Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1896-03-18
LEW WAKLAcE's STORY.
The BIackbirds Knew Where His Fence
Was,

Inc DldCkplruS kneW Wnere tbs renee
Was.
General Lew Wallace yesterday re-
lated an incident which shows to re-
markable extent the wonderful saga
city and memory Of blackbirds.
"At my home over in Crawfords-
ville," said the General, "we have
large number of tall trees on the lawn,
and. in course Of time these trees be-
of the year for hundreds Of thousands
Of blackbirds. They came in great
black clouds, and in spite Of all that I
could do they refused to leave. OF
course, they were great nuisance, and
I was in despair as to some means OF
getting clear of them. I stood for two
days with my gun firing into them Of
an evening and killing hundreds of
them, but the rest did not seem to be
sufficiently struck by fear or grief to
want to part company with me and my
hospitality. L then devised q new
scheme.
procuring a number Of Roman cam
dies one evening, I lighted them one
by one after dark, when the boughs
of the trees bent low with the weight
Of the croaking birds, and 1 poured the
candles into the tops Of the trees at
great rate. The sudden innovation
startled the birds as nothing had ever
done before, and they became panic
stricken. That night I was free Of
them.
"The next evening, however, the
habit Of returning there to roost was
stronger than fear, and they began
coming in by thousands as the evening
approached. After dark began with
another volley Of candles, and the
birds began to realize that there was
determined bombardment in progress.
They fed pracipitately, and che third
evening only few returned. A few
last shots put them to flight, and I was
troubled no more.
"But what do you think those birds
did? My dividing fence runs between
the trees on my property and the trees
on the property Of my neighbor, which
are equally high and equally suitable
for home for the blackbirds. When
the birds were driven from my lots
they flew over across the dividing
fence to the trees of my neighbor and
settled. There was no bombardment
over there, and they have stayed there
ever since.
.'This was q long time ago, but never
since the last Roman candle was fired
into them has one Of those birds set
tied on one Of my trees. They are
tabooed' as elfectually as though they
were on fire. The great clouds of birds
each morning and evening fly directly
over my trees going and coming, bui
not bird settles upon tree that is oil
my side of the dividing fence.
Another strange thing is that if any
one of an evening stands in my lawn
and makes slight noise, as slapping
his hands, there will be the widest
commotion among the birds in the
neighborjng trees. They become rest
less and almost panic-stricken. II,
however, the same person crosses tho
fence and stands directly under them
and makes twice as much noise they
pay no attention whatever to him. He
can even shoot up into them without
driving them from their perches.
II have wondered several times just
what impression these birds have of
me and my property that they have so
decidedly given me the cold shoulder.
They know every tree that is on my
lawn, and will settle within few feet
of the dividing line. or course, [ have
not bothered them over there, as they
were not my guests