Evening journal., 1920-09-04
BEAR QUESTION
Up IN ALASKA
Congress Will Be Asked to
Afford Relief From What is
Becoming Pest
AMERICAN ANIMAL
ATTACKS MAN

SEATTLE Wash, Sept. 3.-Among
ihe many problems that Congress will
be asked % tackle at its next session
viii be that Of the brown bear.
That the prototype OF The nursery
bugaboo is an actual menace to civili-
zation in 1920 may seem amazing. but
lhere has been assembled a massive
Indictment, proving lha. thousands Of
square miles OF rich territory are bar
red TO settlers because Of a hulking
beast with an appetite for everything
from ants eggs 20 Merino sheen: a
creature weighing half a ton or more
and with a touchy, unsociable dlspo-
siiion.
The brown bear OF Alaska is even
larger 'han a grizzly, and twice as
mean, according to the big fle of
| cilarges mat ,he Alaska Bureau OF
The Seahtle Chamber Of Commerce has
prepared. HE has a long list of hu-
man victims, killed or manned, and
ne has given hundreds OF others tho
scare Of their lives.
! Ac.uated by The cOmmendable in
enton OF preserving a species from
extinction, the Government carefully
protects the brown bear. The sports
mal may shoos the harmless black
bear in Alaska whenever he meets one,
but only by obtaining a special per-
init from the Bureau OF Biological
survey may .he brown bear be hunted.
And now does the brown bear dis
play his gratitude2 ?
ON Kodiak Island, the Department
OF Agriculture established an expert
mental herd Of sheep A high fence
was erected to protect he animals
after they had weatherd a hard win
ter. The bears, emerging hungry in
NE spring, ore down the fence and
wiped out the flock.
A settler who hoped 30 escape the
bear menace by building his home on
a small island Off Kodiak learned that
the bears could swim. They cleaned
mp on his livestock, and he moved
away.
Eastern sportsmen. 10 is sad. vlgor-
ously protest when /. is proposed TO
lft the protection bestowed upon the
- brown bear.He Is a magnificent beast,
his pei makes about The best trophy
the big-game hunter can acquire on
this continent, and II seems a shame
J that he should go the way Of the
silver-sip Of The Rockies
, But a Chamber OF Commerce and
those who would like 10 settle on
Kodiak Island, the Alaska Peninsula,
the Nakutat region. the Baran0f and
Admiralty Islands, look at the matter
= differently
The brown bear IS the only large
wild animal in Amrica that habitually
attacks man without prOvacatiOn
- pr0spectors 20 In dread Of him. carry
, ing tin cans filled with stones TO warn
= him Off. The brown bear, scien'is' IS
- and hunters agree, does not trail q
man TO kin him, but will charge wher
a he finds himself face TO face with q
r human intruder
+ A high-power rife. skilfully handled
n Is not always cer,ain protection
4 against the brown bear, as he stand
a a terrific amount OF punishment.
a canm'ry employe was hrough. 10 IN
y, HOSPITAL at Juneau this spring dyinl
+ from injuries inflicted by bear hl
y had surprised while 10 was ealing
p deer Two shots from a rife failed q,
. stop the rush Of ne animal
: 'Il is d'mcult 20 get people II Wash
4 ingtOn TO look upon the bear question
v as something mighty serious" salt
/, J. l.. Mcpherson, manager Ofihe Alaski
. bureau.i There seems TO be Q To- o
n | comedy connected with bears. Bu
: the Alaskan settler fails 10 sec l.. w
propose tha. II the brown bear is q
Z he saved for science and for naiur'
. lovers. that a few specimens be iso
~ lated on q remote island. where th0s
n who Ike bears at close range can com
N mune with them The brown bear ha
r. no place in country That invites set
. lers and should be an outlaw. with
a price on his head, instead Of a cher
a Shcd ward Of the Government"