The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 7, 1906, Page 16

. 1905, by Seymour Baton. #il rights reserved: WO Roosevelt Bears had a home _out West In & big ravine pear a mountain crest, Where they ate their meals and took their rest, And gathered sunshine and strength and cheer, And welcomed their friends from far and near. chiopped down trees and hunters dared, i bossed their ranch and panthers scared, d preached to goats and big horn sticep, ordered that they the laws ghould keep, boxed with chums and umpired strife, enerally Jed a strenuous life. beer was bLlack and one was gray; ch was good and neither would say A swear word loud either night or day. In love and learning they were both alike, They could run & motor or hike a bike. Or drive a bansomr as good as Mike, Or sit at dinner ‘with;the smartest set, Or talk in & phone or dance or bet, Or send wireless messages from tree to tree, Or copy the styles like you and me. These things they had learned from papers lost By weary travelers as the hills they crossed. They did things fair and neither would bite If deals were square and white was white And neighbors tried to do things right. They lived for fun and not for fame, And if fame it came it was just the same. They were honest bears from nose to paw; They kept out of debt and obeyed the law. The black bear's name was Teddy B.; i The B for black or brown. you see, Or bright or bold or brave or boss: He was always kind and seldom cross. The gray bear’s name was Teddy G; The G for grizzly or gray or gay, for he Was as full of fun as a bear can be. Not B for bad and G for good *The black bear wanted it understood. The “Teddy” part 1s a name they found On hat and tree and leggings round, On belt and boot, and plates of tin, And scraps of paper and biscuits thin, And other things that hunters drop When they chase a bear to a mountain top Their -home was high and deep and wide, * An elegant place for bears to hide The things picked up on the mountain side. They were well supplied with hats and boots, And leather coats and cowboy suits. And pots and pars and whips and strings, And guns and horns and a hundred things Lost on the trail by hunters bold When driven home by the winter's cold. The bears were tired of the life they led: They wanted to see the world, they said; To visit New York and Boston. too, And perhaps Chicago and Kalamazoo; To go to theater and church and school, To, see a banker or broker, and fool With money a little and try a hand At running a paper or leading a band. They had heard of things bears never see: Golf and weddings and afternoon tea, Trolleys and trains and bulldings high, And machines that write and machines that fly, And hotels with walters clear out of range. And bulls and bears in a stock exchange, And players who work for life and death To punch a ball clean out of breath: And 'millionaires smart and robbers bold 7 ‘Who play with wagon-loads of gold; And folks high up in the social set, Who walk on air and have style to let: And Tammany Hall, swhere a ‘tiger rules, And the G. O. P. and its financial schools, And the President and”his eldest son, g Laef And the Capitol at Washington;™ - B And other things both great and small That bears have never seen at all. The news had seattered far and wide That the bears would leave the mountainside, Give away thelr goods and rent their trees, And travel east and beyond the seas. Their friends had gathered to laugh and sigh, To give advice and to fay good-by. A wild mustang was the first'to arrive; . A pistol was pol B R e 5TNDS UR, ) HE SAID, YoU . s COME WITH 0S5 DON'T TOUCH . YOUR: GUN3 DON’T MAKE A FUSS. > The card sald 6. but he came at 5. . An old bobcat with a bandaged knce | X And a young cougar and red squirrels three Came jumping in from tree to tree. A panther bold and a gray coyote Came up the creek in a hunter's boat; Two big: horn sheep and a mountain deer Climbed down on ladders from cliffs ¢ :ite near; And a sqore or more of friends in neei Came 1n° with baskets to get a feed. Teddy G recelved each guest: He was brushed in style and did his best To make things hum and the evening go Like a country dance or a minstrel show. A lunch was served by Teddy B: Twelve pigeon piles and a fricassee Of eagles’ wings and chipmunks’ feet ‘With horiey sauce that you couldn’t beat: And a salad dish made of hemlock cones And fishes' tails without the bones; A keg of milk shake with double tap And & Roman punch made of cedar sap: Ten heads of cabbage to be eaten raw.” And a roasted pig stuffed with lion" On the biggest platter you ever saw; And bags of nuts, about a ton, Supplied by squirrels for the evening’s fun. paw, ’ The lunch was through and the play was on ‘When a shot was heard from a hunter’s gun. The guests were orderéd to run and-hide “ While .the bears stepped out on the mountainside. . ed by Teddy, B At a-hunter who- stood beside a tree. «.. _ . “Hands. up,” he sald, “you come with us; o Don’t zouch your gun; don't make a fuss.” The hunter was scared from head to toe, He had dropped his gun and he had to go. ‘A lasso was thrown by Teddy G And he caught his hunter about the knee ‘And trfipped him up 80 he couldn’t see. They marched them both to their home near by, An d vlnc:' ple. &« THE BEARS LEAVE HOME % And a peck of scraps both cold and hot And all the soup,left in the pot. . It made-the bobcat laugh and the hunters frown, “But the bears stood by till all was down. ~ «_After ‘the hunters were Introduced around “To all the guests upon the ground They wers made to sign In red and white A bond the beers prepared that night: On birch bark paver and seaicd in gold, ‘Which read like this in writing bold: “We hereby take oath on bend=d knee That from this hour on we do agree To keep the peace and hunting stop ¥rom canyon deep to mountain top; In weather fair, in snow or rain, We'll never enter the bears' domalm Or throw a stone or shoot again At goat or game, at bird or beast,” Till the bears return from their journey East™ The paper signed the law to keep The guests lay down to have a sleep. The- hunters were rolled in a bianket wide 3 And swung dke.a' hammock from sldé to side Until both were snoring and satisfied. At break of day the hunters went: They left their guns and they left their tent, They left a nots which read. they say; Like this: “Dear Bears—We are off: good day. We llike' your home, but we wouldn’t stay For game or gold, for ple or pay: ° We are off for good: we won't come back; ‘We never again will cross your track Till nights are white and days are black. ‘We hate your dinners: we love your pluck. Good-by, old bears; good day: good luck. The sun rose up in a cloudless. sky: The bears were ready; they sald goed-by