Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1875-12-31

drop II in his Wiue-Open mouth I'LL his
craw, his throat and his mouth were
filed. There he would sit with mis- bill
wide open, unable to shut II till the food
slowly digested, then recommence his
"caw, cav, cawn With the wings came
what the quiet twinkle in those black
ewes foretold--miscllicf sly and deep. He
delighted going into the cooks room,
where careless habits made that place a
paradise to him. lie would gently put
lis bill under the lid of her sewing box
and turn off the cover on the floOr-and
then the fun began. The needles were all
carefully stuck over the bed one by one.
The cotton was hid in the wood house
and the scissors nicely tucked under the
| pillows in the room quite removed from
the scene of his labOrs. The wax and
thimble were dropped into the aquarium.
| And, after all this delicious fun, he one
! day took little pot of hard pomade In
| his bill and hoped TO the edge of the
vcranda roof, ate the pomade with evident
relish aud then dropped the glass pot on
| the stove-pipe below with satisfied air at
| its demolition. He then flew down and
carefully picked up each piece and put it
in the grass.
During the short illness of one of the
| family, regularly at nine a. m. "Jim
Crow hopped along the veranda roof
| gave a qpiet tap on the closed window,
and, on being admitted, gravely brought
/ with him to the bedside and laid on the
table IA chicken bone or leg or something
equally tempting. Seeing that he was
| duly observed, he Would ruflle up his
| feathers, make himself appear like u
large round ball of black feathers, cav, ="
and then open his mouth wide for part
| ff fl,a inv lflfu hroa laut rtar offr ~
up things for half an hour or more, open
ing the clock, picking at the hands, stop.
| ping the pendulum, dropping the soap In
| the water. pitcher and taking all the pins
out of the pin cushions, he would take
| his leave.
The fish in the course of time disap-
peared from the aquarium, and, although
all the haps and mishaps of the house
were attributed TO demure little - Jim
| Crow" no one suspected that he was the
| cause of the fish mystery. One morning
he was discovered taking a bath in it, and
| a fish breakfast atterward. The mystery
was solved, and when the aquarium was
emptied there came to light two thimbles
u pair of scissors, penknife and spoon
To carry away small chickens, dror
! them into holes, and cover them with dirt
was his intense delight and when we saw
a distracted hen rushing madly about the
barnyard some one looked up "Jim
| Grow" and went to the rescue. After q
days fishing we were cleaning the fsl
on the race bank. One little fish was
thrown into the water A duck quickly
seized it by the head, and JIM took the
tail, and then they pulled and pulled fol
few seconds. The scene was exceeding
ly amusing, for "Jim" planted his little
black feet firmly on the edge of the bank
and was slowly drawn into the water hold
ing on to the fish. AS soon as he founC
that he was getting in too deep he let &C
his hold and flew to a tree to take his
usual revenge in scolding, and with hi;
head on one side he scolded till all the
fish were cleaned. Jim's scolding con
sisted of succession of cultural sound,
said over and over with very solemn
face and mournful mien, and has moved
many people to hearty laughter becaus,
it was so intensely droll. While he wa
quite young he was tyrannized over, ant
all the fowls, large and SMALL had picl
at jim. But one day he took a long straw
in his mouth and chased the geese VIII,
fled before him, and jim reigned supreme
from that day, and often repeated tn
scare, we thought, for his own amusement
Jim's strong point was butter, and ol
churning days Jim stayed at home ant
behaved himself. He could eat half
pound but one day he ran his bill
through pound and tried to tly ava,
with it. He was caught rolling over ant
over the floor with it, and from that tim
, he was banished.
Jim was great nuisance on wash days
between dropping sticks and stones un
observed into the tubs, and flying ava
,, with the soap, and pulling out the clothe,
pins from the clothes on the line, he wa
!; kept very busy. He regularly droppe
small stones every evening on a pet toad
who lived under the kitchen Sand VIII
came out to be fed by the COOK and /
tormented by Jim. He would come gu
, etly, meekly hopping into the kitcheI
looking so innocent and hungry, and {
, he passed by the cat, asleep, he woul
give her one fearful hard peck and fly OF
at the door window. This was repcate
so often that the cat feared him and a
sumed the defensive at his approach. h
stole quantity of butter one day, an
hid it near the chimney of an out-kitcl
en-. We were as much surprised to 81
l grease trickling down the wall as was Jill
when he went for his treasure an
found it gone. The outburst of cav
that followed revealed the culprit Ji
loved TO steal, and for the pure fun
being chased he would come into Il
kitchen, try to pick up something and f
away, and if he failed in his object |
would hastily alight and pick up leaf {
+, stone to make believe he had been su
l Cessful.
As the summer faded into autumn Jil
stayed away more and more from hom
and occasionally would return with friend
evidently showing them around. Or
Sunday afternoon the attention of u
family was drawn to vigorous cawing c
S the veranda roof. There was Jim, wit
three friends, all cawing. They solemnl
walked i'll at the cooks window and n
mained in the room some time, keepin
I up their conversation. When they left a
movable things were found overturned
$ and the room left in the state Jim alway
T left it. The pleasure of that place had i
d doubt been described by Jim to his friend
l and he had brought them along for
, frOlic. His visits from home becan
i more and more extended, but whenev,
: he came he scolded as much as ever, an
seemingly tried to talk He would S
upon the house and deliver long harangu,
on subjects and in language too abstru'
for us to comprehend. One rainy Septen
a Der day he sat for hours on the apple trt
delivering what must have been his far
s well address, for when night came he tle
1 away and never came home again,
i Extraordinary Tragedy.
n THE following strange account of