76 
February, 1922 
time was spent in tryin-g to teach the 
little heathens how to eat. Condensed 
milk was our only offering, but by using- 
plenty of sugar we kept them from starv- 
ing until we reached Salt Lake, where 
the fun began. They drank milk and 
plenty of it, but it had to be sweetened 
with lots of sugar. 
One day we gave them each a raw egg. 
They seemed to sense it was something 
to eat, but didn't know how to break the 
shell. Little Toni’s curiosity was so great 
that he picked the egg up in his fore- 
paws and raised on his hind feet for a 
closer examination. Of course, the egg- 
dropped to the floor and broke. They 
had solved the problem, and after that 
raw eggs formed a part of their diet. 
Needless to say, the eggs were always 
broken in the same manner. 
They soon became accustomed to their 
new surroundings and commenced to 
really enjoy life, but they became so mis- 
chievous that it was necessary to sepa- 
rate them. They were like two healthy, 
robust boys ; what one wouldn’t think of, 
the other would. 
Little Tom went to Chicago by auto 
and I kept little Jerry until the latter part 
of August. I had to build him a large 
cage in which 1 installed a galvanized 
tub with running water for a bath. Jerry 
loved his bath ; his home was quite com- 
fortable and his food was of the very 
best. My wife insisted on feeding him 
such food as custard pie, raspberries (at 
thirty cents a box), buttered toast with 
lots of jam or jelly, but his favorite dish 
was milk and ice cream. Occasionally 
he would cat bacon, but he never cared 
for fresh meat either cooked or raw. The 
one thing he liked best was loaf sugar ; 
and he would do anything to get it. If 
taught a trick once, with a cube of sugar 
for the reward, he would continually re- 
peat the trick, putting in a few extras in 
order to get more sugar. 
I placed him in a high chair one day, 
and gave him a piece of bread and butter 
with plenty of sugar on it. After that 
he would climb in the chair at mealtime 
and would insist on immediate service. 
M’right has said that the black bear is 
the Happy Hooligan of the bear family. 
I certainly believe this statement, be- 
cause his whole ambition in life is to 
have fun. 
Jerry had access to the front and back 
yard, also the house ; in fact, to keep him 
out of the house, the doors would have 
to be locked or he would just turn the 
knob and walk in. One day, in an at- 
tempt to chase him out of doors, he 
jumped on a small rug on the polished 
floor. The rug skidded and Jerry took a 
ride. This must have pleased him, be- 
cause after that, when he found a chanfe 
to sneak in the house, he always took a 
ride on that rug, becoming quite an ex- 
pert at coasting. He knew where the 
bread box and refrigerator was. and how 
to open them. He would eat what suited 
him and carry the rest away and hide it. 
He learned very quickly to ride a tri- 
cycle. Every time he saw a boy or girl 
with one, he w'ould politely take posses- 
sion of it. As time went on he seemed 
to place his faith in one person — myself. 
His likes and dislikes were much stronger 
than those in a dog, and his sense of 
FOREST AND STREAM 
smell and hearing were very keen. It 
was impossible to enter the house from 
any side without a rumpus from little 
Jerry. He immediately wanted to get 
out of his cage, and would climb fences 
and open doors until he found the person 
he considered his boss. 
I have spent many pleasant hours 
w'atching little Jerry entertain dozens of 
kiddies and a number of grown-ups on 
my front lawn ; in fact, it almost put the 
lawn out of business. He is now on one 
of our vaudeville circuits entertaining 
the public, and 1 understand he takes 
pleasure in doing so. 
My experience with black bears has 
been that they arc the greatest bluff- 
ers of the animal family, and in nine 
times out of ten they put their bluff over. 
At heart they arc happy-go-lucky, timid 
animals, avoiding trouble if they can, but 
Jerry eating breakfast 
if trouble is thrust upon them they will 
fight fast and furious to a finish. I have 
found them very curious and inquisi- 
tive, thoroughly investigating every new 
object which they see. There were times 
when I felt that chastising- would do the 
youngster good. When Jerry saw me 
pick up a stick and come toward him, he 
would put his little front paw over one 
eye and whine, soon learning that he 
would thus avoid punishment. 
I believe I have killed my last black 
bear, and think that the laws of our dif- 
ferent states should give them protection. 
If the animal we call a human being 
w-ould use the same methods of avoiding 
trouble and attend to his own business as 
the black bear does, this old world 
wouldn’t be such a bad place in which to 
live. Dr. C. M. Hart, Utah. 
THE ESCUMINAC 
Dear Forest and Stream: 
■^HE Escuminac is a little trout river 
^ in Quebec emptying into the Res- 
tigouche near its mouth. The word is 
said to lyiean “clean water” in the Indian 
(probably micmac) language. The water 
is the cleanest I have ever seen even in 
the mountain creeks of British Columbia. 
When a boy and later I spent many 
happy weeks along the Escuminac and in 
the settlement of the same name. 
Eor years I spent my holidays there 
with my uncle “Dan” Brown and aunt 
Jane who are well known to many Amer- 
ican sportsmen who came year after year 
and had splendid sport “on the river’” 
with uncle Dan. The best fishing is in 
July when the trout are “running up.”' 
The largest trout ever caught as far as. 
I know was a seven pounder. A water- 
color of this trout, exact size, hangs in 
the hall of the old farmhouse. 
.Aunt Jane has passed on years ago and 
uncle Dan is an old man, and the sports- 
men come no more. But the little river 
is as clear as ever and the trout still 
come in the June time, probably not so- 
many. Uncle Dan cannot look after the 
river as in ihe old days. 
You can imagine what those holidays; 
meant to a boy fond of fishing and hunt- 
ing. The rods on their hooks at the 
front door, the gun closets in the hall',, 
the big old attic filled with tents, camp 
kits, wading boots, old guns, loading- 
tools, sporting magazines, etc.. In the 
old attic over thirty years ago I saw my 
first Forest and Stream, then a thin 
paper with a heading I think the same 
as you use now. 
The last sportsmen I remember,, whoi 
went to the old place, were Mr. Burnett 
and his boys of Boston, and some of the 
Williams’ of the Sherwin-Williams Paint 
Company. 
I like to think about the old place ;; 
Aunt Jane’s rose garden, the marsh, the 
cove, the old French dykes, the moun- | 
tains, the glen and the glen Take, the 
round pool,, the Tong pool, the upper 
jam, etc. 
Since those old days I have hunted 
and fished in nearly every province in, 
Canada and have lived in British Colum- i 
bia for six years, ' i. 
It has done me a Tot of good to write j 
to you as I have been in an office for I 
some years with little chance for hunt- | 
iug or fishing, E 
H, D, Chisholm, ! 
Michigan.. 
RABBITS AND DOGS 
Dear Forest and Sir earn: 
I HA'VE been a reader of your good 
magazine for some time, but you re- 
cently published a letter that tramped on 
my toes, about hunting rabbits without 
dogs. 
Mr. H. B. Atkinson, of Washington, 
D. C., wrote that he thought a man who 
hunts rabbits with a dog is a hog hunter. 
I would like to talk to this man face to 
face about rabbit hunting. I am a game- 
getting sport. I hunt with dogs that are 
licensed and I abide by the game laws to 
the letter. I think it is cruel for a man 
to hunt rabbits without a good dog. 
I have tramped the briers and brush 
piles and I believe I can kill as many 
birds and rabbits as the next man, but 
I have found rabbit's dead that have been 
crippled and left to die by a hunter who 
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