Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1883-06-20
A Canary Contest.

A stranger stepping from the slu,hy
streets into James Dawson's saloon, at s q
Callowbll street, last night, would have
been considerably mystified by the sights
TO be seen in the large room in the rear
of the bar Every seat in the place was
occupied by silent men, whose eyes were
all directed to the chimney piece. On the
chimney piece was small W iodcn cage,
and on the perch in the c &C sat canary.
The occasion was the decision of sing
ing sweepstakes of $3.50 each. The CON
ditions provided that each canary should
be allowed ten minutes, and the bird
that did the most whistling and chrping
during that period of time was to be adj
Judged the winner. There were original
ly five entries, but when the contest was
called on last night, shortly after eight
o'clock, only three contestants were on
hand. George Barlow brought ''Alu.ic"
in neat wooden cage, L. Gill produced
"Flute" from under his ovcrco.t, with Il
look of quiet confidence on his face,
while "mule," that the canary fnciors
pronounced green ''sparrcr," was intro
duced by Dawson, as it was understood,
on behalf of an unknown" hacker
At $3.50 "Music" was placed on the
chimney piece in the full glare of n
naked gas jet. Dawson drew out his
watch, the takcr of the singing time
pulled out "hyback," and time was
called. The fifty spectators leaned back
in their chairs and stared at the cage,
The ticking of the clock WIS The only
sound to be heard, a "AIusic" remained
as dumb as an oyster. In less than half
minute, however, the bird beginning
with a plaintive "tweet, twee.," burst
into full song, and might have chirped
out the ten minutes, but an unfor-
tunate individual in the corner
sneezed violently, and "Mus,c" pulled
up short in the middle of what
an enthusiast afterward styled 20 boss
trill," and cooking his artful little head
on one side and tapping his tiny wings
wrathfully he declined to favor the com.
pany with another note. When the time
was up Dawson announced that emusic"
had "piped" 59l second.
T. Gill then placed "Flute" and his
cage tendcrly upon the chimney piece,
whisked off the cloth cover, and took up
his stand by the timekeeper, evidently
brimful of confidence. "Flute" hoped
around the cage for a moment or so, then
settled on his perch, turned his head rap.
idly from side 10 side, murmured "tweet,
tweet," and became aggravatingly mute.
A little later and he began to sing sweet.
ly, but the outer door closed with bang
when the bird had been whistling twenty
four second, and the canary sang no
more. The nameless bird entered by the
N,, he GO. l.
shelf" disappearance was greeted with
derision. He was a mournful looking
bird, and it was stated by person with
husky voice and a sealskin cap that
"Ed' scaped outer is cage afore Christ
mas, an been livin' in "A sparrer box in
Franklin square ever since, which Nas
corrupted i'm like, yer see" lie con-
tinued can if he pipes at all, yer can
bet it'll be more of sparrer's note nor
canary's." Whether the gentleman was
right or not it is impossible to say, as the
obstinate mule" for it was cross-bred
bird, sang never note, but stuck to his
perch and gazed curiously at the gas,
until, ut the expiration of ten minutes,
Dawson called time and declared Music
the winner of the match and stakes.
These contests are new in Philadelphia.
but they are very common in London
and the north of England. Dawson in
tends shortly to organize a singing match
on large scale, which he thinks will
prove popular, as there are 50 many fine
singers in tho city. II was explained at
the conclusion of the contest that the
reason the canarics would not sing
was because the cages were placed too
near the gas. The glare of the gas and
the heat of the room, it was thought, had
scared hem.-Paii0lelphia Press.