The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1894-04-06

JWS~SF></>>/ ~, been rich man
years years ago r., said ! /,
hadn't been for Bob Jones parrot"
..Why, what on earth did the parrot
do ~ the lnine?'
.po to the mine? oh. nothing:
nothing whatever 1t only ruined it.
that was ALL
..Runed the mine
.Yc, il dd-as far Us was con-
cerncd, nj any rate
'.But how was that?"
well, I'll tell you Bob and had
been out prospecting. and landed on II
really good thing. and Bob went home
"a England to get up a syndicate 10
work the reef He had some friends OF
the right sort men with money, and
the pluck 10 back "A good tip when they
GOT one. Well, he came back in three
months with the money to start with,
and we very soon got TO work, ard IL
looked a moral certainty that AT the
END ola year or 50 we should be able To
sell theGslt Edge al asw inging figure to
company. But we reckoned without
BObs bcastly parrot For when Bob
vent home ne had heard song at some
music hall or other. 1t was all the rage
then, with Ta-ra-ra- beom-de-a for "A
chorus. An idiotic thing anyhow. bu:
il was catchy. and Bob and |. in our good
spirits. were perpetually at it. All day
long i. was Ta-ra-ra this and Ta--a-ra
that and rs Bob had shown me how a
woman in London. Lottic something,
remember. sang IL, we were always
high-kic<ing and trying 10 wipe the
ground with our back hair.
eve were a couple of young fools.
70 doubt. but it did no harm. ] dare
sav we should have got sick Of it in
time. But Bob had caught "A young
parrot. the bush AL round was simply
So arming with them. and he taught 1t
the mir Of Ta-ra-ra, and IL was funny
enough when we we're in iuch's way
anl everything looked rosy, % hear the
blsa whistling il. for 10 give the devil
his due il used sometimes 70 chime in
VIII il. when Bob and / were talking.
in lac ncatest way in the world. But
one day the parrot was missing 1t had
bitten through bar of its cage. made
gone We were sorry at the time, re-
member, and we put the cage outside
our hut with Lotto. sugar and stuff
all about IL, u the hope of the parrots
coming back. II we had only shot il.
But one day as we were going across
e. the mine We suddenly heard the
wcll-Anown refrain from the top Of
gum We stopped dead. and while
STAYED to watch the parrot move
mtuis. Lob ran back for the cage. which
We put on bit Of open ground a.
terlptingly AZ we could. and then stood
III. a good way off. 10 watch results
While We were waiting. We Were as
tuni>hed to hear Tara boom from
another tree behind u. and i'm mediate
IN afterwards Ia ra-ra- boom from an
other direction. and then the truth
flashed on us. Bobs parrot had been
teaching all the Others Ta-ra-ra-boon-
decay, And 50 il was There WAS not
bifl in the bush that did not know 1t.
anal there We're thousands Of them. We
laughed at first, SO did the men al the
NINE There wcr.. twelve OF them, all
VERY decent, we'll behaved fellows. But
the parrots kept on al 1t. All the morn
ir- Then they Stacked off about noon,
when they generally have sleep. and
commenced again about four, and went
On till it was dark. BY bedtime we lad
got tired OF the joke. The fun had all
petered ont Of the thing.
ny daybreaiS next morning the
binds were at ii again, and all the time
that we We're getting breakfast ready
and eating it the wretchcd brutes kept
steadily on. Ta-ra-ra. boom. To add
70 the transportation Of il not one in a
hundred ever finished the line. but
prnse Off at the boom Converse
ton was inpossib le with this mono
onous obligato OF Ia-ra-ras going on.
aaa even sitting still 10 breakfast
seemed difficult We were all very
snort tempered 10y the time the meal
was finished. aud as we went ont of the
INT ! saw Bob take up his qua We
got to work. hut it was just awful.
ieli you. trying TO do anything with
those parrots ali about. II they had
al talked at once il wouldn't have
been 50 bad, or il they had kept on
talking withou. any stoppages. But
irregular intervals. and from all sorts
o unexpected directions one would
whistle it out loud. the next would
crop is voice TO q con :ideniial whis-
Per- the third one whcezcd ont the
word, as if il had asthma. the fourth
would put it as "a question in a rollck-
lhg. ocular way. II was fairly mad
orning trying to do anything with
parrots saying sa-ra.ra-b boom at inter
'ais Of minute on all sides Of you. |
could see the men pansing in their
work in suspense, waiting for the next
ia-~a-ra to CONF, and as for attempt
4n2 W talk. IL Was out Of the question.
!, y You opened your mouth 10 speak
ra-boom a parrot overhead would
an ont, and when you got your an
'Mtr You had to take another Ta-ra-ra
mixed up with IT, Bob was giving
ephe directions To one OF the men
aVoN here, 80 and SO. ! expect the
'a-ra'ra-boom) up here to day, and
you must have that bucket-ropc in or
Ne'' Tor II he sees 1t ~ il Is he will ~