The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1879-11-06

half-mlle distant, left that depfaVed
miner still continuing his miserable
story' I, -la1ls L-..ll...A.- - -.i57m IT'D
The American Career Of the Sparrow.
The first attempt, as far as is known,
to introduce the common house-sparrow
of Europe to our country was made by
gentleman named Desblois, in Port
land, Maine, during the autumn of 1858 !;
he brought over a few birds from the
Continent, and liberated them in a large
garden which. was Situated within the
central part of the city They remained
there sheltered and, secure under the
caves of a neighboring church through
out the 9winter, and in the following
spring settled down happily enough to
the labor;of nest-building and rearing
their young. Two years later the first
pain Of these fnches were set at liberty
near1 Madison Square, New York City !;
the importation was steadily repeated,
the birds being released in the Central
Park and at Jersey City. They We're
first introduced to Boston in 1868 by the
city government, and to Philadelphia by
the municipal authorities in 1869, and
from these small beginnings the house,
sparrow has been spread all over this
Northern country wherever we have a
city east of the Rocky Mountains, and
the fluttering floeksaofsthe robust, noisy
little foreigner enliven the streets there
of in every direction, Their numbers
are nearly countless. p sssss'fs' 2
i The object at first forthe introduction
Iof the house-sparrow does not seem to
fhaye been one Of practical suggestion,
but rather one in the nature of senti-
ment. Since, however,. the attention of
the citizens was called to the. great nui-
tsance of the existence OF canker and
/ measure worms in the shade trees of the
old cities of the Union, the fact that the
| house-sparrows would remain with
us all winter, and feed as ener-
getically upon the worms as any of our
own birds-whichs always, without
exception, left for warmer climes every
scason--the thought of practical appli-
cation took life in encouraging the in
ltroduction of the. English sparrow as a
means of relief more certain than that
afforded by any or all Of our indigenous
\ finches. AS soon as this became gener-
ally understood, the little John Bull was
distributed with great industry all ovei
the country for this purpose; but as SURF
as it became numerous in any town OF
city, a spirited opposition sprang up te
y it, and exists to-day with more or Les
vitality in every section, where the birt
!, is fairly settled. Whole books have beer
written pro and con, and naturalists hav,
waged mrelenting war upon one an
other, as they differed in estimating ati tn
value and the services of Pyryita do
npestiea; but in the Judgment of TIN
. writer, the entire, practical bearing Q
the controversy has not been fully pre-
sented by either the friends or the foe
of the little finch, for it must seem clea
enough to those who will follow the lin
of argument in this article that Will
the house-sparrow is eminently fit AM
wonderfully well constituted for life il
Northern cities, yet it is a sad rowd
and nuisance r;inff the country; Will
in the former case it renders admirabl
y service iii destroying insect pests tha
disfgure the shady avenues Of city fol
estry, yet in the latter field it can nc
| compete with our native birds in efatt
: mological service to man, and haVin
! given good reason for dislike on tn
7 part Of the growers Of fruit, they al
doubly ineensed because the law wi
, not allow them to shoot, trap, or d.
: stroy the enemy.AProf. II. W. Elliot
in Harper's for NoUemtcrs slf esH xaa1i
$ IL Miss Thicker, the auther of g Sis
| nor Mpnaldini's $ Niece Z upon the deaf
q of her father, her mother being alread
D dead, fell to writing for her livelihoo,
$ and some of her early stories were pul
P lished in Harper's and Putnam's mag
: zines. Much of her work appeared III
g der a pseudonyni. During the war 81
d was sent to Washington by Gov. A
T drew, and there she nursed the soldie
4 in the Columbia Hospital, and at Il
e barracks in Judiciary Square. Sever
e of her other works haves appeared
e book form, among (which are at
; House of Yorke,'' Grapes al
o Thorns," and "Si Sunny Months" !"
s PoTAToEs suffer more from wee
hI than any other crop. One weed W
S take up and evaporsate a asgood deal
!, moisture from the soil, and rob the err
= of what it greatly needs. This loss
r moisture is not often thought Of in co
n sidering the, effects of weeds, but it,
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