The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1895-01-12
LINN MASSON'S HEN
A REMARKABLE HEN THAT DIED
HAPPY.
o1 Wond"rfu1 Longevity, Though Her
Memory Was Her Masterpiece-SheH Had
No Faith In Chickens That Would Not
Swfm-Ducking Them.

years ago she was s'set" for the first
time, and on duck eggs. She
hatched a nice brood, of which she
was exceedingly proud, says the Chi
cago Times. The Mason farm and
vineyard are in the town of Palteney,
Mich, overlooking Lake Keuka
When the ducklings were few days
old the young hen mother wandered
with them toward the lake. The
duckllngs no sooner came in sight of
the water than they toddled toward
it, unmindful of the calls of their
mother or her great distress and ag-
itation
They plunged into the water and
went at once to the full enjoyment of
their natural element. The hen ran
up and down along the shore, calling
franticallY to her brood and mani
testing her distress in many ways.
But the ducklings paid no 'atten tion
to her and sported their fluffy little
selves about in the water. By and
by. seeing that no harm came to her
tender brood from their contact with
the (to her) dangerous water, the
hen quieted down and it was not
long before she seemed to be e;sicy-
ing the antics Of the ducklings in
the lake as much as they were them
selves.
She watched them intently, oc-
casionally uttering low and con-
tented clucks, until at last the duck
llngs were contented with their
sport and came out and rejoined
their guardian, who led them back
home again. Every day after that
the hen took her brood to the lake
bright and early and stood by and
watched them sporting in the water
with as plain evidence of enjoyment
in the scene as actions could give.
She continued to take daily pleasure
in watching the young ducks in the
lake until they grew out of her care,
and even then she occasionally
strolled down to the water and
watched them for an hour or so as
they Swan and dived
The next spring the hen was set
on eggs of her own kind and Matched
fine brood Of chickens. The first
thing she did when she got around
with her new family was to head it
down to the lake. She seemed to
be surprised when they showed no
inclination to enter the water, and
tried all her henly powers of per-
5uasion on them to induce them to
go in. Failing in that, she present.
)y picked up one Of the chicks in her
bill and dropped the plain lively pro-
testing little thing into the lake.
She stood and watched the struggle
OF the chick until it drowned. This
seemed to amaze the hen, but she
picked up another one of her brood
and dropped that into the water.
1t, of course, struggled and drown.
ed, as the first one had Such
perverseness amazed the hen, and
she grabbed a third chick and
tossed it in, then another, and had
evidently determined to tumble the
whole undutiful brood into the lake,
when the owner of the hen, who had
been witness of the incident, ran
to the rescue and drove the angry
mother with the remainder of her
family back to the house and shut
her up.
Every year after that the hen
Matched a brood of chickens until
this year, and every one of them she
had taken to the lake as soon as she
could get there with them and tried
to induce them to enter the water
and, failing every time, exhibited
the same rage and made the same
effort to force them in. The recol-
lection OF that first brood of duck
lings seemed to be a sweet one to
her. and her disappointment over
failing to have it realized again,
from what she evidently supposed
was contrariness on the part of her
subsequent broods, seemed to be so
great that her rage always overcame
her maternal love. She had to be
watched SO that her chicks might be
rescued in time It would seem that
a hen that could recoliect so well
should have been able to discover
the difference between ducks and
chickens, but she never did.
Last spring the hen, grown old and
somewhat infirm, did not show her
customary inclination TO set, and she
was regarded as a worthy pensloner
and had the run of the place. Late
in the summer, though, to every
body's surprise, she was seized with
all the symptoms of the setting hen,
and would not be put off. 1t hap
pened that there were half dozen
duck eggs in the house and the con-
trary old hen was set to hatch them.
She did in due course, and promptly
marched with the brood to the lake,
as had been her won't for nine years.
The ducklings. of course, pumped
into the water without moments
hesitation. The old hens delight at
this is said to have been indescriba-
BILE. What she had been pining
about for years had come to pass and