Friday, February the 4th, 2005
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“A circumstance of considerable human interest, and one possibly little known, is the great aversion to the sight of bears held by the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight, at least in the year 1891. A copy of the Bye-Laws of the Administrative County of the Isle of Wight, issued that year, contains, following articles relating to ‘Regulating the Sale of Coal’ and ‘Spitting’, this: ‘As to Bears. 1. No bear shall be taken along or allowed to be upon any highway, unless such bear shall be securely confined in a vehicle closed so as to completely hide such bear from view. 2. Any person who shall offend against this Bye-law shall be liable to a fine not exceeding in any case five pounds.’” — Robert Cortes Holliday, Walking-Stick Papers