Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1896-04-10
A SPARROW HUNT.
Eight Thousand Birds Killed In
Ono Afternoon.
Ohio Farmers Get Together Every Year
and Devote q Day to the Exter-
mination Of the Little Eng
lish Pests.

and Devote Day to the Exter-
mination Of the Little Eng
lish Pests.
The annual sparrow hunt is a big
event in several Ohio counties. 1t seems
to have originated in Summit county,
and to this day the hunt is conducted
on a more elaborate scale in that part
of the state than anywhere else. Only
English sparrows are shot, and no mat
ter how many are killed like Koko's
victims, "they never will be missed"
Early in the month of December the
farmers, having got everything stored
away neatly and safely, having pro
vided plenty of wood and having
boarded up the cattle sheds for the
winter, decided that it was about time
to go on the warpath for spaIrows. A
notice was posted up next day at Rich
field Center to this effect:
"The annual sparrow hunt will be
held tomorrow. All are invited. Please
be on hand not later than eight o'clock
a. H., lothian Potter and Cyrus Hop
kins will be captains of the two teams,
respectively, and will choose sides at
7:45 a. M"
On the following morning nearly 100
men were ready for the hunt. It
doesn't take long to circulate such an
announcement in a farming commune
~ in Ohio. Especially is this true dur
ing the winter season. when there is
nothing that the younger people like
better than to visit around.
When the hunters came together it
was noticeable that nearly all of them
carried guns of modern make. Very
fey old-pattern pieces were shouldered
by the stalwart sons of the county. and
the army musket, which was so con.
spicuous Immediately after the war,
was no longer noticeable. city folk
hez done it ALL" croaked Elder Paine.
They've come out here n shot quail
with brieh leaders n now nuthin' will
do but that ev'ry boy in the neighbor
hood must be armed with a new-fangled
gun with more'n a hull summers
work"
As soon as the contestants could be
placed in line the captains chose their |
men. 1t didn't take long to do that, for
Il doesn't require much skill to shoot |
tllatanyone can get close enough to pop |
them over as fast as he can sight his /
gun. The hunters with the guns that
san be operated with the most speed |
are almost certain to be those to make
the largest scores.
One side went up the valley and the
other side went down, the agreement
being to hunt in circle and come to-
gether again at the center at a stipu
lated time in the afternoon, all sparrows
10 count up to the time that the con-
testants should report to the score
keeper at the center.
In five minutes from the time that the
men started on their way the guns
began to bang. All up and down the
valley during the entire afternoon the
reports filed the air until the inhab-
itants might have been excused for be
lieving that a war skirmish was going
on in the neighborhood The spar
rows never had been thicker. In fact.
they had been so thick during the sum-
mer months that they threatened to
eat the farmers out of house and home
One peculiar fact about shooting spar
p I
to brighten them only temporarily
They rapidly become accustomed to
the report, as they do to everything
else. They are the most complacent
little upstairs that ever immigrated into
the country. On Fourth of July the
same characteristic is noticeable. In
early morning, when the first few fire }
or miniature torpedoes are dis
the sparrows will fly away
to the tOpmost branches of the trees
Or to the caves of the barns and houses,
where they build nests, but before
lightfall they are back again on the
streets as clipper as ever, and only 7
mind a frecracker long enough to fly s
! few feet away and sputter like the
when it bursts. So it is ;
when hunting. This first discharge OF Il
early in the morning sent o
he sparrows away to their safest re- Y,
reats, but by noon, between hunger q
md the fact that they no longer II
readed the noise, they were out on Is
he roads, in the fields, about barnyards W
nd stealing the grain away from the II
as though they never had "
ieard a shotgun. n
As the sun began to sink III the west
he pile of sparrows began to accumu. 81
ate. Some Of the hunters were lucky, Oh
nd shot themselves out of ammunition ID
efore they had been out two hours. II
others were not so fortunate. and 10
traggled in just as daylight was about %
nished. 1t has been one of the best pl
avs that the sparrow hunters ever had.
n round numbers 5000 birds were w
aughtered. That averaged about so nc
, n man. Stretched "bill to tail" as "
armer Garretson put it, "them birds L 1,
ould have reached nigh seven miles, IN
lowing five inches for a bird" The Ut
ext morning, however, there seemed WI
} be just as many sparrOws in and 70
bout Richfeld Center as ever. AZ
lothian Potter's side killed the most 'u
and therefore Cyrus Hop go
MS side win have 10 provide a first .l
ass supper for winners and losers, I've
ith plenty of Summit county trim Si'