474 
AMERICAN AGrRIC ULTURIST 
[Novemb-eb, 
people are slow to grant that dumb beasts have much 
wisdom; but the more we observe the doings of animals 
the more we are convinced that this notion is incor¬ 
rect. Bears can be sharp with their wits as well as 
their claws. Some who have seen bears, think they are 
which were all the tools that a farmer ought to possess, 
and in it, on many a rainy day, the boys could he amused, 
instructed, and employed. Edge-tools are dangerous 
things, but to recommend not using them at all is like 
trying to learn to swim without going into the water. It 
THE YOUNG SHAVER AT THE BENCH. 
slipped into his father’s slippers, and has slipped out 
into the shop, and is slipping the shavings off of the 
board. I guess, also, that he has no stockings on. How 
many see anything that would suggest that this shop is 
used in the evening is a groat wonder to Uncle Hal. 
sleepy animals; and so they are, sometimes giving the 
whole of the winter months to solid slumber; but dur¬ 
ing the summer, and along in the fall, they are wide¬ 
awake, and keep pretty busy getting a living for them¬ 
selves and family. Bears are fond of several products of 
the farm, especially pork, which they prefer fresh, young, 
and tender. A young pig is a bear’s first choice for 
a meat dinner. This being the case, it is not strange 
that many a mother pig has had her offspring leave her 
suddenly and forever in early life, by the pressing invi¬ 
tation of a bear. For a single bear to invade the pen of 
a stem—not to say cross—and powerful sow, is not al¬ 
ways pleasant, and, to avoid this, matters are sometimes 
so arranged that two or more bears go together and thus 
divide the danger and the spoils. The engraving gives 
the method of operation as practised by these thick- 
pated but sharp pig-thieves. One bear—probably the 
best talker—apparently gets into a talk with the mother 
pig, much to the dissatisfaction of her children; we 
may imagine that this bear tell3 Mrs. Sow of the 
duties of a good mother, and how she should always 
provide a plenty for her little ones ; and as the conversa¬ 
tion gets exciting, as such talks always will, a third party 
settles the difficulty—so far as ttie visitors are concerned 
—by capturing a pig unnoticed by its real owner. This is 
not courage, but strategy, and the worst kind of stealing 
combined. The only commendable feature in the whole 
transaction is the acuteness with which the end is 
reached. It will probably be a long time before bears 
will be looked to as models of uprightness, even though 
they may walk upon their hind limbs. They embrace 
every opportunity to get along—and sometimes a man is 
the opportunity. The time will soon come when bears 
will be seldom seen, except in such places as Central 
Park, and the menageries which go through the country, 
such shows would lack one of their greatest features, in 
the eyes of the boys and girls, if they did not have at 
least a couple of big bears and a little one or two. 
Tlie I'oiiu" Carpenter. 
If an American boy, at least an American farmer boy, 
can have the run of a work-shop—especially if it is well 
supplied with tools, and he can have a free use of them— 
he is happy. There is in the head of nearly every young 
American a desire to “make things,” and this desire needs 
but a little encouragement, or even an opportunity to 
develop, and there is sometimes an inventor “born to 
the world.” I wish every farmer had a first-rate shop in 
is not necessary that a little child should have the broad- 
axe to work with ; there is the hammer and a few nails, 
and some pieces of boards; take those and let him build 
what he can—hammer away, have a good time, learn how 
to drive a nail, how to pull out and drive it again. It is 
with a mixture ff pleasure and regret that I recollect, and 
it was several years ago, the first big thing that I tried 
to make in the shop. It was not a mowing-machine, or 
a steam-engine, or a “ perpetual 
motion,”—I had thought of that, 
and what boy has not I—hut sim¬ 
ply anew kind of a . wagon jack. 
You perhaps know very well that 
wagon jacks are very handy things, 
but people often expect too much 
of them—they think that when 
made just the right way but little 
work is needed to raise the wheel. 
Now-a-days this machine is quite 
perfect—and if you have been 
to the fair, as 1 hope you have, 
several, all the best, were seen. 
Well I I had the wagon jack fever 
very soon after I had got along so 
far ns to be able to use the draw- 
shave and hand-saw , and, like too 
many inventors, I had but a poor 
idea of what I wished to make, 
other than a “Jack” must be con¬ 
structed. All sorts of figures were 
drawn on all sorts of boards, and 
various pieces were whittled and 
shaved out, hut for a time no great 
progress was made. It was such 
a great thing that I was working 
on that of course no one else must 
be let into the secret—not even 
the other boys. They could see 
me busily cutting, whistling, and 
planning, but none of my ideas 
were to be for their benefit. How 
carefully I hid away eveiy piece 
as it was completed—and many a 
piece there was. As I now look 
back, I have to laugh at the strangeness of the machine. 
None like it has ever been seen, and I probably never 
shall see one working on the same principle. I could 
not describe it to you, and to have the artist make a fig¬ 
ure is entirely out of the question. I will simply say it 
had a number of cog wheels, or was to have, and a crank 
and a long iron bar, several adjustable pins, a catch—yes, 
there was a catch in it, and a very large one too—together, 
with a side-wheel motion. The machine was named be¬ 
fore it was made, and was to be patented and sold as: 
The New American Double Adjust¬ 
able Circular Movement Wagon 
Jack. It was reasonable to suppose 
with such a good namo it would sell j 
and dreams of large wagon loads of 
these “Jacks ” going out of my factoiy 
to supply a great want, almost made 
me wish I did not have to do ordinary 
farm chores, like bringing in the wood 
and splitting the kindlings. It did 
sell, anil when the men folks caught 
me trying my rough, half-finished 
model on the light buggy, they wero 
so overcome that I burst into tears, 
and my grand scheme exploded too; 
This was a heavy blow to me, hut with 
a few kind words of encouragement I 
started off on another track; a squirrel 
cage, a writing-desk for sister, or some 
other such thing, and was probably 
strengthened by the great trial through 
which I had passed. I lay much 
stress on encouraging words from 
those older than ourselves, follow¬ 
ed now and then by a helping hand. 
If a father can help his son fix oh the 
cover to his kite, or assist in riveting 
the tongue-irons to the little wagon, 
the boy is made happier than if ho 
gave him something that cost money, 
instead of a few minutes. The artist 
has given us a view of a carpenter’s 
bench, well equipped with tools, at 
which a boy is making the most of the 
situation and his time. There is the 
same trouble with this bench as with 
all others not made for boys—it is too 
high ; but the youngster has overcome 
this by placing a board along the side, 
resting the ends upon a block and tub 
—I hope he will not injure the tub— 
and is making a fine lot of shavings 
with the plane, and doubtless is work¬ 
ing for more than the chips lie makes. 
At a guess it is a chicken coop, which is to be ready by 
next Thursday, when “Beauty” is expected to come off 
with a full brood of little chicks. What large slippers 
tlie boy wears! and here I am called upon to guess 
again, for the artist is not at hand, and I can not ask him 
why it is so. The boy has been playing in the wet, or 
has been on an errand, and has got his boots wet through, 
and while they are drying behind the stove he has 
