The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-07-08

graphs, but as many readers doubtless
know, fishing dogs are not unknown l
well remember one in particular that did
this duty daily throughout portion OF
the year ut Il weir near Colwyn in North
Wales. The fish swan up and were left
in the weir when the tide rececded; the
dog would then look for them, and when
he saw one, leap into the water, and
catching hold of it bring it to land; more
over, he was so expert and delicate in his
proceedings | was about to write manip-
ulations, but that would not do, and the
word dent puiation' is not recognized
that he never injured scale Many vis-
performance.
AN INDUSTRIOUS YELLOWHAM-
MER.
From the Portland Oregonan: William
r. O'Neill, of the Pacific vinegar factory,
noticed Il yellowhammer industriously at
work one day recently on the siding of
the factory building. Mr.. O'Neill watch
ed the bird for some time, and inside of
an hour it had cut round hole two or
three inches in diameter through the inch
planking. Mr.. O'Neill is not n mean
man, and if the bird cared to make its
home in his vinegar factory, why it was
all right. Next day he noticed that the
yellowhammer was engaged on another
hole. It's for a back door, thought
the owner of the building But after it
had finished the back door it cheerfully
went to work on the other holes, probably
for windows. BY the time there were
| fifteen holes in the side of the factory Mr.
O'Neill concluded that the yellowhammer
| was taking liberties with his property.
| So he obtained permission from the chief
of police to shoot it. For whole day
the Office boy and Mr. O'Neill's brother
banged away without phasing the little
| bird, and it was finally necessary To en-
| ploy an expert to bring it down. The
| marksman charged 30 cents for his serv-
| ices, and Mr.. O'Nell lost the best part of
a day mailing boards over the holes in the
| planking.
THE. BASILISK
From the Philadelphia Times: The
| basilisk is ii lizard common to South
| America. The name, basilisk, II liking, s"
was given it because of the fanciful re
semblance of it's pointed occiptal crest
| to a royal crown. 1t is from twenty five
| to thirty inches i'll length, including it's
tail, which is much longer than its body.
| 1t is of "A cinerous brown color and is dis
| tinguished by broad winglike expansion
rising from the occiput and inclined
backwards, and furnished at certain dis
| tances with the intervenient radii analog-
! Gus TO those in the wings of the flying
| lizard.
| Although it is formidable in appear
ance it is harmless creature that feeds
on insects and leads quiet sylvan life
| Yet the ancients considered the basilisk
"a monster to be greatly dreaded Ac-
cording to popular opinion its breath
filled the air with a deadly poison and
burned up vegetation, and the glance Of
its eye was fatal to both man and beast.
by ancient and medieval writer's it is
frequently called 'cockatrice, and the
king of dragons" 1t was believed to
stand in great awe of the cock, and it was
said that the cock was the only creature
that could face ii ana liye. Therefore
travellers were advised to carry loud
growing cocks with them to brighten
away the basilisk, should one happen to
be even in hearing distance of them.
SEASICK ANIMALS.
From the New York Sun: Human
beings are not the only ones who suffer
from seasickness by any means one
| hears good deal about pangs that fill
men and women with woe, but little is
| said about the menageries that are
brought to America every year, or carried
hither and yon on wavet tossed boats
Lions and tigers may he majestic when
they have unwavering earth or rock
| against their paws, but seasick cat of
this tribe is as foriorn as any man ever
was, and doesn't look bit more kinply
| than wet rabbit. Even its roars and