Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-05-19
OSTRICH FARMING.
A Dismal, Disheartening Failure
Florida


The Florida enterprises, says the Flor
ida correspondent of the Augusta Chroni-
Gle, which we have considered heretofore,
have been for the most part successes, but
have now to record one of the most dis
NAL failures that has ever come under
my observation.
six months ago the news went abroad
that an ostrich farm had been successfully
inaugurated at Sylvan Lake. near this
place, thus unfolding still another grand
possibility in the ever widening vista OF
Florida's future.
The Chronicle correspondent gave a
very graphic account of his long ride from
Sanford to Sylvan Lake, the location of
the ostrich farm.
Before reaching Sanford the number of
birds had dwindled to three; on reaching
the farm itself the whole thing narrowed
down to one solitary bird stalking dlscOn-
sOlately up and down the narrow enclos-
ure where he was confined. There was a
box of food in one corner, at which he
would stop and peck impatiently, when
ever he reached it in his weary rounds,
and a hut near by bore signs of occupancy,
but the door was locked and not a living
thing was to be seen save that lonely bird
of the desert stalking back and forth within
its narrow bounds. | do not think have
ever in my life before looked upon scene
of such utter loneliness and desOlatiOn.
The dreary saw grass swamp in the fore
ground, the deserted cabin, the melan-
chOly pines all around, moaning their
eternal requiem over our heads, and the
only sign of life amid it all, this strange,
wild creature of the desert, with its long,
gaunt neck rising ghOstlike above the
scrub, through which 1T paced its lonely
sentry, made a picture of dreary solitude
that / shall never forget.
The bird was large one, fully nine feet
high, and though the enclosure in which
he was confined, small triangular space
of not more than quarter of an acre, was
surrounded with nothing more than an
ordinary fence, not higher than my Shout
der, il seemed to cOnfine him as effectually
az an iron cage. He made no attempt to
step over it, though he looked as if he
might have easily done so, and could not
help feeling some misgiYings as he APP
preached the spot where l stood at re-
spectful distance from thefence, for these
birds are often very dangerous. They
kick with the strength of a horse, and
when their enemy is down, tear at his en-
trails with their powerful claws. Hunt
ing them in the East is dangerous sport,
at which men often lost their lives.
Some vigorous hallOOing from the driver
at last brought upon the scene a son of
who had been left in charge of the place
during the absence of his father on a
journey to Lake Eustice. The boy was
very reluctant to talk about the ostrich
experiment, and had evidently been
trained to silence by his father,
who, l afterward learned from
the neighbors, is extremely SEN
sitlve about the failure of his scheme
and can never be got to talk about it. The
reluctance with which men allude to
their mistakes and failures is in striking
contrast to the vOlubility with which they
speak of their success, and yet the man
who fails may be as great benefactOr to
his race as the man who succeeds, if the
race would but acknowledge it. The one
is a beacon that shows where the land lies,
the other a buoy that warns where the
sunken rocks are hid. 1t is only by dint of
repeated failures that some of the grand
est successes in science and art have been
made possible, and Mr.. Jones' misfortune
may prove the stepping stone to some
other mans success. All this, however,
is poor consolation for Mr.. Jones, to whom
the failure of his scheme must have
brought sore disappointment, as we'll as
severe pecuniary loss. learned from
people living in the neighbor-
ported six birds, for which he
paid an average price of 81, 200 apiece, or
a total Of ST 200, besides the expense of
food and transportation, which must
bring the aggregate up to not less than
$4,000, for it costs as much to feed an
ostrich as to keep a horse. Not a single
egg was laid after their arrival in this
country, and one by one the birds have
sickened and died till but a solitary sur
vivOr remains, like ghost that will not
be laid, to remind the unfortunate man of
his failure.