Feb. 25, 1911.] 
forest and stream 
299 
Attacked by a Bear. 
New Y okk Citv, Feb. 14.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: I am inclosing herewith a true bear 
story, which is part of a letter received from 
F. H. Nichols, Dixfield, Me. It is as follows: 
I took a hunting vacation last week, but did 
not have any luck, which was about what befel 
the majority of the hunters hereabout this sea¬ 
son, though some of them have been successful, 
and that there is still wild game about was evi¬ 
denced by an episode of two weeks ago, which 
reminds one of the days of the pioneers, and at 
the same time causes one to realize that things 
are not very squarely dealt out in this world, 
and that some unfortunate ones seem to be the 
targets for "the slings and arrows of outrageous 
fortune.” 
About four miles from here on the Carthage 
Road lives a family named Beals. They are 
nice people and were fairly well to do, but a 
year ago Mr. B. went into a lumbering operation 
and lost about all that he had, and they were 
obliged to move upon a little old farm. Mrs. 
Beals had a long sickness and besides having 
to pay about $600 for doctors' bills she was un¬ 
able to care for her five small children, and 
among them one, a little girl, was sent to stay 
with a relative in Wilton. About Thanksgiving 
time Mrs. B. was feeling quite well and wanted 
to have the family together for Thanksgiving, 
and so Mr. B. on the afternoon before harnessed 
the horse for her and she started for Wiiton 
(eight miles) to bring over the little girl. Mr. 
B. expected them home before dark, but they 
failed to show up, and having become quite 
anxious, he had just started with a neighbor’s 
team to meet them, when he met the horse with¬ 
out the wagon and showing signs of having had 
a great scare. He then got a neighbor, and they 
drove toward Wilton about two miles when they 
found Mrs. Beals insensible by the side of the 
road, and the child beside her crying and appar¬ 
ently m great pain. They brought them home 
and called a doctor at once, but the child died 
soon after. She showed no external bruises, but 
the doctor found that one of her ribs had been 
broken and driven into one of her lungs This 
and the fact that Mrs. Beals had three parallel 
cuts across her face as if they had been made 
with a knife, seemed hard to account for. Mrs. 
Reals was unconscious for three days, but came 
to herself for a moment at one time and said • 
Bob (meaning the horse) wasn’t to blame. It 
" as th ® bear, ’ and went off again instantly, and 
at another time she started up and cried: "It 
is a bear! Hold on to mother!” From this it 
was concluded that a bear had figured somehow 
in the jnix-up. 
After three days she became herself and was 
a le to tell her experience. It seems that they 
had been late m starting from Wilton, and in 
coming through the woods about two miles from 
home it was quite dark, when they met a bear 
square 111 the middle of the road. The horse 
reared and shied, throwing out the little girl. 
He then ran, and a few rods further on Mrs 
Beals was thrown out also. She was badly hurt. 
iu she heard the child screaming, and she got 
pon her feet, and running back up the road 
the rh -M U T the bear Sitting in the r0ad with 
the child m his arms. She went right up to the 
ear screaming at him and trying to take the 
child away from him. He dropped the child 
and ran, but as he did so he struck Mrs. Beals 
across the face with his paw, knocking her down. 
She took the child up and started for home, but 
only got a little way, when she collapsed. The 
blow from the bear accounts for the cuts on her 
tace, which were made by his claws, while the 
squeezing he gave the poor little kid doubtless 
accounts for her rib being broken with no evi¬ 
dence externally of any bruises. Mrs. B is 
doing well now. 
P. R. Robinson. 
The Michigan Association. 
Saginaw, Mich, Feb. 18 .—Editor Forest and 
Stream: The Michigan Association held a meet¬ 
ing at Grand Rapids, Feb. 7. About sixty were 
present at the afternoon meeting, and the pro¬ 
posed bills of the association were thoroughly 
iscussed and unanimously endorsed; these bills 
being, first, the creation of a game and fish com¬ 
mission, to be non-partisan, honorary, and have 
exclusive charge of all game and fish matters 
Next, the hunters’ license bill which in addition 
to the license now already imposed of $^-5 for 
non-resident and $i. so for residents for deer 
hunting, and $10 for non-residents for bird hunt- 
mg, provides a $10 license for aliens (this is to 
stop the shooting of song birds by the irrespon¬ 
sible foreigner) and a fee of $1 per year for 
resident hunters, the entire fund to be at the dis¬ 
posal of the newly created commission. 
The general game bill does not deal with deer. 
Ihat is left for a separate bill. But the new 
T 111 genend prohibits the spring shooting of 
migratory birds. It limits the bag on partridges 
01 ruffed grouse to* six per day, fifteen in pos¬ 
session and not over fifty i„ a season; quail to 
ten a day, fifteen in possession and not over 
seventy-five per season. There are moderate 
limits also on snipe, woodcock, plover, etc. The 
duck bag is left the same, twenty-five in a day, 
hity in possession. Provision is made whereby 
non-residents taking out a license can take home 
with them one legal day’s bag. 
1 he trout fishing law was recommended to be 
changed so as to make the limit of the daily 
catch twenty-five instead of fifty. A rod license 
tor trout fishing only to non-residents, and grant¬ 
ing non-residents taking out such license the 
privilege of taking home a legal day’s catch of 
trout. The Audubon bird protective features 
are included in the bill. The sale or possession 
of the plumage of protected birds is absolutely 
prohibited. * 
.1 A ™ Ut , . fifty ' five new members were added to 
the Michigan Association at the afternoon ses¬ 
sion. In the evening a banquet was tendered 
he association by the Grand Rapids sportsmen 
R was held in the banquet hall of the Pant’ind 
Hotel. About 125 were seated, and a program 
of speech making and music afforded an enter¬ 
taining and profitable evening. The following 
telegram was received, addressed to me as presi¬ 
dent of the Michigan Association, from Gover¬ 
nor Chase S. Osborn: 
"I am indeed sorry not to be with you to¬ 
night. All my life the objects of your splendid 
association have appealed to me. There is rare 
manliness in true sportsmanship making for the 
finest fellowship. I wish you all and your work- 
success.” 
W. B. Mershon. 
Sportsmen’s Recommendations. 
Fan Francisco, Cal, Feb. 14 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: The California Sportsman’s Game 
1 rotective Association, which for some time has 
been making its headquarters at 216 McAllister 
street, San Francisco, has now fitted up a per¬ 
manent home in the Pacific Building at Fourth 
and Market streets and recently held its first 
meeting there. At this meeting a number of 
subjects of great interest were discussed, most 
01 these being along the lines of amendments to 
tie present game laws. Among these were the 
iollowing-: 
r. Shortening of the open season for all game. 
Curtailment of the daily bag limit on quail 
and ducks. 
3 - Protection of abalonies and other marine 
life from predatory Asiatics. 
4 - Shipment of game without covering, open 
to public inspection. 
5 - A law making it a misdemeanor for any 
armed person, except a peace officer, to order 
another person off land containing fish or game 
belonging to the State. 
6. A law making it a felony to accidentally 
kill a person by use of firearms. 
7 - State money to be used in propagating fish 
and game only on land open to licensed hunters 
or land owned or leased by the State for propa¬ 
gating fish and game. 
8. The right for licensed hunters to hunt and 
hsh on all tidewater sloughs and streams navi¬ 
gable by small boats. 
. ? V 16 repea ’ law which makes it a 
crime for persons to pursue and take fish and 
game belonging to the State on land not under 
cultivation, except land within reasonable dis¬ 
tance of a habitation, and except land compris¬ 
ing a State game preserve. 
10. A severe penalty for injury to property 
caused by licensed hunters. Among the resolu¬ 
tions passed by this organization was the fo’- 
lowing: 
Whereas, The ordinary hunter of the State 
has yet to receive any beneficial return from the 
enormous gun tax; and 
Whereas, Having recognized the expenditure 
of thousands of dollars of this tax in fruitless 
fancy game farms in the past, and having been 
informed that other thousands are about to be 
■"Pent m investigations of little material benefit 
to the hunters paying the tax; therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the Legislature of the State 
of California be and is hereby requested to pro¬ 
vide to some extent as to how said tax shall 
be expended, with a view to having some of it 
devoted, to the destruction of the animals that 
P>-ey upon the game, some to the restocking of 
convenient hunting grounds with game, and 
some to securing hunting rights to large un¬ 
cultivated tracts of land for all hunters on equal 
terms. 
The Bay Counties Sportsmen’s Association 
has been formally organized with headquarters 
in San hrancisco, the objects of the association 
being to assist in the enforcing of all fish and 
game laws as passed by the Legislature of the 
State of California and all ordinances legally 
adopted by boards of supervisors of the counties 
of the State, and to generally promote the in¬ 
terests of sportsmen hunting and fishing in coun¬ 
ties bordering on the Bay of San Francisco.” 
(Continued on page 316.) 
