The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-12-28
A MONKEYS TRICKS.
A Bohemian One in New York
Plays Many Franks.
HE BECOMES THE MASTER THIEF.
At Night He Makes People Think Their Houses
Are Haunted-He is Captured and
Becomes Great Pet.

teenth street male ringtail monkey. His
nephew says he is retaining the littl,
animal until his master comes to claim it
The owner of his monkeyship has beer
much sought after for some months anG
he will have, when he comes TO substanti
ate his claim, number of varied and inter
esting claims for damages to adjust What
ever his former condition the mischievous
little creatures appearance in the neigh
borhood of his present domicile oates iron
last summer A servant girl sleeping il
the rear room of house on Fifteenth
street between Seventh and Eighth
avenues was awakened one morning by two
hands patting her cheeks. She looked up ant
saw bending over her a strange aud hideous
face. She jumped from her bed and crying
'"Murderl' ian down stairs he family
much alarmed, went to her room armed
but finding nothing cane to the conclusion
that she simply had dream. few days
afterwards an upholsterer who was mend
ing chairs in house in the same locality
left the room for few minutes, and when
he came back he found part of his tools
gone. No one had been seen to enter the
room and it was thought most mysteri-
Gus. The mistress of the boarding house one
morning about this time found the door TO
her larder had been opened during the night
and several jars of preserves carried away
So these mysteries continued to accumu-
late without apparent solution, until one
morning lady was surprised to see sit
ting upon the board fence in the rear o.
her residence ON West Fourteenth street,
a monkey eating from enc of the Identical
jars the boarding house mistress hac
missed few days before. Although the
little thief was thus discovered, he seemed
to grow none the less bold In fact, his
depredations increased
Mrs. Wells, of 2US West Fifteenth street,
had number of valuable palms in her
yard. One morning she aWoke to find the
whole bed had been torn up and ruined.
Mrs. uiesby, of 52S West Fifteenth street,
looked out of her froLt window one after
noon to find valuable tropical plant had
been torn into shreds and the buds appar-
emily eaten up. "Oh, it is that terrible
monkey" she cried. 'If ] could only get
hold Of him." But she didn't get hold of
him. for at that minute he was crawling
along the fence in the rear of her house
with banana stolen from neighboring
kitchen in one paw and a napkin taken
from West Fourteenth street in another.
One day Mrs Viii an saw him Juggling
away a bunch of keys from one of her
neighbors, and at another time she saw him
seated on his perch on the fence trying to
break open a jewel casket from lady's
IOOul. NC hCIC Udu-y lIlRuIcnCu
by being awakened in the early morning
by rude slaps on the face. They would cry
out, but before their parents could reach
them the mysterious visitor would have
disappeared. One of the roomers at 220
West Fourteenth street was rudely awak-
ened by finding something Juggling at his
head. He looked around Just in time to
see his monkeyship disappear through the
window. Watches, jewels, plates, photo
graphs, anything he could get hold of he
would attempt to make away with. Some
of these things he would drop soon after
taking; others he would conceal, and some
never have been found. He would invade
kitchens at the most opportune moments
and destroy dinners that servants and
housewives had with great care prepared
His appetite was marvellous, and every
thing eatable appealed to him with won
derful eloquence. No one, it seemed, was
able to catch him. He would COM
nit his depredations and be off
like shot. The police were notified, but
they said they could do nothing with the
little pet. The managers at Central park
were begged to secure him and make this
addition to the menagerie, but they appar-
emily did not need any more monkeys The
scene of his operations was confined almost
entirely to yards in the rear of houses
from the corner of Fifteenth street and
Seventh avenue to DDS West Fifteenth, and
the corresponding houses in Fourteenth
street. The families of Mrs. Elizabeth Lis
comb, Jacob S. Carter, William Whiteman,
H. Young, S. Illesby and T. j. Wells were
the chief sufferers from the little animals
antics.
Exactly when the little rascal first ap-
peared in this neighborhoOd,n said Mrs. |
Whiteman, ''is not known, but think it was
about September. He was first very keen
and we could not get near him. He seemed
to have a very strong liking for anything
bright or anything to eat If watch were
left in the room with an open window it
was pretty sure to fall into his possession. |
Some of my neighbors have found him
sitting on the bureau or table, holding a
timepiece to his ear and listening to its
tick At other times he would be found |
sitting before mirror, calmly looking at
himself. He soon learned the use of hair
brushes and tooth-brushes, and if he some |
times took one fer the other, it was all the |
same to him. No one could catch him in |
those days in Fourteenth street, and then |
as if to tantelize US he would for minute |
hold his stolen treasure in his paw and |
then disappear. Where he lived all this |
time is not known, but | suppose in one of |
the trees, as he ran into them when pur
sued by cats or boys. Cats he would fight |
whenever he met them, and some
times the backyard would be thick with fur.
One cold morning few days ago a ser
want built a fire in the kitchen and then |
came up stairs. When she returned the |
monkey was sitting by the range sbiver.ng. |
He made no effort to get away and so was |
easily taken captive and Gagged. My |
nephew took quite fancy to him, and if no |
one comes to claim him, ne says he will |
keep him himself"
Harry Lipscomb, grandson of Mrs. Lips |
comb, living at 30 West Fifteenth, was |
one OF his memberships captors, and has !
much to say of this little captive's antics. |
at was fun to see him crawling along the |
division fence with something he had |
stolen in each of his front paws" said |
Harry. "At times he would disappear for
several days. Where he would go no one
knew, then back he would come hungrier
than than ever. He soon learned to open |
the doors Of cupboards and nothing was
safe from him, except what was locked and
the KEYS hidden. We boys used often to
wonder where the little fellow lived when
he was at home, but we never found ont.
People would sometimes place things out
for him to eat, and if they did not suit him
he would wrap his tail around the plate and
start with it up tree. When about half
way up he would drop the plate and brake
it. One day l saw him sitting upon the
fence with a napkin. Washday was his
delight. He could climb along the clothes
Zines. pull the pins out and then sit on the |
fence and watch the clothes blow off the
line. Sometimes he would chew off the
lines and let the clothes all down. If any |
one should appear and claim tho monkey, |
there will be some reckoning to be made |
before he is taken away"
Language is hardly strong enough to ex
press my admiration of the merits of |
Chamberlain's Cough Remedy. 1t is the |
WhnnnFnO