New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-11-20
INTELLIGENT BEARS.

LEGEND OF LOYALSOCK GREER
Forksville Penn, Nov. 10 (SpeclaD.-"Aoe May
nard, who used to shoe oxen In the lumber WOODS up
on the Loyalsock Creek" said resident OF thS Niiaec
the other day. owned the Smartest pair OF tame pear
that were ever raised In sullivan County. All the
hauling OF logs and lumber was done by ox-tenhs III
those days, and Abe who came here from "yon'i'e
County with young wife, built log cabin ana oacA
smith shop In the woods and shod all the oxen ior
three or four miles around The way Abe came 10 get
possession OF the cub bears little singular one
saturday In March Abe and his wife tramped nine
miles through the forest stay over Sunday with one
OF their rclntves. Early OH Monday morning they
started for home on foot. There had been terrific
wind the night before, and while Abe anu MS vile
were trudging through the big timber between the
foot Gils Peak the skeleton Ravine, they heard
something grOanIng distance away, and went to
searching for the object that made the noise. In
minute or two they found an old she bear lying under
the trunk Of big dead hemlock tree that the nigh
wind had blown down on her. Her back was broken,
Abe said, and She grooming piteously. The tree
was so heavy that Abe and his wife were unable TO
lft or pry 1t off Of the bear, and Abe put the old
brute out Of her misery by crushing her skull With
boulder. Abe and his wife then hunted around tll
they discovered her nest under the roots OF an up
turned tree. There were two cubs In the nest, ana
as the old bears pointed toward the spot
where She had LETT her young the suppostion was
that she was on her way TO her nest from foraging
,Hp when the tree caught her. The cubs very
hungry which showed that the tree Ind fallen on their
mother time In the night. Abe and his wife
took pity on the little bears and lugged them three
miles and a half TO their cabin. They fed the cubs
all the milk they could eat, and the cunning young
animals took kindly to their new home and grew like
weeds right away. Abe selected the male and named
him Mark, and Mrs. Maynard called her cub Myra.
Mark and Myra got TO be tame kittens before
had Io.r ho lat ham hot-a
free the cabin In the daytime and at night
he fastened them In log pen near BY. On Christmas
Day Abes cabin was made cheerful by the arrival Of
a boy baby. 1t Mrs. Maynard's first child. and
| remember how happy Abe was Mark and Myra
not allowed to enter the cabin that day. and they
didn't know what to make OF II. When the baby be-
gan 10 test It's lungs. tho young bears put their
close TO a crack in the door and listened. They
very inquiS,ive animals. and they scratched on the
door and were determined to find on, what kind OF
creature II was that made the strange noise In ode
In the course Of n week Abe let them in. and Mrs.
Maynard held out the baby for their inspection. They
,mclt Of H. and then went of in the corner and
whlncd for n moment. Their curiosity overcame their
fears and they walked back, shifted Mt the baby again.
and attempted TO HEX Its face They took a great
notion 10 the child, much that Abe had 10 use
his cad to keep them out Of the cabin. Abe let them
In ms soon as the baby old enough TO be put In
the cradle. and they hung around and watched every
move llit ADeN Vile MADE. Myra got after
while that she would rock the cradle with her paw,
and Mark did tho same soon afterward
Along In the winter the bears became so
mischievous that Abc put leather collars on their
necks ana fastened them together wi h rope I'VE
or six feet long An old woOdsman OF the neighbo.
hood was In the habit Of driving past Abe's cabin
three or four times week while the snow was on
the ground. lie drove an old crOwbait Of n horse
To ickcty little old punc. and ono day Mark and
Myra ran out when he came along. marched up to
the hnd end Of his pune got the rope against the
box ana then pushed ahead on each side till they
showed the horse off his feet. That made the old
woodsman angry. and lie got out and chased the
bears with his whip, but they fast that he
didn't overtake them on his way back In the az
ternoon. the mlscbievous bears upset his sleigh
again. and within two weeks they did the same thing
so nnny times that the old man told Abe he was
going 10 shoot them the next time they bothered
him. and Abe shut them up till the snow went of
Mark aud Myra rmbled together In the woods
a great denl the after they were year
Old. one morning the bears came out OF the woods
In biz hurry, rs though something had scared them
They waddlcd to the door Of Abe's blacksmths shop
where they whined spell, and then ran TO tho
edge of the timber and looked back toward the
shop. In little while they whincd around the
door again, and pretty soon trotted To the woods
They repeated their whining around the door and
running toward the woods Il number Of times be
low them lie pleased his pets by taking off his
apron and following them into the forest, the bears
looking back every few steps to that he was
coming. They led him up the invine three quarters
Of mile, to spot In thicket, where fawn
lay asleep. The doe was away, and Abe caught
the nwn and ,amed 1t. The bears took great
notion to the new pet, and In the fall they killed
TWO dogs that tried to bite her Abe kept her
ull she raised two iawns. wien h. sold her and
her last awn T. "A city man. The bears acted lone
some and uneasy when they missed her
The winter before they Two years old Mark
and Myra got IN the notion OF staying In .Abc's
shop through lhc day. They watched Abes motions
with great Interest. and day Abe WINS sur
prlsed 10 see Myri walk up 10 the bellows and
begin TO work the lever with OF her paws. She
could reach the lever nicely BY getting Oh her
hauncles, and she hadn't worked II long lcore Mark
pushed her away and went pumping IL him
self Abe that the bears could make them
selves very useful to him, ana he made Myia lis
down TIL Mark got tired OF blowing the bellows, when
bear regular spell at TIE bellows. and for mole
Than two years they worked faithfully for him.
People came fiOm all around to tbs bears pump
ing Abc's bellows, ana when they found out that
Mark and Myra had begun to DO the work Of their
own accord. they We're deeply interested IN the
actions of the Intelligent brItes, who pulled down
the lever and let II up as handily person
bits OF hot iron, and TO get around that Abe made
eight leather boots with Shect-lion soes FOR them
Whenever AN refused 10 walk into the frame n
be shod Mark and Myra nlpped his sides TIL h.
was glad obey Mark hnally got 50 cross nnd
ugly that Abe had to butcher him, and Myra died a