The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-10-29
SPRING LAKES BEAR HUNT.
Two Familiar Characters at the Note,
Resort Cause a Heap of Trouble.

Two Familiar Characters at the Noted
Resort Cause a Heap of Trouble.
The usual quiet which pervades the
boroughs of Spring Lake and North
Spring Lake at this season Of the year,
says the Spring Lake, N. j., Gazette, was
suddenly broken on Sunday evening last,
and the peaceable and law biding citi-
Zens of those boroughs received shocks to
their nervous systems from which it is
rot likely they will recover until after
election.
Two domesticated bears (the property
of Mr.. H. H.. va d) have. since lasLJuly,
occupied the old gas tank pit at tho Mon
month Hnnsa. whsrs they nave bssa we'll
takenc care of and grown fat on the good
things of life. "5imon'' and his mate
''Bessn appeared well contented with
their snug home and the treatment they
were receiving. aud gave their keeper nc
trouble or uneasiness of mind until Snu-
day evening, wnen Simon took 1t into his
head to escape, and escape he did. The
pen in which the bears are confined is cir
cular In form, built of brick covered
thickly with cement, and is about ten
feet deep. No living bear could scale its
walls. In The centre of the Enclosure
was erected u pole with attachments at
uneven distances to resemble branches of
a tree. The bears would frequently climb
this pole aud stretch themselves on its
branches. AT The bottom of the pole O
water trough was fastened with strong
wire. Simon broke this wire on Sunday
evening, and, improbable though it may
seem, managed to get the trough on end
against the wall Of the Enclosure. Mount
ing il cautiously, and standing on his
hind feet. s'Simon said thumbs up"
and, placing his huge paws on the upper
edge, drew his massive form to the top
md Gti1 fn the cyrnyIpd on tho 0I1fnido
SIMON RECoNNoITREs.
Simon, upon gaining his liberty, pro-
ceeded to reconnoitre the premises. He
assembled a pair of stairs on the outside of
that portion of the Monmouth House &C.
cupied by Michael Sexton and family, and
mounted to the roof of the kitchen.
Standing on his hind feet in front of q
window, with his feet on the upper
panes, he nearly frightened the life out of
q little girl In Mr.. Sections family, who,
attracted by a scratching sound outside,
approached the window to look out and
saw the black form of the bear with his
big wide open eyes staring down upon
her. He was frightened off, and then be-
gan a tour OF the porches Of the Mon
mouth House. 1t is said that he was
hungry aud was hunting for Charlie Cox,
and hat if a door or window had been
open the bear would have gone directly to
his room. Charlie was 4 good friend to
ZIG DeHES, duu 70 Hlul hIo tuSy lDu0UL0Q
for most of the toothsome morsels fur
nished them last Summer.
By this time the news of..Simon's escape
was spread, . large crowd had gathered
to assist in his capture. The Mayor aud
Council Of the borough OF Spring Lake,
individually ard collectively, were on
hand, but kept at a safe distance. All
sorts of suggestions as to the best mode
of capture were offered, nut when tried
proved u~navail1ng. Finally some one
brought some sugar, of which Simon is
~passionately fond. The bear ate all the
sugar offered him, but whenever any
unusual movement of the hand that fed
him was made, "Simon said thu mbs
down." and showed his teeth. This
was kept up until about h~alf-past ten,
when Simon took to ths WOO and the
tired citizens retired for the night.
HE ENJOYS THE BoARD WALK.
During the night Simon changed his
base OF opera lions to North Spring Lake.
In his wanderings about among the cot
tage yards in search of bee hives, crickets,
elc., he overturned ali the buckets, bar
rels and boxes that came in his path. AT
four O'clock Monday morning a patrol
mat from Life Saving Station No. s met
his bearshjp on the hoard walk, but not
caring 10 be a q wreck of, gave him Il
wide BERTH Simon growled savagely ut
him ms they separated. The driver of
Newman's tishwagon also met Bruin at
North Spring Lake. The bear, snifiuv
rho arorna 0fta nrnSpootfvo asb, hro.Ef,