The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1894-04-07

Tales 81 AsviIins Struggles and Die.
eomfltuvss in Indiana

"The Indiana eagles are on the
rampage again" said George Blosh-
field OF Wayne County, and they
seem Ia, haye taken particular fancy
this time TO small boys. II isn't 80
long ago since the Sun printed the
story about the big Vermilion Coun-
ty eagle that swooped down on
flock Of geese i'm farmers door-yard,
confidently expecting that it would
be no Job at all TO soar back with u
fat goose for dinner, and was almost
knocked silly with surprise when the
whole flock pitched into him with
vim that compelled him TO do some
Of the liveliest fighting he had ever
run up against; and even then, after
licking every one OF the geese, the
eagle failed to get one OF them for his
dinner because the farmers daughter
came out and went at him with
fence rail and dog and laid him so
low that he never got any higher than
the farmers mantelpiece, and then
only IA stuffed eagle.
That story was all right, but indi-
rectly it gave out the idea, somehow,
that all the eagles in Indiana were in
Vermilion County. Not by long
shot! Old SCOTS all right when it
comes to eagles Vermiion County
may have few more eagles than
Scott County, but it takes two or
three Vermilion County eagles to
size up with one Of SCOTS. Mrs.
Farmer Richards can tell you that.
She lived in Vermlion County when
she was girl, and once killed an
eagle there that came down and
tackled turkey gobbler in her fa-
ther' barnyard. She killed it with
fail with which she was threshing
out oats in the barn. That eagle
measured six feet and little over
from tip to tip. II was considered u
fair average Vermilion County eagle.
Mrs. Farmer Richards now lives in
Scott County. Some time ago, when
the weather was warm Mrs. Richards
was out i'm the yard boiling soap. Her
3-year-old boy was playing about the
yard. Suddenly shadow like that
OF IA passing cloud came over the
yard, and Mrs. Richards heard u
scream. She looked up and saw a
heap Of feathers a big aS if one OF
her biggest feather beds had been
dumped down there, but from the
top Of it rose the head, and from the
bottom Of it were thrust the feet Of
an eagle The feet were clutched in
the clothes Of Mrs. Rickard : 3-year-
old boy, who was kicking and squirm-
ing and yelling to beat the band. Mrs.
Richards had n large ladle in her
hand. She dipped it in the kettle OF
soap, filled it with the boiling stuff,
and sprinted across the yard only too
quick. The eagle had got his hooks
in on the boy all right by this time,
and was rising easily with the young
ster. But he had tarried too long.
Mrs. Richards dumped the ladle Of
boiling soap on the top Of his head,
and the hot stuff ran down and filled
his eyes and nostrils jam full. The
eagle dropped that boy as if he had
been hotter than the soap, and began
doing some of the livelieSt ground and
lofty tumbling around that yard that
was ever seen. The soap hadn t only
blinded him; it was getting in its
little alkali work on those sensitive
organs in Il way that simply crazed.
Mrs. Rickards grabbed her boy
and ran with him into the house.
Then she got her husbands old army
and ran back to use it on the
eagle, which was still pirouetting
around the yard like rooster with
its head Off. The gun wouldn't 30 of,
so Mrs. Richards clubbed it and
pounded that blinded and crazed
eagle over the head until he was glad
to die. He was undoubtedly u
patriarch of the sky, for every feather
on him was n gray rs the lichen on
glacial rocks and he measured seven
feet from tip TO tip!
These are all the returns that
were in when | left home, but | ex-
pect later news of Indiana eagles
when get back; for they are on one
of their periodical rampages. - New