Millheim Journal. [volume] (Millheim, Pa.) 1876-1984, 1881-02-03

For an island twelve miles long and two
wide. and inhabited by some seven hun
dred people, Roanoke Island, Virginia, has
been as loud spot as any of the same num-
Der of square inches on the globe. IL has
been full OF sensation from the jump; and
from the birthday of Virginia Dare, in 1885,
TO the bully fight on the Sd of December,
In which birds, beasts and women bore 8
hand, period near unto three hundred
years, it has seldom been without an eye
opener in the shape of q sensation. Ii has
been the scene of bloody fights between
hostile Indian tribes. and between
civilized armies in hostile array. Savage
and civilized relics of remote ages and mod
ern commissions are hidden beneath, or
wave washed upon the surface OF Its gol-
den sands Indian forts and cairns and
tumuli attest its hoary history. Abel's pet
dog that sings in church meetings and the
canary that praises itself in parrot English
attest the attainments of Its beasts and birds
in polite accomplishments. Lewis Mann Q
sixty alliga:ors, Matched and reared In a
potato-house, attest the fecundity of Its
soil-or the fecundity of Lewis imagina-
ton Two miles from the shore, at the
point at the gateway to Oregon, lie luscious
bivaIves Wild fowl of every name feed
upon its grasses. Its men are the best spec
linens OF manhood; It's women of feminine
loveliness.
But 10 our tale.
On the Sd Of December, at Roanoke rs
land, a soaring eagle, towering In its pride
of might, turned his proud eyes from gaz-
:. a1,a ha M wA pF Wal
ter Dough. A flock of fat geese invited
his eye and tempted his taste, The glance
was father to the thought, and down he
pouuced, The feathers flew, the geese
squawked, and there was O sensation in the
| farm yard, and there was dog there, too.
| A. goose ia put down as a fool, but 1t 10 a
vulgar error. A goose is particularly
smart fellow. And so was the one the
eagle struck in Walter Dough's yard. AS
! soon as struck, the goose ran under the
| house (which was some feet above the
| ground) with the eagle fastened to her back,
and the rest of the flock in hot pursuit.
And there the fight grew fast and furious
Forty biting and Topping geese on one side
and the king of birds ON the other. AL
| though outnumbered, the eagle maintained
|
But soon another enemy presented him
self-an enemy more terrible than an army
of geese-a bull. terrier dog-little, but full
of fight. 1t wasn't fair, and the dog had
no natural, belligerent rights In q combat
between birds, but he came with bound,
and the eagle had no time TO settle ques-
tions of military ethics; so he threw him
self on hls back (eagle fashion) 10 do hit
best in this hard fight between tooth and
toenaIl. The dog mada q lunge at the
eagles breast, and the eagle struck his claws
deep into the dogs fore-shoulder.
The blow was simultaneous on either
side. Both blows told. But terrier never,
and an eagle hardly ever says die. The
only witnesses of the dread combat were
the geese, who now stood off and looked
on, and Miss Martha Brothers, who wal
singing to her spinning jenny in the house
alone when the fight began, and who In the
end was to be the conquering hero, crown
ed with the laurels of victory. The battle
ragged. Teeth CRASHED, claws STAYED, eye
flashed. But eagles, like men. contend
against odds when fighting against fate,
and SO this eagles great heart sank within
him, and turning tail upon his foe, h'
sought safely In flight. But his retrea
was slow and full or difficulty, for he hat
fifteen pounds of bul1-terrier swinging be
tllind him. He reached the yard fence
With one desperate effort he sought to scal'