Iron County register., 1900-03-08
A CIVILIZED BEAR.
Park Policeman Wakes Philosophical
Over the Animals
Demise.

| Gypsy" said the Lincoln park police
man, reflectively, as he watched the
two big polar bears taking bath in
their city pool.
"You see,'' he continued, Gypsy
was different from any kind of bears
we ever had here before, and on that
| account, | suppose, | watched her
more than / did the rest of the fam
| lily, and between you and me l don't
think it was right to kill her. 1t is
true Gypsy would climb out of the pit
and run away-ran away three times,
in fact and gave lot of trouble to
fetch her back, to say nothing about
soaring everybody off the streets in
Lake View, and rafting the city cop
pers' besides.
Gypsy, you must understand,
wasn't an ordinary brute. Now, thas~
bears in the pit were brought up in
cage and don't know anything about
the outside world, so they stay there
contented enough. But Gypsy was, I
might say, civilized bear, and had
wide experience of men and things.
Gypsy, you know, was trained ami
NAL. The commissioners bought her
from one of them Romany chaps that
camped on the prairie out south some
where last summer. Why he ever sold
her is a mystery to me. But just think
what d terrible change it made for
Gypsy!
"You probably know that the per-
forming bears seen once in awhile on
village streets or at country fairs
come from Europe. They are what is
captured young they are quite tract
able, and being intelligent can be
taught number of amusing and lu-
dicrous tricks. Such a one was poor
Gypsy, whose pelt is to be stuffed with
straw and placed on exhibition over
there in the Latin memorial. Think
of the life that bear led in its happier
years, roaming over the country with
the master who reared it from cub,
and who was it's friend through all the
ups and downs of the free, wild life
of the wandering gypsies! Led by
rope in its masters hand, it went
from village to village, going through
its clumsy antics in front of each
roadside inn-pole vaulting, turning
awkward somersaults, standing on its
ASoo: PIpS' out VI
a bottle and pretending to be drunk,
and doing a hundred other odd tricks.
"Then, after passing around the hat,
these two comrades would sup to-
gether at the inn Two loaves of
black bread and a pound of cheese
for bruin, half as much for the man,
and two quarts of beer for each of
them.
''These were the bright spots in
Gypsy's life, but not less civilizing
were the long tramps over hot, dusty
roads, with miles and miles between
hungry stomachs and the chance for
food; weary journeys through storms
of sleet and snow, and the night COM
ing on with no shelter in sight save
friendly straw stack or open shed,
for no peasant farmer would let
big brown bear into his cottage Often
these two slept together, Gypsy's
shaggy coat making a, warm, soft pill
low for the masters head.
"Do you wonder, now, that after a
dozen years of such life-after tray-
cling all over Europe and half OF
America as the constant companions
of a human beinS-that this Gypsy,
away only anu
thrown into a prison along with a lot |
of ignorant black bears, should want |
to get away, and did get away. and |
went in search of her old master?
For myself, / don't wonder at it |
at all. What surprises me, though, is |
the-er-that is, the lack of tact of |
those who were sent to catch her The |
idea of going after civilized animal |
like that with bludgeons and pitch.
forks is enough to make a man lose |
faith in his kind. Why, they could |
have led that bear back to the park |
with a piece of cotton twine
They said Gypsy was crazy, and |
SO they killed her. Well, maybe she |
was crazy; she'd been through |
enough; but often wonder what her |
old master, if he is still alive, thinks |