Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1892-07-13
BOLD OLD RANGER.
THIS VETERAN BEAR HAD NO FEAR
OF MAN OR GUN.

He Was the Terror of One Community
and Was Famous and Dreaded for His
Brazen observation-disclosures All Over
the Statc-Farmer Sawyer's Vow.
'"The boldest, most impudent bears to
be found anywhere are the bears of
Maine," said sportsman who has
hunted all kinds of bears but polar
bears. "The Maine bear doesn't. care
snap for man, and that is rather queer
for the bears must know that there is ii
big bounty ON their scalps. Bears
know everything. When | say that
the Maine bear don't care snap
for q man don't mean that he is any
more apt to tackle a man than any
other bear Is, but that he will go into IA
mans barnyard after calf, or a sheep
or a pig, into his orchard after apples.
into his cornfeld, or into his yard and
knock over the beeslips for the honey,
although the man may be standing not
three rods away with a gun at that.
This brazen impudence ON the part of
the Maine bear is what makes him such
terror to the farmers in that state, and
it more than anything else led to the
putting of a price on his head. 1t has
also led to the invention Of many de-
vices for destroying the bold marauder
by the farmers themselves.
''The favorite one of these is the trap
gun. This is simply an ordinary gun.
charged heavily with buckshot, baited,
and placed in a cornfeld or other place
where the bear is likely to pay visit
with foraging intent. The bait and gun
are so arranged that the instant the
bear touches the former the latter Is dis
charged, and in nine cases out of ten the
quantity of lead bruin receives in his
head and face loads him down so efectu-
ally that when the farmer goes out in
the morning he finds the bear dead, and
the carcass Is a more valuable crop to
him than anything any two acres Of his
land could yield him, for the bounty, and
the hide, and the meat ought to repre-
sent forty or fifty dollars in cold cash to
the agriculturist.
"The country around Bangor, say
within twenty or thirty miles, is the
most prolific bear region l ever struck.
The bears seem to rise up out of the
ground and look at you as you pass by
without protest. The last time was
over there the people in the vicinity of
Maxfeld were all broke up over the
wickedness of a tough and cunning old
bear, whose exploits had won him the
name Of Old Ranger. He was a great
orchard thief, and had escaped from no
end of traps, and it was estimated at that
time that if he should drop dead just
then and his weight was taken, not less
than ten pounds of his avoirdupois
would be represented by lead that had
been shot into him any time within the
five years then past.
"The whole of Penobscot county knew
that BEAR but he defied the entire popu-
lace until farmer named Sawyer got
so mad one day over some especially ag
gravating depredations the old bear had
committed on his premises that he took
his big moose gun and swore that he
would go out and lay Old Ranger low
before he came home again or die in the
attempt. But Sawyer, after following
the bear three days, modified his oath a
little and came home the third night to
see his family. Some time during the
night he was awakened by noise, and
he recognized in it the voice, or rather
lungs, of Old Ranger blowing in the
orchard.
with great caution Farmer Sawyer
awoke his farm hands and stole to some
of his neighbors and got together
small army of men. Armed with guns,
axes, pitchforks and other weapons, and
carrying a dozen lanterns, the hostile
forces surrounded Old Ranger in the
orchard, and for the first time in his life
the tough and willy bear found himself
in corner. There was only one outlet
to the woods from the orchard, and that
was guarded by eight men with guns,
including Sawyer with his moose gun.
''The display of lanterns had evidently
dazed Old Ranger, for there was no
reason why he couldn't have got out of
the orchard and away into the woods
before he was surrounded. But he
didn't, and when he at last discovered
the danger he was in and made break
gantlet. He received shot from each
one of the eight guns, including Sawyer's
moose gun, but he ran the gantlet and
kept right on for the woods. In spite of
his wounds the tenacious old brute led
the host of armed farmers a lively chase
of nearly three miles into the woods be-
fore they came up with him. Farmer
Sawyer was in the lead of the forces
and was suddenly brought up all stand
ing by roar and a snort and frightful
swapping of teeth not far ahead Of him.
Lanterns were held up, and there,
not twenty feet ahead, stood Old Ranger,
his back against rock and showing a
defiant and terrible front. By the light
of the lanterns Farmer Sawyer gave the
bear both barrels of his moose gun, and
Old Rangers race was run. The big
bear was lashed to two stout poles and
the great carcass was borne into Max
field by the triumphant hunters. When
the people of the village heard that Old
Ranger had been killed sleep was given
over for the night, and daylight found
the populace still rejoicing over the
downfall of the dreaded marauder. Old
Ranger weighed AGO pounds. New
York Sun.
Painless Dental Operations.
Among the thousand and one recently
invented dental and surgical appliances
is an ingenious device of French origin
for producing local paralysis Of the
nerves, in order that minor dental and
surgical operations may be painless. II