Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-08-23
BULLFROGS VS.. CANARIES.
Some Reasons Why the Former Are Pref
cradle as Pets.

usurp tne cmlacnce at present OCCu-
pied by the canary in the c-tcem OF
fceblc-mnded old maids, but for force
Of character and a steady devotion to
the business of acquiring living he
can not DO cqualed by that popular
nuisance. To my mind the canary is
the simple embodiment of iiddledcdce,
and his recommendations as n pet are
vastly inferior to those of the feather
less but contcmplativc batrachian. A
canary costs a great deal to keep:
One Queen Anne cottage cage of wire. 81 90
Hook aud wire jumper to hang samc..... 2s
China bath-tub. Observation-Disclosures, 10
One and Il half pounds seed per month. 20
Cuttc-bOne to whct bill lon................ 10
sandpap"r carpet, changed daily, per
hohtn. ......................... ~
Here is capital Of - S5 sunk, in
cluding the price OF bird, unless some
friend in burst of malignant gcncros-
ity gives it to you, in which case you
will find it is a female and won't sing,
or else has the mango or some other
complaint equally disagrccablc. There
is nothing in the world SO false rs tho
friend who gives You a canary. for un-
less you can subsequently induce some
imbecle acquaintance TO take ii off
your hands you are in for at least four
years of hempsced and misery. When
civilization has grown little older.
believe tho gross imposition still
practiced by even reputable church
members will be classed in the penal
code as an otfensc second only to bur-
glary and mayhem. Well, you start
in, therefore, on your happy possession
of II - 50 male bird in a - 90 cage,
with 25-cent jumper, and a l0-cent
bath-tub, and you find yourself hand
cuifcd 10 u running expense of IS cents
month. At the end of the year
you are out Sl3 50 in cash, not count
ing the doctor-bills incident to the
wear and tear Of your nervous system.
At this time, when you are thoroughly
reckless. some malevolent lady ac-
quaintance suggests the propriety of
your providing your ailliction with II
mate, and offers you the female bird
necessary to the consummation of her
iiendish design. Your sense of dan
ger being now blunted you fall into
the trap, humbly accept this second
curse, and enter into pernicious and
demoralizing course of bird housckeep-
ing, from which, except by a general
conflagratiOn or u convulsion Of ma
ture, YOU can never hope to emerge,
At the end of the second year YOU find
your home the permanent residence of
an epidemic Of canaries, occupying
sixteen cages, and multiplying faster
than mugrots. OF course, you can
now CRAFTY the bitterness of your heart
by making unlimited Christmas pres
ents of secretly female birds to those
whom YOU inwardly hate, but as the
remainder of YOUR stock multiplies
faster than your enemies this hcllish
subterfuse really affords YOU but little
relief.
Now. look at the bullfroo question.
Even in the depth of winter and on
Fourth avenue YOU can get a bullfroo.
warranted sound in every particular.
for 25 cents. Here in Catskill YOU can
slop around a marsh and Get them for
nothing. The pift of a bullfrop has no
hidden deception. a female being equal
to the male as a marketable commod.
ity. and as they are practically cell
bate, in captivity YOU can make YOUR
family calculations to piccty. A