Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1898-05-12
FOLLYOF AWISEBEAR
THE CRAVINGS OF HIS SWEET TOOTH
LED TO HIS DOWNFALL.

He Got Drunk on 81 Thompson's Rum and
Molasses, and 81 Killed Hinton Me-
serve Gives a New York Sportsman a
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 of q bear somewhere off in
the dark forest. It was queer sound
that was much like the shrill call of
DINNER, with 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 at intervals and came each
time from nearer the camp. The guide
got up and went out to the maple grove
few rods away, took down from
limb the buck that was hanging there,
dragged it nearer the camp and hung 1t
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 our venison
where we can see it," he said. He
won't come SO near the camp, but if we
left the meat out among the naples he'd
be apt to spoil some of it before morn
ing. A bear is hungry creature and
will eat about everything, from honey
to carrion-a stale salt mackerel will
draw one farther than anything else
but he is shy about coming around
camps where people are. You'll see that
this one will come near enough to find
out that there are people here, and then
will go away"
The New Yorker was for going out
to try shot at the bear, but the guide
told him that it was of no use.
"He won't come into view anyway, !"
he said, "and if you show yourself at
the door he'll not come within rifle
shot. Remember that he can see in the
dark, but unless you should get a
glimpse of his eyes you couldn't distin-
guish him among the shadows five steps
away. just listen, and we may hear
him."
The New York man lay down again
upon the boughs. The scream came once
again close at hand and after that was
heard no more. Presently the guide lift
ed his head and signaled, the New York
er that he 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
sound of snuffing and after that the
noise Of something moving through the
bushes again. The snuhings and then
the moving on again kept up 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 venison there was likely to come
too high in the way of risk in getting it,
and gone away without showing him
self or exposing his skin to any greater
risk than that of random shot.
"That's the way with bears, " OBJ
served Meserve as the two men lighted
their pipes. "You almost never get a
shot at one unless you catch him SWIM
ming q pond-and in that case you
want to make sure Of your shooting OF
he'll come aboard your boat, which
makes things bad-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 he turns on them that es-
cape damage in bear chase, and, once
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 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 no end of trouble by robbing
their camps when they were out on the
lake fishing. He bothered them worst in
the early spring, when they came up to
the lakes to fish through the ice. 1t was
about that time that the bear would
come out from his winters sleep lean
and hungry, and it took heap to fill
him up. He was great traveller, and
before the fishing season ended he would
be heard Of from one end of the lake to
the other. They could tell that it was
one bear that did the business, for this
one had a foot with some OF the toes
gone, and the tracks about the camp al
ways showed this mark.
"This bear run his rig up and down
the lake for three years without gss-
ting into trouble. He came to grief at
last in very queer way. A man NAM
ed Silas Thompson, camping alone on
the east shore Of the lake. was out Oh
the ice minding his lines one March
day and thinking how he would have
to go home sooner than he had intended,
owing to an accident that had happened
that morning at his camp. In some way
he had dropped his rum jug and broken
it in two or three places. There was a
bottle with some molasses in it standing
by the fireplace, and by grabbing up the
jug quickly and holding it over the bot
tie he managed to save quart or two
of rum in the shape Of black strap
that's the state of Maine name for rum
and molasses mixed together, and it's
an enticing drink. He had just made
up his mind to go to the camp to try a
little of the mixture when he saw
bear coming out on the ice from that
direction, and the bear was staggering
drunk. 1t had broken into the camp and
was drunk on Silas Thompson's rum
and molasses. The bear didn't seem to
know where he was at or where he
wanted to 60, and while be foundered
round on the ice Thompson made cir
cult past him, got to the camp and came
back with his gun and shot him. 1t
proved to lie the bear that had robbed
the fishermen's camps so long. He died
happy, and the fishermen's troubles
were ended SO far as he was concerned.
New York Sun.
Not Sufficiently Explicit.