Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-07-15
FOLLYOF WISEBEAR
The CRAVINGS OF HIS SWEET TOOTH
LED 70 HIS DOWNFALL.
He Get Drunk ca 81 Thompson's Rum and
Moiasses. and 81 Killed Hinton Me-
serve Gives New York Sportsman q
Dissertation on Bears.

Moiasses. and 81 Killed Hinton Me-
Dissertation on Bears.
To the ears OF the New York sports
man and Tom Meserve, his guide, lying
on the bed Of evergreen boughs in camp
on the shore of Moosehead lake, came
the scream CT q bear somewhere off in
the dark forest. 1t was a queer sound
that was much like the shrill call Of
DINNER. with a rising infection at
the end, with which New England farm
wives summon the men from the fields
to the monday meal 1t was repeated
several times ct intervals and came each
tisae from nearer the camp. The guide
rot up aud went out to the maple grove
q few rods away. took down from a
limb the buck that was hanging there,
dragged it nearer the camp and hung it
Up to a tree within plain sight of the
doorway.
when we know that a bear is prowl-
ing round, it is we'll to have cur venison
| where we can see it,, he said. He
won t come so near the camp, but if we
left the meat out a,nOng the naples he'd
be apt to spoil some of it before morn
| ing. a bear is a hungry creature and
| will eat about everything, from honey
to carrion-a stale salt mackercl will
| draw one farther than anything else
but he is shy about coming around
camps where people are. You Il see that
this one will come near enough 10 find
oat that there are people here, and then
will go away"
tbs New Yorker was for going out
to try shot at the bear. but the guide
| told him that IL was Of he use.
lie won't come into view anyway"
be said land if you show yourself at
| the door he'll not come within rife
| sho:. Remember that be can see in the
dark, bIt unless you should get a
glimpse of his eyes you couldn't distin-
| guish him among the shadows five steps
| away. just listen, ard we may hear
him..
The New York man lay down again
upon the boughs. The scream came once
again cleso at hand and after that was
heard no more. Presently tho guide lift
cd his head and si.nalcd the New York
er that be should listen. There was a
sound Of cracking twigs and rustling
Bushes somewhere outside the open
space in front Of the camp, but no noise
of footballs. Then came little sharp
! Of hot t,n
moi se Of something moving through the
bushes again. The snui,ings and then
the moving on again kept ZIP until the
bear had completely circled round the
camp, and then the sounds from him
died away. Bruin had found out all he
wanted TO know about the camp, decid-
ed that vsnison there was likely to come
too high i'll the way sf risk in getting it,
and gone away without showing him
self or exposing his slin to any greater
risk thar that CT a random shot.
That's the way with bears" OBJ
served Meserye rs the two men lighted
their pipes "You almost never get a
shot at one unless you catch him SWIM
ming a pond-and in that case you
want to make sure of your shooting or
he'll come aboard your boat, which
makes things Iad-or run him down
with dogs, which is expensive, for the
more valuable the dog the more certain
he is to get killed. It's only the ours
that will zap at the bears heels and run
away when be turns Oh them that es-
cape damage in a bear chase, and, ence
in sight of the bear, they're the most
useful too The bear is like what | have
read of elephants. He can't bear the
sound Of a little dog swapping behind
him and keeps turning round to drive
him off and SO gives the hunters q
: chance to come up.
There was one bear that stayed
round this shore for years. and he gave
: fishermen 10 end of trouble by robbing
their camps when they were out on the
lake fishing, He bothered them worst il
the early spring, when they came up &c
the lakes to fish through the ice. 1t wa:
. about that time that the bear would
come out from his winters sleep lear
and hungry, and it took heap to FL
/ him up. He was great traveller, ant
r before the fishing season ended he woulC
( be heard Of from one end of the lake t
the other They could tell that it wa:
one bear that did the business, for thi!
one had a foot with some Of the toe;
gone, and the tracks about the camp al
ways showed this mark.
This bear run his rig up and dowr
y the lake for three years without get
4 ting into trouble. He came to grief a
:. last in very queer way. A man nam
e ed Silas Thompson, camping alone OF
the east shore Of the lake, was out OIL
the ice minding his lines one Marcel
: day and thinking how he would hav
{ to 20 home sooner than he had intended
= owing to an accident that had happene,
a that morning at his camp. In some wa,
be had dropped his rum jug and broker
= it in two or three places. There was
bottle with some molasses in it standing
by the fireplace, and by grabbing up tn
jug quickly and holding it over the bot
tie he managed 20 save quart or tw
of rum i'll the shape of black strap
that's the state of Maine name for run