Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1886-01-14

| A little dried up man. who might be.
looking at him from different points. any
where between so and 100 years old.
keeps an animal and bird fancier's store
on Fulton street. His long life among
most curious voice. 1t changes in sound
and information as he talks to the different
animals.
His conversation with the Newfound-
land dogs is carried on in deep base,
while a shrill treble answers the singing
OF his canaries. For forty years this man
has bought and sold birds. fish. aud four
legged animals. and during that time has
dealt with variety of people. Anecdotes
are his chief delight, and reporter hap
pened in upon him the other day just in
time to hear one. The old fancier was
reading an advertisement calling for an
eagle for use on the stage. and in a short
time had answered it, offering bird
Theatres said he. lifting mis- parch-
ment like face from writing desk. ''are
nv best customers, although you wouldn't
think It. 1t isn't long since real animals
began to be used on the stage, but the
great improvement in scenery made it
necessary Just think of having clump
of woods on the stage and no birds in it, y"
and the old mans face expressed much
disgust What are they used tor? Well
a good many things. In the Kerry Cow,
now. some carrier pigeons are sent off in
the race track to carry home the news of
the victory. When Youth was brought
out at Walacks theatre | sold lot of
canary birds for the scene on the river,
and maybe you remember how pretty
they sounded"
Have you had any demand latelv?'
| mot since about a year ago. Then a
young fellow. who had play with a
scene of bird store in it, came here and
bought the birds. He got some of nearly
every kind, and when the show broke up [
bought them back. That Young man said
then that the only thing that made him
glad he failed was that ne could get rid of
those birds. He never had SO much
trouble over anything in his lite before.
But the largest demand ever had for any
thing for the stage was for fish. You
needn't look as if you didn't believe
it, because it's so. The Black
Crook was running at Niblo's
and a lot of mermaids were wanted on the
stage. SO built some water tanks" and
he pointed to four glass tanks, each three
feet high, four feet long. and about a foot
wide those are they very ones.
well. we filled them with water. put
several hundred fish and lot of shells
and coral in them, and then stretched
them across the stage on long trap door.
All the stage back OF them was cleared
and there the mermaids' walked around
Each of them had long fishy tail fastened
| Il A. .,,I ,olv nhn thn 1nr
of the tanks. The mermaids all struck
out as though they were swimming, ami the
effect from the audience was very fine.
Pauline Markham was the fairy, and had
to walk up from the water. but, bless your
soul, she never got wet. Just walked up
a little ladder back of the tank and there
she was"
"But how did you ever get the tank
backo"
That's the best part of the whole sto-
ry," and the old mans face became huge
wrinkle as he tried to laugh. II had told
the carpenters all along that the trap door
wasn't strong enough to hold all OF that
water, and one fine evening. Just before
the curtain went up, the whole thing broke
down. The mermaids were all down un-
der the stage and the shock knocked them
down, the water flowed all over them, and
the poor fishes got down their necks and
frightened them almost to death. After
that bought back the iron frames, put
new glass in them, and there they are.
"Do you see that owl over there. Well
that bird has died $50 times shot in the
head every time. too. He belonged to a
theatrical company that broke up, and all
he had to do was to sit on stone and be
shot. When the gun was fired somebody
from behind would pull him offthe stone.'
The old man had done large business,
he said. in selling lap dogs. cats, and
large. tame birds fer use in drawing room
scenes. The eagle that he had just agreed
to sell would, he thought, be taught to sit
on the bough of tree in some midnigh,
scene and scream at the william of the play,
VINO was fleeing after having murdered
the heroine. -NeW York Times.