Omaha daily bee., 1889-02-24
NO COMMON CRITTERS, THESE.
The Bsthetic Passion of an Aristo-
cratic Philadelphia Pup.
DEAD IN LOVE WITH A FLOWER.
A Horse Which Hunts Coons-How a
Monkey Saved Nineteen Peo.
pies Livcs-Bccs Beat zig
cons in a Race.


A dog thief is one of the latest Partisan
queer things and Curiosities, says the London
Telegraph: Last week n big Newfoundland
dog went into a large shop or store near the
bastilc, and after having "prospcctcd around'
for some time, selected a bundle of shooting
Jackets, seized them between his teeth and
made off with them. The hue aud cry was
raised, and the spectacle presented by the
hunt was of the most animated character.
Half the staff Of the store accompanied by u
hundred or so Of small boys and several
policemen, pursued the canine purloincr
until he was brought to bay. The bundle
was duly recovered aud the dog was marched
of to the police station, preparatory TO MS
removal to and probably permanent fixture
in the pound As several tradcsnCn had
complained that the dog had already been
around their way for predatory purposes the
conclusion wss arrived ut that the animal
must have been trained for thievery by some
of the 'Fagins'' of the Faubourg St.
Antoine.
A Waterman ut one of the docks, a few
nights ago. heard a ~scuhling noise under the
boards at the end of the pier, says the New
York Times, and holding his lantern over
the string piece he bent his body cautiously
forward, ana saw an eel trying to lower itself
into the water, but badly handicapped in its
efforts by IA rat that was hanging to its tail.
The eel after the manner of its kind, had
crawled from the water in the night TO
search for food and had found a rat. The
rat, too, was looking for a meal, ami was
glad to meet with the eel; but when each
discovered that its intended supper wanted
to eat it, n fierce encounter ensueu. Judging
from the appearance of the Combatants when
the watchman saw them, the rat was getting
the best of the contest, and though some
what laceratcd was fighting with unboundcd
confidence of assured success, while the eel
was evidently running away. The light OF
the lantern startled the rat, and opening his
Jaws he allowed the eel to escape into the
water, while he went sulkllS back INTO the
darkness.
The Homer Ndaho) Index says it has been
universally believed that no creature of any
kind exists in the waters of Mono lake, but
Judge Mattly cxplodes this notion. Last
Sunday he saw n strange creature Hopping
about in the shallow water near the shore.
The thing seemed to open and shut like a spy
glass; at its longest it was about six feet in
length and two feet in diameter. 1t re
semblcd an enormous lecch more than any
thing else, and apparently propelled itself by
drawing III air and forcing it out behind.
When inflated it was egg-shaped ana sat
upon the water like "A bell buoy. No tlippcrs
or fins of any description were visible, nor
anything that semblcd a mouth. The
o~ritices through which it evidently inhaled
air could not be seen. The Judge described
~ as q disgusting mass OF green pup.
A startling encounter yesterday between
two alligators and u bear, in the Apokn
Mountain, is reported to-day by a returning
party of hunters, says n TaVens (tla.)
special to the Chicago Tribune. The bear
was sighted just before he stopped at n
small lake. The hunters were quietly slip
ping up on their game when bruin suddenly
uttered q fierce howl and began executing
the most unaccountable antics. The hunters
soon discovered that the bear was firmly
held in the powerful Jaws of a huge alligator
and was unable to extricate himself. The
bear grew wild with fury and kept up the
struggle for half an hour, the hunters being
interested spectators of fray. Another ALI
gator then appeared on the scene. Giving
his tail a long sweep, he dealt the bear a
fearful blow, knocking him alnost uncon-
scious. Then turning about he caught his
head between his Jaws and crushed II to a
shapelcss mass. AT this j%uncture the hunters
descended upon their game. The second
alligator slid off into the water and disap-
peared. The first one was shot and cap
tured.
Messrs. William Hall, Kenney Nichols, and
Wilmot Kenney captured a buzzard near
Paris, KY, which wore a small brass bell o
which were engraved the words, ATLANTA,
Ga, April 81, 1863" A day or two later an
other was captured by S. K. Boyd, of Scott
county, wearing n bell on which was dimly
inscribed, IN. X. White. Garrettsburg, KY,
1872" Last week Rev. George Osborne, OF
Clark county, saw a buzzard flying over his
farm with a bell jinglIng tosts neck, ana al
most simultaneously with Mr.. Osborne, MIR.
w. w. N. Anderson saw one flying over his
farm in Montgomery county with a bell also
on its neck.
MIR. Yocumb, a farmer living in this county,
| says u Vincennes, Ind, special, has a bay
mare that has developed a strange propen-
| sity. She has learned to hunt 'coons. She
| can scent a coon as well as the best trained
dog. She will follow the 'coons by scent,
| alone, and when she ~''trccsn one will neigh
and paw around the tree until MIR. Gocunb
| comes to capture it. She never leaves the
tree until she has attracted the attention of
| her master. Mr.. Yocumb frequently goes
| hunting on horseback, taking a gun and AK.
The mare will 90 through the woods until
she strikes Il scent, and will then start on a
dog-trot, with her nose TO the ground, and
will trail the coon by her unerrlng scent TO
its den. She Will then begin 10 paw and
neigh until the tree has been cut down and
the prize captured. She will 90 through the
woods and stop and smell the trunk OF Il tree.
If she does not scent a coon she goes on, but
if there is one in the tree she never fails to
discover the fact and to make 1t known.
In aup-town residence OF some fashionable
| pretcnsions, says the Philadelphia Record,
there is a little DOG who is of such an
| aesthetic turn of mind that he has become
infatuated with the flowers in the design of
the pariOr carpet, and he Is now a mono
maniac on that point. The little fellow is a
| very pretty Skye terrier, ana was introduced
| into the household about three months ago
as an animated plaything for the little
| daughter Of the family. When he was first
allowed to frequent the parlor he immed-
lately took a fancy to tine flowers on the
carpet, and finally settled upon one which
suited his taste to n st." The more he saw
of it the greater became his fascination,
until finally he could not be attracted from
It. A few days ago the idea of presenting
the dog with "a real rose-which was the
flower that appeared in the design of the
| carpet-occurred TO the head Of the house,
and he took a few Of them home one even
ing. The little terrier looked at them IN a
| curious way at first, aud then AT the Hover
on the carpet, and finally made IA dash AT the
real flowers aud tore them into shrcds, after
which he returned 10 the unreal article. At
| one time during the course of his loVe'mak-
ing, when IL was found that he would de-
! stroy that portion of the carpet with which
he was infatuated, he was taken away and
| locked in u room for two days, hut ne refused
| TO take the most tempting food and seemed
TO be pining away until he was again allowed
| In tho narIOr He ia there nDw. and iS likely