The herald., 1897-02-14
: TALKS WITH TRAVELLERS :
n 4
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II believe that there are in Los Ange-
les today" observed Charles w. Kester
at the Hollenbeck last evening, five of
the most intelligent pigeons in the United
States. To most people pigeons are at
the best mere ornaments, and by major
ity Of mankind are regarded as a posi-
tive nuisance, doing injury to gardens
that belong to unfortunate neighbrs.
remember a case, however, where a
couple of pigeons were instrumental in
identifying a man and enabling his fam
lily to be with him in his last hours. 1t
was in railroad wreck in Northern
ONO. No passengers were killed, but
man who was on the platform where
the accident happened was so badly
crushed as to preclude all hope of his
recovery. No one seemed to know the
man, and indeed he was so disfigured
that it was hard to recognize him, but
a bystander noticed that a basket which
had been knocked out of his hands was
covered with netting, and contained two
carrier pigeons. Thinking that the man
had intended to give these to some pas
sengcr on the train with the request that
they be liberated at a certain point.a
message was written in duplicate with
an urgent summons to the depot, and
was tied to each of the pigeons necks.
The birds were liberated at once and
flew away, and three hours later a
wagon drove up containing the wife and
son of the dying man. The pigeons had
flown straight home, distance of fif-
teen miles, and had been seen by the
inmates of the house trying to force their
way into the loft
ut amuses me to see the variety of
ways in which people eat oranges"
said r. L. Lusk, a recent arrival from
Minneapolis. to Herald reporter yes
terday. zone breakfast at a hotel like
the Van Nuys will introduce to you
every phase of the orange eating in
dustry. Some spoil their oranges by
sprinkling pulverized sugar upon them
and then scoeping the pulp with spoon.
Some peel the orange and eat it slice by
slice out of the hand. Some cut it into
squares or eights and squeeze the juice
out of the section, while other simply
make round opening and suck the
juice of the fruit. Many people refuse
know which is the proper way to eat
them. and there is nothing that an
awkward person can appear more
ridiculous at than In eating an orange
I think it is safe to follow the theory
that nothing but the knife should be
applied to fruit, and that any way of
eating it gracefully from the hand is all
right. Certainly I think the spoon
method is silly--almost as idiotic as
sticking fork through the hard middle
fiber and eating the luscious sphere
away until nothing is left but the
flbrous core at its center. I imagine
that the people who take hold of an
orange, halve 1t and halve it again. and
then swallow everything except the
seeds and skin, and don't care a hang
who's looking, get most enjoyment out
Of the fruit
"They had a great laugh on me when
l first came to California" remarked
Captain Phil Enger to a crowd of travel
ing men at the Nadeau lastnight. "You
know 1T never rains in San Francisco
curing the summer months, but those
heavy fogs, which ofttimes roll
high, and the heavy, leaden sky would
soon lead an easterner to believe that a
heavy rain was coming, when In fact it
is cold bluff. I got up one such
morning, felt sure il was about to rain.
and bought a fine silk umbrella. or
course I was the only man in town
carrying one. Several of my friends
guyed me; said they had no small
change, and wanted to know whether
Ia lend them enough TO keep from be-
ing caught in the rain. Of course I
supposed they wanted to buy umbrel-
las. l did not tumble until they had
spent considerable of my money with
the crowd, and then they gave me what
l believe they called the California
horse laueh "