ones that got away, but the sight he witnessed the other night, and described the following morning, occurred on dry land. Feldman has a of the adventure in the shape of a bat —not the kind that Ty Cobb swings—but the kind described in the dictionary as “a flying, insectivorous mammal,” and it measures 26 inches across the ■wings.

It was Feldman’s night to watch the records at police court and he dozed in a chair in the clerk’s office. A fluttering of wings awakened him and in the dim half-light of the municipal building he could discern the figures of two large bats. The bird-animals -circled aroutrd and darted at one another several times, apparently engaged in mortal combat Feldman watched the fight for a short time, fascinated by the ferocity of the bats, and then moved slightly in his chair to get a better glimpse of the engagement. A newspaper lying on his knees rustled and the.fight between the bats suddenly ceased. They wheeled around the policeman’s head a few times and then darted directly at him. The bats kept up the attack. Switching on the light, Feldman ran to his locker, got his night stick and returned to the fray. One of the bats escaped, but the other flew around in circles, dazed and blinded by the flood of light. It fell an easy victim to Feldman's club.