Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 133, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 June 1912 — Bear With a Thirst [ARTICLE]

Bear With a Thirst

There are probably a number of men in Maine who remember the tame bear that used to live in Redington in days when lumbering was booming in that section. This bear was a 809 pounder, kind and docile, but the possessor of one had habit That was Ms penchant for intoxicating liquor. Now and then lumbermen would get the bear drunk, which was an exceedingly easy thing to do. Bruin preferred rum, but would drink whiskey If nothing better was at hand. In the morning after a night’s debauch he frequently had a typical “morning after thirst,” which he learned to quench by turning a faucet outside the main camp, when he would lap up the water very eagerly that ran front the tap. No efforts were made at reformation, although It is not stated that the animal filled a drunkard’s grave. As a matter of fact he lived at the camps for a number of years without harming a person, although some of the men seemed to antagonise him st times. —From the Maine Woods.