The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-05-04
GULLS AND PORPoISES.

Funny Pcts of II Deck Hand That Follow
Ship Around.
81 read Il good deal" said u deck
hand on the Piedmont ferryboat as it
pulled out from the slip to II San Fran
cisco Chronicle reporter, about the in
telligencc of animals and birds The
eastern and English papers are full of
the topic, but no San Francisco report
err dcvotes any time to such subjects.
Now you have Prof. Garner ready to
proceed to the Guinea coast to take
down on the monograph the hare
Tipped cloqucncc of lot of chatterinC
monkeys and gorillas, while here at
home some of the most talented men of
the dailics obstinatcly refuse to make
themselves familiar with the acute in
tcllcct of the humber friends that they
meet every day.
You sec those seven gulls sitting on
the piles of the slip? They are the con-
slant companions of the Piedmont. and
follow her every trip from the city to
Oakland and back again. l know every
one of them and every chick of them
knows me. have not cultivated their
acquaintance more extensively than to
provide them daily with IL few little
fishes that my son catches ut the Oak
land wharf, but these birds are grateful.
There is one particular one there Do
you see him-that one with Il few black
spots near the tip of his wings? Well,
he is more confident than an old poll
parrot. | can call him, and he will lust
plunge toward my hand and pick from
between my fingers anything / have
there. although fish is what lie prefers.
q. L., III
you that am telling you the truth"
Putting his hand into his pocket the
deck hand pulled out II small, withcred
perch and called: "Dicllcy! Dickcy."
Immediately the gull, which had been
lowering over the heads of those pres
ent, swoopcd down upon the extended
palm of the sailor, dclicately extracted
the perch from between his thumb and
forcfingcr and flew away with the
prize, scrccching p;rans of pleasure us
he went up into the air.
The deck hand, clated at the success
of his demonstration, again asserted
that 'Dickey' had more sense than /.
horse and that all the Piedmont gulls
would bc as smart as his pet had he
but time to improve their mental capac-
tiles.
But added the man, sit is hard for
me to train them, because nv time is
1ully occupied during my watch look
ing after the lower deck, and were the
captain to discover that / have leisure
to fool with these gulls, why, my name
would be mud. Therefore, please don
give me away"
In few moments the deck hand was
prepared for another ocular demon
stration, this time on the intellect of
fishes.
Il have also studied PROPOSES" said
the sage, ''und they are rs cunning as
possu;ns- Now, among my finny friends
there is porpoisc that l christcned
Johnny and whenever l call him he
shows up and l hand him Il fish. He
watches the Piedmont and myself from
morning to night, but he turns up more
regularly at lunch hours 1 will sum
mon him now"
The deck hand called "Johnnv." in =,
loud voice, when Immediately, right
under the bow of the boat, up jumped
Il big porpoisc- The deck hand threw
anothc perch into the bay and the por-
poise waved his back fur with Il pleas
ant shake, kind of .'pour prcndrc
congo wrigglc and disappeared Every
one was dumfounded at the apparcnt
magic but the deck hand explained it
with laugh that was echoed by all
present lie said that the porposc had
not really answered his call, but be-
ing SO used to their movements he knew
exactly where it would show up after
he had once seen it coming to the sur
face. and he had so timed himself, while
keeping his audience interested. as TO
bring about the climax when he was
ready for il