The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1897-04-22
THE FlSHERMAN'S PET CROW
A Bird That Went to Church, Though Not
to Service. Every Sunday.

A Bird That Went to Church, Though Not
to Service, Every Sunday.
You will find pet crows along
shore, said a fisherman, ''just as
you might anywhere else. l knew
a fisherman once that had one he
got out of its nest when it was little
and brought up in his home. He
never clipped its wings, and it used
to go out and be gone maybe for
hours, perhaps for days, but it knew
where it could get warm and where
the best things to eat were, and it
always came back. If any of the
family saw it coming, they would
let it in; if they didn't see it the
crow would sit on the railing by the
door and cav to be let in, and if
nobody heard the cawing, it would
peck at the door with its beak. 1t
used to sleep in the house and was
on friendly terms with the whole
household The name of the crow S
owner was William; his friends
used to call him Bill When meal
time came, the crow would perch on
the back of Bills chair, and every
now and then Bill would reach up
over his shoulder something nice
for the crow to eat.
Every Sunday morning the crow
used to go to church, and it never
used to go any other time. 1t knew
the sexton. The sexton was fisher
man, too, like everybody along the
beach, and he was superintendent
of the Sunday school and big man
in the church generally. The crow
used to go over to the church and
sit on the doorstep Sunday morning
and wait for the sexton to come, and
when he did come and open the
door the crow would go in with
him. The church was heated by
big stove, and while the sexton was
building the fire the crow would sit
on the back of a@pew close by and
look on. Sometimes, when the sex
ton was working away over the
stove, the crow would hitch along
on the pew rail and cav to him, and
sometimes the sexton would turn
around and smile at the crow and
maybe say something friendly, and
then the crow would perk it's head
over on one side and cav and cav,
and then the sexton would smile
again and go on building the fire.
He would put in a section of old
tarred netting to start the fire with,
something that every fisherman
uses if he has got it, and the best
thing in the world to start a fire
with. and then he would build up
the fire and light it, and when it
had got well a-going and he had
made everything snug he would
leave the church until it was pretty
near time for the service to begin,
and when he went the crow would
90 with him. think the crow would
sometimes have staid in the church,
but Of course that wouldn't do, and
when the sexton was ready he would
call the crow and the crow would
follow him out, and they would sep
arate where they had met, on the
steps of the church. The sexton lived
about half mile away in one direc-
ton, and the crow lived close by in
the other, and when the sexton had
gone the crow would go over to its
home and peck on the door, and they
would let him in.
Everybody around knew this
crow, and nobody ever molested it.
The crow itself took chances. Some
times it focked with other crows
and then it was in danger of being
shot, but nobody ever shot at it when
it was alone. When they saw it fly
by, they said:
There goes Bills crow. New
York Sum-