The Opelousas courier., 1889-04-27
g PER OTTER.
A1VAevef Creature with One Bad Habit
Which Caused Its Death.

Which Caused Its Death.
Harvey Frisbie drives a tin peddler's
cart through the upper Lehigh and
focono regions at regular intervals.
lie sells tinware to the farmers, hunt
ers, lumbermen and mountaineers, and
ne gathers uppaper, rags and fur skins
among the natives, paying cash for
them in case he can't make a dicker
1or some oil his wares. All the people
through these sections know the jolly
peddler, and they are always glad
"nen ne. comes around, for he g-ner-
ally a a new story or two to tell
them, and his visit is a break in the
dull monotony of their lives. Up to a
short time ago Peddler Frisbie had a
pet animal that greatly interested and
amused his many customers all along
his rough and Asly route; but it will
amuse them no mise forever, for it met
a sudden and tragfe{ate the other day.
Peddler Frisbie's pet animal was q
tame otter that he called Funny, and
1t was as interesting a creature as the
writer has ever seen in tha~ Pocono re-
gions. *
Three years ago this sprina,Farmer
Alonzo Miller caught two youngsters
near the head of Ash creek, in y ATOM
township. They were 30 black I. At
and very cunning little creatures, and
Farmer Miller took them home. Ped
der Frisbie's cart stood in front of his
house when he got there, and the
storytelling peddler was very much
taken up with the young offers. He
picked out the one he wanted, and he
told Farmer Miller that he would tame
the young otter before the middle OF
summer. The farmer didn't believe
that it was possible, but the peddier
knew what he was about. When Ped
dler Frisbie came around six months
later he had the otter with him. 1t
was as tame as a kitten, and knew its
name as well as any of the children
knew theirs. From that day until
Funny's sudden death, Peddler Frisbie
carried the otter around with him on all
OF his long journeys into the wilds.
Whenever it rained Funny lay in a
warm and dry nest underneath the
seat, and when the weather was fine he
sat by the side of his master or capered
around on the top of the cart as they
logged over the rough roads. Funny
was the peddler's constant companion,
and he was as much attached to his
owner as dogs get to be to their mas
ters. He would beg for food when he
was hungry. and Peddler Frisbie soon
got to know just what the young otter
meant by his various noises.
There are many trout streams in the
Pocono and Lehigh country, and what
amused the peddler's customers about
the young otter more than any thing
else was to see him glide into a pool,
flop and wriggle around q bit, and then
scamper out with a plump trout in his
mouth Or paws. Peddler Frisbie took
a good deal of comfort in showing his
customers how Funny caught trout in
the brook, and it was a common thing
for the whole family of a wood-chopper
or a farmer to follow Frisbie and IFS
otter to the bank of the nearest stream
to see Funny get his food in the way
that nature had taught him to. After
the otter had got his belly full of trout
he could not be coaxed or driven 10
glide into the creek.again. II the cart
happened to be rolling along ear the
bank of asparkling, ~murmuring stream
when the otter was hungry, he would
make such fuss that Peddler Frisbie
would have to stop his horse, lift Funny
from the cart, and let him get his din
ner out of the brook. Then he would
make his way back to the cart, and be
contented until he got hungry again.
Funny had one trick that many of the
! wives of the peddler's customers didn't
plike at all. and it was this habit that
cost him his life. Peddler Frisbie
generally let his pet follow him into
the houses wherever he made bargains
for fur or sold tinware, and the otter
had the habit of climbing ON every bed
that was in sight, stepping around
with his dirty feet. and nesting UNDER
meath the bedclothes II no one drove
him off.
When Peddler Frisbie made his last
rip through Coolbaugh township last
winter, the weather was warm and
springlike. The front door of James
Gleason's house stood open when he
| drove his cart in front of the dooryard
gate. The otter a into the house
ahead of him. and made for Mrs. Glea-
sons bed, which stood in a corner of
the front room. Mrs. Gleason was
rolling out p~ie-crust on the table when
the otter climbed into her bed, and she
beat poor Funny's brains out with the
rolling pin, she was SO vexed at his
getting her bed dirty. Peddler Frisbie
felt bad, but he could do nothing, and
Sc is going to try to find another bah.
otter to take Funny's place.-Scranton
pa Cor. N. Y. Sun.
-0 --
Defective Acoustics. .
stWhat an odd echo this 0 has!a
observed the Chicago girl, as she