Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 56, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 March 1912 — Page 3

The American Black Bear

by Dan J.Singer

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little ridge might have separated us. "where I could see, possibly the next morning after, that he had been having a fine feast in a blueberry patch. One. night we were a little more sociable. I had just removed the pelt Irom a coyote, and had intended carrying the carcass away from camp the next day, but left it that night a few feet from my tent. During the night my friend (who, by the way, always Teminds me of a good-natured boy "with a fur overcoat on), came down and saved me the trouble by carrying It away for me. I did not hear him ■arrive, for I believe I was asleep, but the telltale tracks were enough to ■convince me in the morning. And so "by having lived with him in hiß own home, watched, photographed, and studied his tyays, I can set down for those who may be interested, some of his characteristics and habits. The range of the black bear extends from Mexico to Alaska, and they have been met with in nearly every state and territory within the United States; also Labrador, Province ■of Quebec, Alberta and ABsiniboia, British Columbia, and the 'Mackenzie River basin. All black bears hibernate during the winter months. There are, however, woodsmen in the south who disagree with me on this point, saying they have seen their tracks during ■every month of the winter, and the mild climate does not force them to lay up in a cave or den as it would In the more severe weather of northern latitudes. I have myself seen bear tracks during the winter months, and even In the deep snow of the northern state- But this is the exception, mid I have no doubt that these bears are simply shifting to another sleeping place, having been driven out for one reason or another. Their dens may not have been well chosen, and they possibly became leaky, or exposed to the winds, or some hunter might pass that way with a keen nose and an in- ' qulsitive canine that would cause him to roll out in a hurry. It is safe to say all black bears den up both north and south, sometime between November 1 and January 1, depending on the altitude, weather and latitude. They emerge in the spring, usually from the first part of April to the mid- * die of May, according to conditions, the males often appearing some two weeks before the females. It is at this time in the spring, just after they have left their winter quarters, that a bear’s pelt is in its . prime. During hibernation, as no food is laid up, they, of course, do not eat, nor do they drink, unless they make use of the snow that has fallen about them. Contrary to the general supposition, they are not in a deep coma or hazy condition, for they are easily aroused. It true that they sleep, but are quick to detect danger and fully equpl to the occasion of making off and looking up other quarters if disturbed. ■ The cunning little cubs (for what deserves the name more than a little woolly, ba’ck cub?) are brought forth during hibernation, usually between Fe'wuary l and March 1, and it is several weeks before they are able to leave the den with their mother. From one to four cubs may be born —I would say two or three Is the average; four is rare, but three is often met with, and a she-bear followed by one cub does not always indicate that the yopng hopeful had no brothers or sisters, as they may not have survived all the dangers of cubdom. At birth they are ridiculously compared with the size of the mother, and weigh but a few ounces. I have never weighed one, but understand that Dr. Hornaday, director of the New Tork Zoological park, has, and their weight runs from 8 to 18 ounces, depending on the number in the litter. Their eyes are closet} —they have no teeth, nor have they their little furry jacket as yet. The reason Advanced for bears being so unusually small at birth, Is that the old bear having remained all winter without food, and not being able to forage for Some weeks after the young are born, ft would naturally be a great drain to nurse cubs that weighed several pounds. So Nature has thus provided In this way. Unlike the grizzly, the black bears mate every year, or nearly so. Griszlys may be put down for about every other year. When the cubs are from six to eight weeks old, they are able to accompany their mother and do so all during that summer. It is usually about berry time before the little fellows develop a grown-up appetite and commence to rustle for themselves. Not vfrr long after this the old bear drives them off to shift for themselves. In some cases they have been found denning the following fall with their mother, but this is unusual. Now a little bear knows exactly what he wants, and what Is good to eat just as well as you do. He knows every root, every bulb, every berry that will make him fat and' happy. How does he know this? I cannot

HAVE spent n good many weeks, even months, at a time, in the various ranges of the black bear, and might really say .with truth that we have practically lived together - side by sideSometimes just a

Bay; you will have to ask him. When I say this I have in mind the followIng case that was brought to my notice: A young cub, only a few weeks old, was caught one spring and fed on milk. He was kept in camp until the following fall when they moved camp down on some bottom lands. Here, while running about, he would suddenly stop, dig up some roots and devour them with a relish. He seemed to be as fully prepared to forage for himself as if he had been taking lessons from his mother all summer. Another much mistaken idea about the black bear is that he emerges from his winter quarters very thin and emaciated (this so far, is true}; that he is desperately hungry after his long fast; or is terribly ferocious, and inclined to attack anything on sight, man included. This is not so, although I have often heard it so stated. Not even a black bear with his enviable digestive apparatus can or does indulge in a hearty meal after so long a fast. The organs of a bear are no different from those of a man in this respect, and after their long, disuse are only capable of assimilating the daintiest morsels of food — such as grass shoots, tender roots and their like. In fact, at first they show little or no desire to eat, but after a few days they commence to partake again of pretty much everything. Isay this because a bear is omnivorous, which means that he eats quite generally everything—both vegetables and meat. They are not as carnivorous as generally supposed, usually being contented with such small animals as ground squirrels* and field mice, but still, when the opportunity offers, they have a great propensity for stealing down ever so careftilly to a near-by farm and carrying off a fat little shoat. They, too, have a great weakness for sheep, and it is hardly necessary for me. to mention honey and sweets, for here we see him again like a good-natured, mischievous boy. The various insects form a long list of goodies for them, and they spend much of their time overturning stones, prying open old stumps and logs, poking their nose and sniffing at every tiny hole &r crevice for such dainty morsels as grubs, caterpillars, crickets, and ants. The black bear seems to partake of such a variety of food that it is hard to say just which he enjoys the most Ants are one of his favorite dishes, and I have no doubt that they consume as many of these as some of the ant-eaters of South America. One of their favorite methods of catching a certain species of ants, which are very vicious little fighters, is to thrust a paw in the midst of one of their hills, and as they swarm over the bear's paw with the purpose of attacking their enemy, they are quickly lapped up. But what greater picture of contentment can one Imagine than a bear In a good-sized blueberry patch? Sitting half up-on his haunches and pulling the branches towards him with his paws—fairly shoveling in the berries that help fatten him up for the long winter —they are indeed great berry eaters skd win often travel miles to locate a patch, and then will patronize it long and often. . Last fall in the Sierra Madre mountains in northern Mexico I was camped

a low-growing tree and the bears are often given to sunning themselves in these trees. The black bear prefers his meat well tainted, and, In fact, I do not believe it can be too strong for him. Unlike the grizzly he does not cover over or bury a carcass, but this again is only characteristic of him, for he does not feed, or in fact do anything as systematically or as seriously as the grizzly—much, preferring a little mischief to work, and here again we see him the happy-go-lucky fellow. I cannot take space to mention all the fancies of his appetite, but this gives a very good general idea of his diet I must not omit to say, however, he is something of a fisherman, both for game and for sport, and with a quick stroke of his paw, sends many an unsuspecting fish hurtling through the air to land well up on the bank, where he can once more please his palate. I have often beard of seven hundred pound black bears; there are none. Between four and five hundred pOunds are as heavy as they will ever tip the scales. Bears are very rarely weighed by hunters, and the estimates given of their weight are very often much in excess, but, of course, not always purposely so. Broadly speaking, I ■would say that the average weight or the average black bear, taking them as you happen to find them, would he approximately one hundred and fifty pounds. I am not speaking of fullgrown hears, as one is likely to kill several partly-grown bears to one full grown. A full-grown bear In the spring may weigh but a little over two hundred, and the same bear In the fall might easily be close to a tour hundred pounder. r y How many of us have gone into the woods In our early hunting days and looked around wondering which would really be the safest tree to shin up in case an old black bear should have designs on us. Now that little sapling over there looks good. They say a slim tree with no branches is the best to nest in on an occasion like this. But for those who do not already know, we will settle that question right here. It does not matter In the least what tree you select, whether it is one some two or three feet in diameter, or just that little sapling; it is safe to say if you can get up, so can the hear. But this is the point; he won’t come. No black bear, when given such a fine opportunity to get away, will stick around. Their claws, which are very unlike those of the grizzly, arp especially adapted for climbing, while the front paws of a grizzly are especially adapted tor digging, being iong, and from four to six inches in length, and nearly straight Grizzlies do not v and cannot climb trees. On the other hand, the black bear’s claws are shorter, more curved, and thicker at the bash, which enables them to go up a huge tree very much as a cat or a squirrel would, and als< a slim one just large enough to sub tain their weight In conclusion would say that I dt not prentend to know Ml about blacl bears—no one man can; hut I have found them sufficiently interesting tt have taken a great deal of pleasure it devoting a long, study to them, and have here set down only what I know to b* facts. -•

for some weeks on a wild canyon through which ran a small river. Along the banka grew, numerous juniper trees and for several miles I could see where the branches had been literally all pulled down by bears in pursuit of the sweet juniper berries. I do not think I have ever seen so much bear sign; it looked as if all the bear in the country had been in on the great feast It was the latter part of December and they had just recently gone into winter quarters, or we'' certainly would have been able to make a record on bears if we had cared to. There is .another red berry that grows in that* section the bear are very fond of, I think the name is manacea It is

RED TAPE RULES IN LONDON

Man Who Fell Into the Thames Refused Admittance to Police Stations and Hospital. The complaints made occasionally in New Tork of the refusal of hospitals to admit emergency patients, some of them in desperate plight, are brought to mind by the experience of a London man who fell into the Thames the other day. In New Tork the explanation his been that the hospitals refusing to treat patients were overcrowded and it was impossible to accommodate another applicant for admission. In the London case red tape appears to have been responsible for the denial of suocor to the man who took an involuntary bath in the icy waters of the river. Nothing In the testimony on the subject of the shivering unfortunate’s treatment Indicated that there was not plenty of room for him in which to get warm and dry his clothes. The story came out in a police court, when a young laborer was charged with breaking a plate glass window in the Salvation army shelter In Whitechapel road. The accused testified that after he pulled himself out of the river he had applied at two police stations for permission to have his clothes dried, and was referred to the casual ward -of a hospital, but an official there would not admit him because he had no order. It was then early on a December morning. According to the testimony of a night watchman at .the Salvation army shelter, the prisoner had asked to he admitted there about four o’clock a. m. to dry his clothes. ■ When the watchman told him to call again at five o’clock, as }t was against the rules to admit anyone before that hour, rite prisoner threw Ms cap at the window and broke rite glass. The magistrate was Interested is the prisoner’s story that he had been turned away from police station and a hospital, and declined to dispose of the case until he ascertained whether it was true. Another tale of red tape methods in a London hospital is told by an American. He suffered an Injury to his eye and was In great pain. ‘‘Can you afford to pay for the treatment?” asked the surgeon at the hospital. —— • “Oh, yes,’’ responded the American. "Then we can do nothing for you,” said the surgeon. “We treat only those who cannot afford to pay.”—N. T. Sun.

III-Paid Hero.

Mr. French Strother, writing in the World’s Work about .0. P. Rodgers’ transcontinental flight, says thatfinancially the trip was a disappointment. He received five dollars a mile tor his flight from New York to Fort Worth, and from Fort Worth to Pasaadena, four dollars a mile and all the purses he could arrange for on the side. "He thus received about twentythousand dollars from his hackers and about three or tour thousand dollars prize money. But his machine cost five thousand dollars and repairs cost about seventeen thousand dollars more, so his net return was small. But he unconsciously Tjummed up the significance of his flight at Pasadena, after he had heard the last congratulations and had laid off the American flag they had thrown across his shoulders, when he placed his hands on his mother’s shoulder and said: “Never mind about the money. It debt amount to much that way—but I did it, didn’t I?”

John Smith Everywhere.

The good old name of John Smith does not suggest in English any great degree of aristocracy, but transferred to other languages it seems to climb the ladder, so to speak. Thus, to Latin it Is Johannes Smithus, the Italian smooths It off Into Giovanni Smithi, the Spaniards render it Juan Smithus, the Dutchman adopts it as Hans Schmidt, the French flatten it out into Jean Smeet and the Russian says Jonloff Smittowski. When John Smith gets Into the tea trade in Canton he becomes Jovan Shimmit; If he clambers about Mount Hecla tile Icelanders refer to him as jahne Smithson; If he trades among the Tuscaroras he becomes Ton Qa Smittia; in Poland he is known as Ivan Bchmlttiweiskl; should be zander among the Welsh mountains they talk of Jihon Schmidd; when he goes to Mexico he is called Jontll FSmitti; If of classic turn he lingers among Greek ruins he turns to lon Smikton, and in Turkey he Is utterly disguised as Yoe Sees.

Had Hit Reasons.

Seeing that his repeated requests to look pleasant only caused his subject to scowl more fiercely, the photographer ceased to look pleasant himself. “If you can’t cheer up,” he said, “we might as well call this sitting off. You seem an amiable sort of chap. Why can’t yea look pleasant when I tell you tor “Because I don’t want to,” said the man before the camera. “My wife' is going to send these pictures to some relatives of hers whom I have never seen, and it Is my intention to look like a brigand, so they won’t come.*' ~ . , '

Progress.

"Women are now making great strides,” remarked Mrs. Baitng-Ban-“Yes,” replied the hnaband; "only yon cant notice it when yon see one of ’em in a hobble skirt string after a street ear.”

THE BOUDOIR

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HOME-MADE GIFT BEST MORE APPRECIATED THAN ONE BOUGHT AT BTORE. Some Suggestions That May Prove Helpful for Those Undecided What to Give for Birthday Remembrance —Simple and Easy. Very often we are at a loss to know what to give as a birthday remembrance or to a friend who is leaving for an extended trip. Some small trifle made by yourself is usually more appreciated than an elaborate gift purchased at the shop. Here are given a few suggestions which may prove helpful. They are extremely simple to make and the “handy woman” will, experience little difficulty In duplicating them. Personal taste and originality may be considered when designing your own gifts. The flrot suggestion is for a letterband. There are always some few letters we desire to keep. A dainty letterband would be a welcome gift. An oval of cardboard is carefully and neatly covered with silk or satin. The edge is finished with fine silk cord. A pretty flower design done In war ter-colors decorates the top. Narrow white elastic is attached to the oval and firmly holds the letters in a neat packet. Pale yellow satin, decorated with pink rosea, makes an attractive letterband. They may be neatly lettered. "Paid Bills," “Old Letters," "Unanswered Letters,” or as your fancy desires. A pair of pretty hangers for a blouse ■would be appreciated by any one. When going away for the week-end the suitcase will not permit taking the large hanger. These may be fastened to the freshly laundered blouse, which may be packed without requiring any additional space. Two loops of narrow satin, ribbon 2% inches long are attached-'separate-ly to safety pins. The ribbon is decorat*d\ with a smaller design done with watercolors.

Any tint is lovely used for these "hangers.” A strawberry shaped emery bag is pretty made from silk and decorated with tiny flowers. It 1$ much more dainty and attractive than the conventional “red strawberry” emery. The next design is a bodkin holder.

TEA COSY OF NOVEL SHAPE

Fite Over Teapot Easily and Is More Ornamental Than the Ordinary Affair. In our sketch may he seen a tea cosy of a somewhat novel shape, and it is quite as simple to make as an ordinary cosy, and It will be found to fit over the teapot much more easily, and Is also more ornamental. The colors of the materials for a tea cosy should always be selected to harmonize with the tea service witji which it Is to appear, and the cosy from which our sketch as made was carried out entirely in blue and white. , ’ . , It is composed of six separate panels, and each one may more or less be

Hexagonal Ten Cosy.

completed before being sewn togeth6T. ■. The side of the cosy facing yon in the sketch shows the shape, in which each panel should be cot out, and in this instance white satin was used, and the conrentional design shown worked in dark blue silk- Mach piece

A piece of narrow ribbon is folded gether and stitched up at the sides. The top is turned down and finished by two rows of stitching. Through this is run a piece of baby ribbon which draws together, forming a tiny bag for the bodkin. A decoration painted with watercolors adorns this fairylike hag. The last suggestion is for a bag to contain the podrder puff. It is sash-

ioned of satin ribbon, the corner* rounded. ? T7”-- $ A design of flowers done with watercolors artistically decorates the bag. Every one of these makes a lovely little .remembrance and costs almost nothifig. They may be fashioned from "odd* and ends” of silk and ribbon mock too small for anything else.

NEW ORNAMENTS FOR HAIR

Simplicity Is the Watchword of the Hour In the Dressing of the Hair. Simplicity is demanded in dressing the hair at present. This is to accentuate the contour of the head. Hair ornaments must follow this sam* ‘ idea. Fillets of old gold mesh, jewelsprinkled with pearls, crystals or colored beads, give a note o t magnificence, yet preserve the simple line* of the coiffure. The new. bsg-cap Is attractive for the theater, dance or restaurant It 1* made of fine chiffon, through wMch th* hair may plainly be seen. A hand of jeweled meshwork, finished by dangling ornaments over the ears, completes the cap. This is a style borrowed from the long ago. The ladle* stowed away their hair in nets richly encrusted with Jewel*. Great pride was taken in the possession of these beautiful head ornaments. For the debutante there must be less display. Eh* may wear a fillet or Juliet cap of pearl meshwork or dainty caps of pale-colored nets. The sash bandeau will probably appeal to her. This matches the belt of the evening dress and is knotted at the nape of the neck. The revived fashion of wearing th* hair dressed peasant style, with the braids coiled over the ears, is much favored. Bandeaux of richly jeweled nets are worn across the front of the head. —_ r The classical headdress looks wen at all times, and the jeweled fillet I* most appropriate for this coiffure. Hair ornaments may be as elaborate as desired and yet follow the lines of simplicity. t ■ Lace and Velvet ■ A very dainty and hew fashion of treating lace of an openwork pattern is to insert under round motifs raised flowerlike designs of velvet. On a gown of gray crepe adorned wiib lace the bodice had applications of roe* velvet under the lace rose designs. With a touch of the same veltet at neck and wrist* the effect wflfc charming.

must be well padded with wadding, and then the whole six portions are' sewn together at the edges, the seam* afterwards being hidden with a blue and white silk cord, which Is curled into three little loops at the top and forma a kind of handle by which it may be lifted. The little on the right-hand side shews how wonderfully well this sh&pe fits over any ordinary teapot. The cosy should be lined with soft silk, and instead of having the same design on each panel they can be varied If desired, and there are numbers of transfer patterns of suitable designs that are easily obtainable at a* trifling cost, that may be used tor this purpose.

A Striking Gown.

A gown that is memorable for its color effect had a foundation skirt ot very pale pearl gray satin, and over this were used two layers of cornflower blue chiffon, the under one a shade darker than the upper one. The outside chiffon gown was a brilliant green. The only trimming was an edge of fiat metallic blue and greee beads around the skirt draperies, mid crossover waist finish. The iridee-i cent play of lights as the wearer moved reminded one of the shimmer of a butterfly’s wing. ■' ■ - ■■ y vr r

For Matinee Sweets.

Smart confectioners are showing exquisite bags to bold the boxes of sweets that one takes to the matinee. These creations are of gold gauxe ribbon or gold doth, combined with strips of rich flowered brocades. They?; are drawn up with the gold or sIHC cord and tassel, and, needless to say. can be put to other uses when they