The Saint Paul globe., 1904-01-24

whenever the hunting season comes
round" said John Gilbert, the travel
ing grocery man, II have to think or
Old Merry -Go-Round and the fun he
had one day in the PasSadanky dis
trict, up in the hemlock belt, where
happened to be at the time.
"Old Merry Co Round was bear;
tame bear Dolf Green had got him as
cub and brought him up by hand:
When the bear got big enough DOH
fitted him UP a large open pen ana
stuck a twentyfoot chestnut stup, SIX
inches through, in the middle of the
pen, for the bear to amuse himself with
by climbing. But the bear never useo
the pole in that way.
early in his career he got the idea
in his head that he could get more fun
out of that pole by walking round ana
round it in a big circle than he could
by doing monkey tricks up and down
it. and he passed his entire time in
tramping that circle. By the time he
was two years old he was known all
through that country as Dolf Green
circusin bear, and, being of an ever
amiable and happy disposition. was
given the appropriate name OF Ola
Merry Co Round.
"Dolf Green got tired at last of see
ing the bears monotonous circumam-
bulating stunt, and made up his mind
to butcher Old Merry Co Round with
the next killing of pigs. He was telling
Pete Sanders so one day, as Pete was
watching the bear circling round and
round the pole, as if that was all 1t was
living for, when Pete was suddenly
seized with an idea.
"'Why, Dolf,' said Pete, that bear
likes to circle himself round so all-per-
ri q
treadmill under him and let him run
your churnin' machine and your fam
min mill, and mebbe your thrashi' ma
chine, if you ever git one?'
"Dolf saw the point at once and he
had a circular treadmill built, and put
il in the pen where the bear did all his
tramping, and the novelty of swinging
round the circle on that machine just
about tickled Old Merry Go Round all
to pieces. Dolf connected the contriv-
ance with his churns and tanning mill,
and the bear ran the whole business as
slick and easy as water power. Old
Merry Co Round at once became the
most valuable appurtenance to Dolfs
farm and he refused a cash offer of
$3.50 for him.
"This time that I was up there in
the hunting season q nice, Innocent
looking young chap, in a brand-new
corduroy hunting suit and equipped
with couple of hundred dollars
worth Of sporting appurtenances,
drove in from the railroad station and
said he had come up from Pittsburg
to have a few days fun with the birds.
He was so cocly and knowing that he
didn't make good impression on the
HemIock Belters who happened to be
at the tavern, among them Jep Marcy
and Joe Moray, particularly when he
said that he didn't need any one to
go along with him. as he had hunted
in good deal bigger woods than lay
around there. But Joe Moray did con-
descend to tell him that he had better
have one Of his barrels loaded with
buckshot because there might be such
thing as his running against a bear.
"rPooh!' said he. Birdshot will do,
I guess, for all the bear I'm likely to
meet in such a patch of timber as
this
NOW. if there was anything they
boasted of as being staple product in
that locality it was bear, and this re-
flection on its possibilities in that line
would have undoubtedly resulted in
unpleasantnesS for the contemptuous
young man if it hadn't happened just
at that moment the boys were low
spirited and discouraged. Up to within
couple of days the woods around
there had been full of bear, and Jep
Marcy himself had bagged three, and
Joe Moray had brought in two in less