Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1893-08-07
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF
EVERYDAY LIFE.

EVERYDAY LIFE.
Queer Facts and Thrilling Adven-
lures Which Show That Truth is
Stranger Than Fiction.
A wRECKING gang on the Delaware
division of the Erie Railway were clear,
ing up wreck at Nobody's Block, not
far from Cochecton, N. Y, when their
attention was called to curious, shrill
cooling sound which came ut short and
regular intervals from corntield direct.
ly across the Delaware River, in Wayne
County, Pa. They made an investiya-
ton, and found that the sound emanated
from the children of German farmer,
who had been stationed around his corn
field to scare away the crows from pull
ing up the young and tender shoots of
corn. The farmer had been unusually
well blessed with progeny, his wife nav.
ing borne him no less than twelve chill
dren, including four pairs of twins, He
had been yearly bothered with crows
in corn planting time. He had
adopted all the scarecrow devices
IA NVuiuioh uSuSC SllCu us
placing stuffed straw men in the fields,
stringing Irvine over poles with bits of
white rags tluttcring in the wind, etc. but
the crows had become used to these
things, and, crow-like, would post their
sentinels on lofty tree tops to give warn
ing of danger while their companions
were at work uncovering the hills.
A happy thought struck the farmer by
which he could protect his corn and util-
ize his several offspring. Aiming two of
them with old tinpans each day, he placed
them in the field at four o'clock in the
morning and told them to call out Goo!
coow and pound their pans whenever
they saw any crows dying near. When
the children became tired the father re
placed them with two others, and thus bv
successive relays the crows were kept
away. This process was repeated each
day until the corn was of a size sufficient
to protect itself. 1t was this strange
noise, kept up all day long, from early
morn till eve, that made the Erie wreck
ers marvel. 1t is said that this is the
second year in which the Wayne county
living scarecrows.
l WITNESSED strange duel in Argen-
tine, writes correspondent. Two
ranchers were enamored of the same
dark eyed senorita. Now, when your
South American is hit by the blind
archer, he is hit hard. He is not salts.
fed to visit his charmcr one evening in
the week and give up the rest of the time
to his rivals. If he catches another adj
mirer hanging about the house of his in
amorata, there is apt to be trouble. The
two signing SWANS in question had
agreed to settle by duel with the lasso
which should wed the damsel A hun
dred piratical- looking COW punchers as
sembled to witness the fray. The rivals
appeared on two nettlesome mustangs,
each with long powerful lariat OF
tough bull-hide. They were both ex-
pe-ts with the lasso, and their horscman
ship was a marvel. They approached to
within forty or fifty yards of each other,
then began to mannuvrc for a deciding
cast. After several feints the lariat OF
the younger of the rivals went whizzng
through the air so swiftly that the eye
could scarcely follow it. The otheri sank
his spurs into his mustang. The animal
shot forward just in time to save his
master from the deadly moose, and as he
did so, the second lasso rose into the air
and settled round the shoulders of the
man who missed, pinning his arms to his
side us in wise. He was ierked head
long out of his saddle. His successful
rival drew him along. hand over hand,
half-lifted him from the ground by the
tenacious thong, and put O bullet square
ly between his eyes. He then turned and
rode directly to the hacienda, where
lived the cause of this barbaric scene.
She mounted behind him, and he came
galloping back, swinging his sombrero.
LIGHTNING played queer trick the
other day out in Montana. A bolt fell
on farmer working in field on his
ranch near Augusta and besides killing
him played havoc with the metal that he
carried in his clothes. The current
struck his silver watch, burned hole
through the edge near the case spring,
ana passed on entirely through the watch
between the outer and inner cases, and
made its exit near the STEM A match
could be inserted in the hole. When the
body was found the watch had stopped,
but when it was taken from the pocket
it started ticking again, and has been
keeping excellent time since. The
blades of the dead mans knife were
welded together, and the brass ends were
melted.
AMONG the strange things that strike
the eye in Vancouver city is a boat-col-
ony. 1t occupies strip of beach back
of the town on the saltwater farm" or
ford, and consists of twenty or thirty
little floats, few of them over forty feet
long, that are built over and supplied
with beds and cooking utensils. Some
of them are occupied by laborcrs, but
the disappearing ones, that are put to-
gether with a good deal of art and are
really handsome pieces of woodworking,