Speaking of Bears * * * * 45 



"No, it's this fellow over here," insisted his companion, as another 

 bear approached on the opposite side. 



They fell into a heated argument as to which was the bad bear. 



"Well, we can't shoot all the bears," the rangers told them. "First 

 you'll have to get the evidence to convict the bear." 



A bear is presumed to be innocent until proved guilty. The rangers 

 call the witnesses against the bear and question them about the alleged 

 damage or injury, then seek to establish the identity of the bear. If the 

 bear can positively be identified by the complaining witnesses, and there 

 is general agreement on one bear, the bear is in a fair way to be con 

 victed, but if, as almost always happens, the witnesses cannot agree on 

 the identity of the bear, the rangers refuse to touch any bear or hold any 

 one bear responsible for the trouble. 



One time a big ranger of Scandinavian birth was sent to investigate 

 a series of complaints against "a big brown bear" made by the boss of a 

 road camp. It was alleged that the bear had stolen a ham ; that he had 

 torn open a case of maple syrup and had clawed holes in every can and 

 drained them of their contents ; that he had sneaked into the kitchen and 

 eaten a large pan of applesauce which was to have been dessert at sup 

 per, and had also eaten up all the stewed dried peaches that had been 

 cooked for breakfast ; that he had taken one overshoe from each of three 

 workmen while they were eating dinner, and had committed other 

 felonies. There were fully ten other counts in the indictment. 



The ranger called the crew together and told them that he had the 

 instructions and power to run the bear out of the country if he could 

 be identified. Just then a big brown bear ambled across the open in 

 front of the assembled group. One man excitedly pointed him out, 

 "there he is now," but several said that was not the bear. A few mo 

 ments later, two other bears were seen walking around a nearby build 

 ing. One of them was declared to be the bear. But this bear was 

 eliminated from consideration right away by other men who claimed 

 positively that he was a good bear who had never harmed anybody or 

 anything. While the investigation went 

 on a half-dozen bears came around, but 

 each had as many defenders as he had ac 

 cusers. No more than two men could 

 agree on any one big brown bear. It was 

 certainly a "hung jury." Finally the 

 ranger became disgusted and declared, 

 with Scandinavian accent, "Ya can all 

 come to blazes, ya don't know which 

 bear ya mean and none of 'em will be 

 touched !" 



