New-York tribune., 1919-06-17
B O O K s
By Haywood Broun


~ chase Of dog, whether Peknese or
bull terrier, would do we'll to defer
action until he has read "The Grizzly" by
Enos A. Mills (Houghton Miflin). Then,
unless we are much mistaken he will
abandon all idea of getting a dog and will
rush instead to the nearest retail bear
store.
The grizzly seems to have all sorts of
advantages over other pets. He is better
watchdog than the Pekinese and more
expert mouser than the best of terriers
Mr.. Mills insists that the grizzly is not
ferocious. He admits that men have been
killed by the BEAR but only because they
annoyed him. Moreover, though your grz-
zly might kill you, under circumstances
would he eat you.
There are other advantages as we'll.
During the past thirty years." writes Mr..
Mills, 81 have had numerous experiences
with the grizzly bear in various sections of
his territory. In it have camped alone
and unarmed. have traled the grizzly
without a gun. have repeatedly been out
witted by him, but never has he attacked
me. have not found him ferocious, and
consider him in most respects the great
est animal on the North American Cont
nent, if not in the world. H exces in
mental development and physical prowess,
and he possesses the quality of loyalty
He is full Of curiosity and is born ad-
venturer"
Later Mr.. Mills adds, II would give the
grizzly first place in the animal world for
brain power. He is superior in mentality
~
wolf"
The author gives a number of observa-
tions of happenings in order to prove that
the grizzly reasons. For instance: "a grizzly
cub in Yellowstone Park found big ham
skin-a priced delicacy. Just as the little
fellow lifting it to his mouth big
bear appeared. He instantly dropped the
ham skin, sat down on it and pretended to
be greatly interested in watching some
thing on the edge of the woods"
The appetite of the grizzly is one of the
few drawbacks to his domestcation On
the whole we think that the suburban
families might do better with one than cty
dwellers. His tastes are not limited, but
he deals in large quantities. In some re-
spects the grizzly is a dainty feeder He
is fond, for instance, of violets, and will
eat several pounds if he can find them He
likes rosebuds and will devour almost any
sort of bulb. On the other hand, he will
eat meat of any age. Apples and turnips
are perhaps his favorite delcacies but he
also is fond Of honey. Usually, he eats
the bees with it, Wasps yellow jackets,
grasshoppjers, ants and their eggs bugs
and all sorts of grub are also on his menu
Other delicacics which he enjoys are
snakes, rats, mice and rabbits
If taken young the grizzly is easy enough
| to handle for at birth he weighs only from
ten to twenty ounces and is about the size
! of full grown chpmunk Later the bears
run between $50 and 600 pounds in weight,
although they have been known to reach
1900 pounds. This. of course, makes the
domestcation of grizzlies by apartment
house dwellers difficult
| Preference in pets is peculiar. Take for
instance, the case of John Reed, the radi-
cal author and speaker, who is bringing
up a police dog. He explains that 1t is
his intention to teach the dog to bite po-
licemen, but, this is probably mere face
| tiousncss.