Evening journal., 1889-06-14
THE KING OF THE SKY.
Az EheLE THAT MADE A. DESPERATE
FIGHT FOR LIBERTY.

Bird Held the Fteid-Fight Ehourh for
Farmer Williams. and He Was Glad to
Turn His Share Of 1t Over to. Others.
"rf any person who doubted thata wounded
ea9ie was desperate customer for a man to
tacze,' said Lewis Williams, of BerlSs coun-
ty, Pa, ~couA bsve witnessed an encounter
that had with one once on tho Blue Noun
tain, no Tulpchoekeu township, he would
have had his donbts removed in short order.
had been hoeAng a good many chickens one
fall and supposing that they were being car
ried OF by foxes I ses trap for Reynard.
The morning after se4ting the trap. ! went
out Go look for Il. and n was nowhere 70 be
seen 1t had been chnined bo small stake
IN the ground, and the stake was also missing.
FTnsr MOUND FOR THE Bird
As ! WIS peturuing home heard great
commOtacm among big flock of crows ia
the woods quarter Of a mile up the noun
b6an- The cpDts were cavmg in such a fun
ous chorus that their cries could have been
heart for uhle The birds were circling
round the tree boYs in one particular spot,
and freQueoeay number Of them would
dart viciously down tirough the trees toward
the ground. was curious TO know what
could be causing this unusual proceeding
among the crows, for they are birds that do
not fool their time away for nothing. /
wallsed up the mountain, and as Iapproocbed
the spot where the crows circus was going
on, the tumult among the crOws increased
When arrived within easy gunshot OF tho
| spot the nock withdrew 10 a more distant
| part OF the woods, but kept up their hubbub
and jawud and chartered In a way that left
no doubt Of their having been intensely dis
turi)ed by sorne unpleasant experience.
Il walked on, and had taken but a few
steps when heard sound as Of chain be-
| ing dragged along on the ground, and IN
stantly concluded that ID was the chain Of my
missing trap momentnrily expected to see
the fox, hampered by the tPap. on his leg,
come into sight, believing that he had been
attacked by the crows who had discovered
him in his crippled condition. Imagine my
surprise then when, instead of the fox making
his appearance, an enormous bald eagle strut
ted out from behind big tree, dragging the
trap, chain and stake The jaws of tho trap
were fastened on one leg Of the great bird
II had with me an ordinary shotgun. with
which had expected to kill the fox If found
it in my trap. When tho eagle saw me it rose
with great difficulty from the ground, owing
to the burden on the leg, and flew toward the
top Of tall, dead tree / fired at it The
| charge hit the eagle in one OF its wings and
brought the bird 70 the ground The eagle
was such a splendid specimen that resolved
10 capture 1t alive approached it with no
thought Of having any difficulty In accom'
plishing my purpose in the handicapped and
| crippled condition Of the bird, but found
| that didn't know as much about bald eagles
as thought did, for in spite OF the crippled
wing and the burden Of the trap and chain
the eagle rushed upon me and attacked M
with such fury that / turned and fed from
the woods
"At the edge OF the woods stopped, and al
FIRST thought would go back and shoot th,
eagle, but my desire TO have it alive was s.
strong that determined TO make every efforf
10 capture II | hurried bone and got q stout
rope and on empty feed bag.
"a LITTLE DIsFTGURED, BUT"-
'The eagle no sooner saw me again than b
rushed toward mo with all Che force az hi
command, hamperOd and crippled as be was
and forced the fghtiug at once. bad mad
moose in one end Of my rope. As the eagl
same tearing toward me, his sound win
raised several inches from his side, tn
wCupded one dragging helpless and bleedint
on the grOund, his powerfth hooked bea
thrown open, the feathers on his neck brist
ling like the han on an angry buck, and tn
chain cianking as he dragged the heavy ira
on his leg, be was a startling picture OF il
tense hate and unboundod fury. / had Reve
faced 80 fierce presence, nor could hav
imagined one.
IL knewsthat by the plan had formed 70
capturing the eagle l could quickly over
power him II | could manage IL successfully
50 l stood my ground, and whom the immens
bird was almost nsar enough to me TO strik
me with his beak, quickly tossed the noos
oVa- his head 1t slipped down over his wing
and / drew il close by sudden and stronl
Jerk. then rap 10 one side and tied tue othe
end Of the rope TO q sapling. The eagle wa
now shorn Of the great help OF its once power
ful wing as 1t bad been of the use of one o
its enormous talops by the trap Yet /
pulled the rope taht and shook the saplin
from root 70 top IN his efforts to get at me
As he thus strained at the rope, succeede
in slipping tho feed box down over his head
and then clasped the eagle around the body
supposing that be was now at my mercy.
But although blinded, pinioned and doubl
crippled, the eagle was still unconquered- a
I stood clasping the great bird endeavorin
TO secure the mouth OF the bag about his leg
he suddenly threw himself against me- Il
sprang clear OF the ground, and striking m
IN the breast with bis one free talon, with
Gerce downward stroke, ripped my clothin
from me, and mode two deep burrows in IA
flesh clear 10 the waist The blood streame
from the wound, and supposing that | We
badly hurt, hurried home as fast as coul
SO. The eagle was trapped, shot, bound an
encased ia bag, and still be held the field
''On reaching homo | found thatm woun
was bad enough, but nothing to be frigh
ened about, but it put me out Of the MOTTO
of further contest with the eagle. sent m
boy TO where a couple OF men were thlrshin
buckwheat for me In distant field, TO te
! , them to so and finish the capture The
went and succeeded in 0verpowering the ugl
bird, and brought him tliumphantly in, fo
} lowed nearly all the way by the flock
D crows, whosk cries were easily iuterprets
into shouts Of rejoicing over the dow
fall Of tho terrible foe that had play,
3 such havoc with their over confdel
T companions The eagle was released fro
the trap and his sweep of wing measure
IL was nearly eleven feet from tip to tip
was tied to a strong stake in the yard, b
his terrible temper forbade all attempt
caro- for the frightful wound the trap had |
iiicted on his leg and for the broken win
EIe refused to eat, and died in three day
: : His stuffed figure Is now Ia q Philadelph
museum. New York Sun.
Chinese Wonders.
Of vorlss Of ert tho f-1eat wall Of Chi,