South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-03-31
Yellowstone Park
Bears Enjoy Life
By Ebert Hubbard.

Dr. SlelnmelH Win my con- l'l4lliSAe1
ON suspicion.
And now the doctor returns the
varrnint and regrets that the high
cost o. living precludes a bar as a
pet.
Col. Brett told me that he could
not make any estimate on the num-
Der of bears i'm Yellowstone park, for
the reason that bears play the game
alone but there must be thousands
of 'em.
At every hotel there is a place
called the bear dump" Here the
garbage Of the hotel is carried usual
ly AZ certain time, say, at in the
evening.
The bear dump used TO be close up
Z shind the hotel but now in most
places il has been removed fully half
a chile away, this on account OF the
fact that hear lyas no recognition of
the rights of property. He is an at
torney by nature.
He leVies on anything he wants
and finds excuse for carrying it off
Meum and tuum are not in his leXi-
con.
one Of the kitchen boys was dele
gated TO carry the garbage away in
barrels on a two-wheeled cart every
! afternoon.
This boy found that by scattering
garbage along the road dozens of
/ bears would come out To meet him.
| He would also Occa sionally stop and
make friends with them by throwing
/ them morsels out OF the barrels.
Bears have temperament. No two
I are alike in disposition. Some are
/ friendly, others are suspicious. Some
! are selfish, grasping. unreasonable.
! This bow allowed VcntureSOme
/ young bears 20 climb up on the cart
/ and help themselves out of the bar
! rel
one day he allowed the wrong bear
to climb up. The bear just reached
for him once
1t was the boys fault. of course.
and he passed In his resignation 10 the
| hotel company when they declined TO
get him new suit of clothes.
The next man who drove that cart
| carried blacksnake whip; and when
| a couple of young grizzlies insisted on
climbing up on the cart he just
/ jumped off the cart and chased them
| a quarter of a mile. giving each bear,
according To the Delaware custom, 40
lashes, with few extra for good
! measure.
After that the bears evidently pass
ed the word along whip behind"
Strict orders are given never TO
feed bears at any place except the
bear dump.
One hotel has a bear known as Joe,
who has become part of the fam
i!y. He sleeps under the hotel and is
fed out of the kitchen exactly as we
feed a Newfoundland dog.
The proprietor had TO put up a
strong screen door, not to keep G.
flies, but TO keep out Mistah Beah
One day Joe found the door ajar
and came into the kitchen. generally
sacked the place. helping himself to
everything in sight
Ill N once an old cat fnaf boJ l-sf
tens jumped for joe and he went
through the window and took the
sash with him.
Joe weighs about 600 pounds
All visitors in the park are warned
never to feed bears out of the hand
and 10 keep at least % yards away.
for a bear. no matter how friendly, is
apt 10 be careless. He is ambidex-
trous, and has hands for feet that are
IN much need Of manicuring.
The government does not allow any
one 10 kin bears in the Yellowstone
unless in "self-defense." The term
self-defense, however, is an elastic
one, for the rule Of reason applies.
There are bad bears as well as bad
men,
A bad bear is one given to the
burglar habit.
Grizzlies have a sense of honor and
keep their distance. They Will feed
at the dumping ground. but they
never come up TO the hotel and look
over the register
Occasionally there is a black bear
that will locate the comissary. He
viii claw the door to pieces, rip off
the shutters and take his own wher-
ever he finds il. In cases of this kind
the soldiers are notified TO do their
duty.
bod haor &c sIo4 .s,.~+ ID .s.,
I afterward.
The other way to get rid of a bad
bear is to put some meat in an iron
cage, attach a rope to trap-doOr and
wait until Colonel Bear goes for the
meat and then drop the door.
All you have to do after that is to
put on an express tag and ship the
bear TO East Aurora or wherever he
is needed for geological purposes.
The government does not sell bears.
but it gives them away to scientific
gents.
We stood about hundred feet from
I the bear dump at one inn and
watched six full-grOwn black bears
and two cubs investigating the pure
food labels on the tin cans a bear
viii take tin can in his paws, stand
up and pour the contents down his
/ gObble
These bears were perfectly oblivious
10 our presence. not realizing for a
moment that there were distinguished
people in the party. All at once every
bear lifted up his head. shifted. stood
perfectly silent-and then beat il for
/ cover The two little bears went 10
the trees as if a summons server was
after them.
We could not imagine what the
trouble was. when all at once out of
the thicket emerged three grizzlies
The grizzlies are the boss OF the dump.
They are a little slow in getting
around. but when they arrive the
black bears find il convenient 10 keen
| previous engagements.
y bear Will always get out Of the
way for a man. unless the man han