Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1888-06-15
$1,000 FOR AN EGG.
% Was an Egg OF the Great AUX,
Which has Come to be a Very
Rare Bird.

egg so far as known, since the world /
began, was that received at an auc- !
ton sale Of the effects OF a Mrs. Wise |
held in London the other day. A sin
gle EGG was there offered, and, after an
exciting struggle between a number |
OF OrnithOlogists, it was struck of at
1900. Tt was an EGG Of the great |
aux, bird now supposed to be ez-
tinet, but quite plentiful within the
memory Of the older whalers who fre-
quented the north Atlantic IN their
bOyhood days. It is five years since
an egg Of this bird changed hands, and
then it was sold by the British Col
Iegs OF Surgeons for $7OO, while in
1869 Lord Garvagh at an auction
sale in London paid $500 for single
egg. Previous to that the prices OBJ
tanned for this sort of eggs dWindled
down by easy gradatiOns to As. 3D.,
at which price one was sold in 1880
Ia Paris, although the bird itself was
then to be found about the islands Of
the North Atlantic.
There is q mounted skin of the aux
In the American Museum OF Natural
History IN this city that was purchas-
ed In London in 1869 for 1925. 1t
Is one OF eighty SKINS known to be in
existence in the world. There are also
ten complete skeletons. besides nu-
merous parts of skeletons and several
n1Lmmies
The form OF the aux is familiar to
all who have read illustrated accounts
of early voyages to Greenland. 1t was
the penguin OF the north Atlantic. It
had a squatty, gOOse-shaped body
and was from % to 80 inches long on
the average. 1t had wings, however,
that were only between five and six
inches long, and 1t was therefore in
capable of fight. 1t is pictured in the
old sea stories as sitting up solemn
and dignified in ranks, along the sand
and on the bleakest and most barren
coasts as the sailors approached the
land in boats. 1t was not easily
frightened by the approach Of man,
who was apparently its sole enemy.
When disturbed it waddled away
about as fast as a man could walk,
taking very short steps but taking
them rapidly. On account Of its gait
Il was called the WObble in some of
the early books. such as the work
OF John Josselyn. Gent, on ''NeW En-
gland Rarities," printed in 1879. Not
that the bird was a rarity then; on
the contrary, it was seen in great
. pumbers as far south on the New
England coast as the yachting centre
Of the United States-BostOn.
At that time and for a hundred
years later it was the custom ofmany
Of the fishermen irequenting the Banks
of Newfoundland, particularly the
French to victual their vessels with
l. I'LL =
down as many as would last for the
entire cruise. Their method OF taking
the birds was the simplest possible.
The ships boats were rOwed into
some quiet cove frequeuted by the
auks, and mOOred a few feet from the
land. Then planks were laid from the
beach or the rocks TO the gunwales of
the boats, and the auks were driven
on board In single file until the boats
were loaded. A man with club
knocked them on the head as they
reached the boat, and dumped them
under the thwarts. The aux seldom
offered resistance, but occasionally it
would snap at a man with its stout
bail. and would mhict very painful
wounds. In such cases, the old ac-
counts say, the sailors skinned the
bird alive out OF revenge.
When driving the birds on the boats
1t was necessary to station man
with a club on each side Of the gang
plank to keep them from dropping in
TO tie water Once ahoat the awk-
ward Waddle became the sWiftest and
most graceful of motions. No other
water fowl could approach the won
derful speed OF the aux on the wafer;
indeed. IL could swim as rapidly as
some of the more numbering birds can
hy.
Although on account of it's fishy
food Is was somewhat oily when in
good condition, it was nevertheless so
much esteemed by the sailors that it's
numbers diminished continuously from
the time the Banks OF NeWfOundl and
began to be much frequented, So that
by the beginning of the nineteenth
century it was no longer hunted for
food. So few were to be had that
they were not worth the time requir-
ed to take them. However, m the
year 1907 a British prlvateer varied
It's Occu patiOns of pursuing Fr-nch
merchant vessels and impressing
Yankee sailors by going to the islands
Of Iceland for a supply of fresh aux
meat. Great numbers of the birds
were killed, many being left dead that
could not be removed because the
ship had all she could use. Three
years later the people of the Farce
Islands, being threatened by starva-
tiOn on account of q failure in the
fisheries. visited Iceland, and about
completed the destruction begun by
the privateer.
That the aux never recovered from
these blows even on the coasts best
fitted Tor its maintenance was due to
th6fSc6 chat the aux laid but one eco
q year. 1t made no nest, but depos-
tied the A1g on the bare rock. Ii was
IN aetnnia llfnrIrr Inrtra er-r O tra,. in