The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1890-10-09
Tricks ofthe Buttiig Ram.

Tricks ofthe Bnttiug Ram.
large, 3-year-old Cotswold ram,
IN the flock Of Farr.er Hezekiah Doc
little OF Benton township, near Scran
ton, "a, owes a good deal OF his VIC
lous pugnacity to the training wi ich.
ne has received from the farmers 16-
year-old son, Henry. The ram did
not SHOW u disposition to butt any
body until he was nearly two years
old, when young Henry took it into
his head to tease him and teach him
TO to pc ], cross. He beganYby placing his
two fists against the rams forehead
and pushing with all his might, now
and then backing away a short dis
tance and making provoking motions
at the ram, and then rushing up and
hitting him on the head with the heel
OF his boot. The ram hadn't been
trained in this way for more than q
fortnight before he got in the notion
OF lighting back, and young Henry
was tlckled over his success as a
trainer. After the ram had got to be
pretty cross the farmers son made
INN Itrlli still more SO by jumping behind
the end OF a wagon or sleigh just as
the ram was about to butt him, and
then the big sheep would give vent
TO his anger and disappointment
with a sort ofwhine and grunt COM
bined.
Along in the winter Grandfather
|.Doollttle, who lives in the adjoining
township, came overto his SON. IS farm
/ TO stay for week. On his visit to
/ the barn yard the ram sailed up be-
hind him, and sent him sprawling on
| his hands and knees into the deep
snow, and young Henry, who was
peeplEg through a crack in the shed,
| chuckled till the tears rolled down
his cheeks. 1t hurt the old gentleman
a little, but the attitude he was forced
| to assume just after the rams head
came in contact with him was so COM
ical that Henry would have laughed
If his grandfather's injuries had been
twice as severe. After that the old
gentleman carried a four-tined fork
with him and whenever he strolled
around the barn. yard, and ever time
/ the ram started to rush at him, he
held the fork pointed at his assailant.
i Inc ram never ventured to run his
! head against the sharp tines, and af-
ter awhile he ceased to look upon the
old MN as a proper subject for his
attacks, and left him entirely alone.
The other day Henry trained ram
ran against a snag, and is now tenn
porarily a cripple. Abel Chase, a
bark peeler, was passing through the
pasture on ashort cut to the bark
woods. The flock were huddle in a
hollow near the center of the field,
and Chase was striding straight to-
ward down the hillside with his ak
on his shoulder, trudging along with
i in a few yards of the sheep, when the
ram stealthily approached him from
behind, gave him a tremendous
thump in the back, and sent him
! headlong down the steep hill. Chase's
i knees were skinned when he got up,
and he was as mad as a hornet. The
ram made for him again, and Chase
struck at his head with the ax-helve.
He aimed to low, though, for the
helve, instead oflanding on the rams
head, struck him across the right
foreleg and broke it. The ram then
limped back to thefock on three legs.
After the snow had gone off in the
spring, a, neighboring farm boy,
whom Henry had an old grud ge
against, came to Farmer Doolittle's
to borrow an augur. The cattle and
sheep were in a small lot near the
barn, and there was mud puddle in
the lot. Henry got the boy to 90
over and look at his pet heifer that
was chewing, her cud close to the pud-
; die, and while the neighbor lad was
patting the heifer on the back and
admiring her, the ram dashed up be-
hind him and drove him headfole-
most into the mud and water. The
lad WalloWed out sputtering and
blowing, and covered with mud, and
Henry wiped off his clothing with
straw and declared that he was go
ing to hopple the unruly ram before
nightfall.
EARLY in June Scranton fisherman,
with a creel full Of trout, was tramp
ing across Farmer Doolittle's sheep
pasture late in the afternoon, and
/ the first thing he knew he was hit in
the back and driven againsta stump,
his basket and tackle flying this way
and that. He was very much aston
ished, and when he looked around to
see what in the mischief had given
him such an uncalled for blow, the
ram was backing off to butt him
again. The fisherman whaled the
ram with his bundle OF rods, and the
iractious beast trotted off.
Saved by his Sharp. Witted Wife.