The Arkansaw traveler., 1889-06-29
Curious Monomania.
New Orleans Times Democrat.


 melt into long level sweeps of emerald prairie land, there resides just at present & three and & half year old baby who may be safely reckoned champion curiosity in the way of infantile oddities. The whole of the child's very brief existence has been passed ona farm with rural surround ings, and, as is altogether natural he has manifested great love for every kind of animal life. 1t was not until six or eight months ago the pecu- liarity which singles him out from other children first showed signs of development. Premonitory symptoms of the incipient mental disorder took the little fellow to the fowl yard, where he could be found at all hours studying with rapt attention the focks of chickens, ducks and geese with which the barnyard was liber- ally supplied.
 The turkeys he persistently fol- lowed on their long secret wsnderings in search of nesting places, lodging under cherokee hedges to pursue his game, peeping through brambles as
 
 when the last speckled globe was safely deposited, gathering his precious find in the crown of his garden hat to bear home in triumph to the house. Never in rain or sunshine, heat or cold, did he weary of observing the various habits of the feathery tribe The shrill cackling of victorious hen delivered of her egg made sweetest music in his ears, and, though little better than baby in age, it was soon discovered that the most cunning pull let of them all had no chance of out witting the young naturalist. Let her secrete her pearly treasures as she chose, Tommy's lynx-lik eyes never failed to detect her best laid plans. Instead of worrying the family this childish idiosy was regarded as the acme of cleverness, and no guest ever came within the big front gates without having his poultry wit detailed for their edifcation.
 So it continued for some weeks, when all at once 8 change came over the spirit of Tommy's dream, and one fine morning his solicitous relatives awoke to discover the lad a genuine monomaniac. The form of the malady WAS nothing less than a firmly grounded conviction on the boys part that he was indeed and in truth one of the fowls he had watched with such interest. The first time his odd fancy was recognized his mamma found him curled up in the tall clothes haaket eolemn eyed and atill ga a mouse. At her approach he held up warning finger, and in sepulchral tones assured her he was matching. In vain his mother argued, Thomas was immovable, and finally in sheer disgust she resolved to regard the whole matter as joke. Scarcely dar- ing wink an eyelash, the little human hen sat for three mortal hours, only consenting to climb over the wicker sides of his nest when convinced every chick was safely out of its shell. Next day, about the same hour, having had bath and fresh toilet, the child was sent out in the yard to play. He dis appeared, and it was after tea time when he turned up again, with a mass of yolks and whites inextricably mixed. He had been setting on real eggs this time. Scolded, threatened and questioned, he finally agreed to acknowledge to a neat little scoop he had dug in a secluded corner of the barnyard, where the wreckage of a dozen eggs revealed him at his favorite trick.
 Even then the affair was looked on