West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1892-07-07
ouLls ANo poReolses.
Funny Pets OF Deck H.pd That Follow
"A shin Arouud.

]
a ship Around.
II read n good deal" said deck
J hand on the Piedmont fcIryooat as Il
/ pulled out from the slip 70 a San Fran
cisco Chronicle reporter, about the in
| teiligcnce of animals and birds. The
eastern and English papers arc full OF
the topic, but no san Francisco report
or dcvotes any time TO such subjects.
Now you have Prof. Garner ready 20
proceed 20 tho Guinea coast 70 take
down on the phonograph the hare
Tipped eloquence OF n lot Of chattcrin,-
monkeys add goriiles, while here at
home some of Che most talented mon Of
tho dailics o6stinatoly refuse To make
themselves familiar with the acute in
tellect of the humber friends That they
meet every day.
~ on sec those scven gulls sitting on
the piles Of the slip? They arc tho con-
st2nt companions Of the Piedmont, and
follow her every trip from the city 70
Oakland and back again. know every
one Of them and every chick OF them
knows me. have not cultivated their
acquaintance more extensively than 10
provide them daily with . few little
fishes that my son catches ut tho Oak
- NJ.
There is one particular ono there. Do
you see him-that one with few blacl,
spots near the tip of his wings? Wen.
he is more confident than an old poll
parrot. can call him, and hc will lust
plunge toward my hand and pick from
between my fingers anything | have
there, although fish Is what he prefers.
You doubt me? Well. now will show
| a. fDlt 4 =,
Putting his hand into hi, pocket the
deck hand pulled out a small. withercd
perch and called: "Diclscv! Dic!leyl"
immediately the gall, which had been
lowering over the heads of those pres
emit swoopcI down upon the extended
palm of the sailor, delicatcly extracted
the perch from between his thumb and
forc.ingcr and flew away with the
prize SERGE hing p:oans of pleasure as
he went up into the air.
The deck hand, clated at the success
of his demonstration, again asserted
mat ''Dickcy" had more sense than IA
horse and that all the Picdla>nt gals
would bc as smart rs his pet had he
but time to improve their mcntal capac-
tiles.
but" added the man, sit is hard for
me TO train them, because my time Is
fully occupied during my watch look
ing after the lower deck and were the
captain u discover that haze leisure
to fool with these gulls, why, my name
would be md. Therefore, please don't
give me away"
In fcw moments the deck hand was
prepared for another ocular demon
l.. ..-etion, this time on the intellect of
fishes.
Il have also studied porpoiscs," said
the sage, and they arc rs cunning as
possums Now, among ny iinny friends
there ia q porpoise that | christcncd
Johnny and whenever / call him he
shows up and | hand him Il fish. lie
watches tie Piedmont and myself from
morning t. night, but he turns up more
regularly at lunch hours. I will sum
mon him nowy'
The deck hand called "Johnny!" in n
loud voice, when Immediately, right
under the bow of the boat. up jumped
Il big porpoisc. The de.ll hand threw
another perch into the bay ,nl the por-
poise waved his back fur VITA q pleas
ant shake, kind of ''pour preadrc
congo" wrigglc and disappeared. Eyery-
one was dumfoundcd at the apparent
magic, bat the deck hand explained l.
with largh that was echoed by ali
present. He said that the porpoisc had
not really answered his call, bat be-
ing so used to their movements he knew
exactly where it would show mp after
he had once seen it coming TO the sur
face, and nc had so timed himself, while
keeping his audience interested, as 70
bring about the climax when he was
ready for 1t.