Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1873-06-26
A Nice CT Stsry.

has been greatly annoyed lately by a
feline of the masculine gender, or, In
common parlance Tom cat. That cat
had a decided weakness for chickens,
so did the gentleman, who carefully
raised several broods, but the cat always
got the best of him. It would slip in
the coop at night and carry of the fair
est of the flock, leaving the gentleman
only the feathers, which was hardly a
fair division. Then that cat would col
lect all the eats in the neighborhood,
without regard to gender, and celebrate
its triumph in high midnight carnival
on the roof, treating the ia mily to a
free Thomas (cat) concert, which made
sleeping out of the question. The wrath
of that family was raised against that
cat, and the next visit of the feline to
chicken coop resulted in its capture.
Fortunately for that cat the gentleman
belonged to the "Society for the Pre-.
vention Of Cruelty to Animals" or ven
geance would have been quick and ter
rible, but as 1t was he tied the cat in a
sack and deposited it in the graveyard
park. A young man who was passing
soon after heard low cries in the grass.
He supposed it was an infant left there
to die by its mother, and at once gave
the alarm, and soon large crowd
gathered around the place. The young
man who had already generously pro-
posed to adopt the little unfortunate,
got overthe fence and cut open the bag,
whereupon the cat sprung out upon
him, and his face now looks as if he
had been dragged through a blackberry
patch, while that eat has returned to its
old quarters, with as much noise as
eserr'yysT3 y aELEn TTA
An Efectual Cure for Both. aa-A
The seldndrid, or commonly called
vine-sawfiy, is making raid upon
grape-yines this year. On some they
are more numerous than potato-bugs.
Although they have Ian ger leaf to go
over, they are more expert, and finish
up the job in less time than does the
potato -bug; that is, If the owner of the
grape-vines does not interfere with their
work. Those who possess grape-arbors
these scorching summer days are fond
of resorting to them at times, for shade
and cOolness, and of course, it is quite
natural when they see these insects de-
vouring the substance of the leaf of
grape, to stay their destructive workings,
if possible, as they would rather raise a
crop of delicious grapes any time than
those pesky nuisances, and they imme-
diately go to work to stop them. These
yine-sawfies eat up the lamina. The
leaf, of course, is one of the leading
organs of vegetation in which the de-
scending sap is elaborated for the nu-
triton of the plant or vine. It SC
happens that one of the publishers Of
the Farmer is fortunate enough to pos
sess very choice grapevine, on which
were perched several hundred of these
voracious insects. He saw how they
were gnawing out its vitality, and he was
fully aware his chickens would no
touch them,-so he was troubled. All
idea struck him as to their riddance, bu
where it hit, we did not learn; It didn'l
hurt him however. The idea was this
in brief: He had two very nice young
ducks which were presented to him b,
German friend, Gotlieb. He brough
them out to try them, and as they hat
had no feed, of course they were quite
hungry. He picked off these insect.
and threw them to the ducks, and they
swallowed them with an apparent rel
ish. It ,tickled- the Publisher. II,
smiled often. They ate very hearty
and, in fact, eat all that could be fount
on the vines. The man was mucl
pleased and so were the ducks. They
were then carefully placed in the coop
Leaving them with full craws he re
paired to the house. He felt perfect,
satisfied that his ducks would need n
other feed as long as the selandri
lasted. He sat down in chair and
meditated. Yes, he fairly studied, ant
this is what he was revolving: If i
wouldn't pay to buy a vineyard an,
start poultry yard with ducks. How
long lie studied the propriety of thi
and the money that might be made,
am unable at present to state, but Il
nally he retired for the night, conf
dent he had worked out vine-sawfi,
exterminator, and that they woul
be a great source Of profit to him in
stead of an injury. He arose in til
morning, and feeling an interest in hi
pet ducks, proceeded instanter to tn
coop, where-lo, and behold! What
were they dead? Yes, dead, and the
"neyer smiled again." He didn't ei
ther. s