Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-06-04

and effectively done had Il been Q truly Wild
bear: OF course 1t turned and fought when
nafried ey crowd Of dogs and men, just e q
rat would do. Bears have decided predilec-
ton for vegetable diet and prefer to gorge
themselves with fruits and nuts rather than
hunt flesh for food. They eat everything, how
sver, that can be digested in the pits Of
their stomachs from 20 lizard. and although
they are easily kept in captivity, yet they never
become tractable or safe after they have reached
maturity, no matter how carefully they have
been raised by their human masters. Those
bears which escape from circus cages or from q
zoo are far more dangerous beasts than the
wild ones ever become, because they become in
s CERTAIN sense fearless of man. though they
VIII not tight any more desperately when obliged
tnan their wild and more timid relatives.
vENERArEp BY sAvAaEs.
"The facility with which the bear rears and
stands upon its hind legs even TO being able TO
walk quite distance in an erect position has
always made il an object of superstitious regard
BY savages and even semi-civilized people; the
Lapanders call it the DoC of God and the
Norwegians style 1t the odd Man With a Fur
CLOAK, and our American Indians have always
gwen II great considerations regard which
seems almost strained, yet it existed. An &C
count given by me of our pioneers before the
revolution, writing home to friends in England,
said: In the course Of the month Of January
happened to observe that the trunk Of q very
large pine tree was very much torn by the claws
OF bear, made both in going up and in going
down. On further examination saw that there
Wss q large opening in the upper part, near
which the smaller branches were broken. From
these marks and from the additional ciroum-
stance that there were no tracks in the snow
there was reason to believe that there was q
bear concealed in the tree. On returning
70 the lodge I communicated my discovery;
and It was agreed that all the family should 60
tORef1ef 4 in
down the tree, the girth Of which was not less
than three fathoms. The women at first op-
posed the undertaking, because our axes being
only OF pound and half weight were not well
adapted to 30 heavy q labor. But the hope Of
finding large bear and Of obtaining from its
fat great quantity Of oil, an article at that
time very much wanted, at length prevailed.
accordingly in the morning we surrounded the
Tree, both men and women, as many at a time
as could conveniently work at it, and there we
toiied Like beavers until the sun went down;
this days work carried us about half way
through the trunk and the next morning we re-
newed the attack, continuing it till about 2
O'CLOCK In the afternoon, when the tree fell to
the ground. For few moments everything re-
manned quiet, and feared that all our expec-
tations would be disappointed; but % ad-
vanced to the opening to the great satisfaction
of all the party there came out bear Of extra
ordinary size, which shot.
BEGGED PARDON ron KILLING IT.
The bear being dead, all the Indians ap-
preached, and all, but particularly my old
mother Gas was wont TO call herr, took the
head in their hands, stroking and kissing it sew
erai times, begging . thousand pardons for tax
ing its life, calling it their relation and grand
mother and requesting il not to lay the fault on
them, since 1t was truly an Englishman who
had put 1t TO death. This ceremony was not of
long duration. The skin being taken off, we
"A fok Sc, =. -
This being divided into two parts, was all that
was necessary to load two persons, and the
flesh parts were all that four Indians could
carry. Ip all the carcass must have weighed
oOO pounds. As soon as we reached the lodge
the bears head was adorned with all the trinkets
In the possession Of the family, such as silver
arm bands, wrist bands, belts Of wampum, and
then laid on scaffOld set up for its reception
in the center Of the lodge Near the nose was
placed large quantity Of tobacco. The next
morning no sooner appeared than preparations
Tor o feast to the names was made, the lodge
was cleared and swept and the head Of the bear
lifted up and a new blanket, never used before,
was spread under it. The pipes were Lit and
Wawatem blew tobacco smoke into the nostrils
OF the bear, telling me to do the same. and
thus appease the anger Of the bear for having
killed her. endeavored to persuade my bene-
factor that she no longer had life, and assured
him was under no apprehension Of harm from
her displeasure; but the first proposition gave
me no credit and the second gave the Indians
but little satisfaction. AT length, the feast be-
ing ready, Wawatem made Q speech resembling
in many respects his address to the names of
his relatives and departed companions, but
having this popularity, that he here deplored
the necessity under which men labored to de-
stroy their friends. He represented. however,
that the misfortune was unavoidable since
without the flesh we could not subsist. The
speech ended we all ate heartily Of the bears
meat. and the head itself, after remaining three
days in the scaffold. was put into the kettle
Now, 1t ia tail likely thatthe Zoo keepers
felt any particular superstitions creeping over
them when they killed the young grizzly, and it
is not at all likely that the bear itself had any
particular fear of them. and had it not been
killed it would have most likely hung around
the neighborhood all the balance of the year,
or until cold weather drove it into winter quar-
tiers. 1t would have lived chiefly in the vegetable
gardens, haunted the orchards, and, perhaps,
have invaded the pigsties of the rural residents
adjoining the Zoo grounds. But it would not
have gone out Of its way to attack men or chill
dren il unmolested by them. Still, the SUCCESS
ton of such an animal is bad and the tradition
worse, SO it was wise and timely that it was
destroyed"