Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-04-18

teachers ticket on the electrician line"
Thus did the Earth. after the manner
of all her kind (who are of the earth
earthly sollloquizo and philosophi2e,
magnifying thousandfold her own
good qualities and minimizing those OF
her rivals until they were no larger than
microscopic bacilli.
And hereupon an April shower fell,
and the face OF Earth was moistened.
and in saddened tones she said, my
name Is mud" Then she resumed her
revolution act.
When the rain came the Cochin-China
rooster cone OF Earth's most distln-
gnished vermin). with a gallantry totally
inconsistent with his bedraggled tall
feathers. kindly invited the pullets and
middle-aged hens into the cowshed. Il
wot not" quoth ne. as he scooped up
grubworm in his debonair way ana
seifshly swallowed the same, why the
pluviai substance seeth IT. at this I'M
seemly hour. TO saturatc our munuahe
sphere. | would fain see less or the
watery element, and fear me lest our
habirments be uncouth on we Easter
morn" Whereupon he assembled a wneei-
barrow which conveyance IL known
among the ancients as the lrNh
phaeton."
"Come of your perch with that Erse
dialect and give us the Milwaukee negro
taIx imprudently suggested a gosling
of the vintage OF 1896. III was
0ne dav for ducks. There are some
things 100 insignificant for notice and
I'm the Cochin-China ROSTERS opinion,
this gosimg was one.
."To reiterate the expression OF my ap-
prehensions" resumed the oriental
cock 81 fear me lest the equinoctial
rains will blight our Easter attire. For
my part, ] care not a barbee, but twin
be a grievous hardship 10 you puliets
You've been mouting these four weeks
and this whole season has been
chaos OF fuss and feathers TO me.
rooster must needs have his fun share
OF patience to bear with your picayune
feminine traits"
Whereupon he vulgarly picked the teeth
OF his comb.
"All that buster OF yours is popocock'
holly retorted a nature-looklng hen VINO
had reached the age Of discretion, and
was too old to hope TO curry favor with
the rooster. you ROSTERS have been
talking that way ever since Eve realized
her mortal weakness in the Garden OF
Eden. when she attempted to throw
stones at the hen I'm the mirt-bed. On
Easter you'll seek to hide your own
conceit by parading our vanity. If it
weren't for us hens there wouldn't be
such a holiday. Who lays the Easter
eggs? Is il you ROSTERS or us hens|"
The rooster, who had always been
excessively sore on this point, conceded
that his sex has never achieved much on
that line but he added:
1T is to that ignorant Simian brute
called man that the Easter egg owes its
celebrity, for tits he who coloreth the
same and giveth the richness of hue.
No hen has ever laid a colored egg-no,
not even our sisters of the Black Spanish
tribe" Whereupon several giddy pullets
not yet of the age of discretion, cackled
i'm appreciation.
mo rooster has ever achieved the first
step in that direction" persisted the
mature-looking hen, who saw that she
had good point, and was disposed TO
push IT, "In fact. you ROSTERS don't cut
any figure. anyhow. except at election
times. when your pictures are published
i'm the newspapers. And who matches
the eggs when we have laid them? Who
does the setting|'
IF you mean 10 ask me who does the
sitting" responded the cock, with a
chuckle of delight at having caught his
antagonist in a mistake. II am forced
TO say that It's your sex, though the
representatives of higher gallinaceous
circles now place this responsibility en-
tirely upon incubators. | myself have
800 sons and ten score daughters who
were Matched by steam And there are
others"
Don't take a census of the Juvenile
fowls untM the period OF incubation is
fully accomplished" suggested the saucy
gosling. land remember. above all things,
that IL was goose that laid the golden
egg"
At this point loud noises were heard.
and the fowls saw a strange thing called
a carriage hurrying down the road, and
I'm it were seated three noisy. cackling
animals. known as women. They were
clucking boisterously. and one was say
ing. Matilda. / think the pink flowers
will suit it better" but the other argued
strenuously in favor of blue forget-me-
nots.
They're only people" patronizingly
explained the Cochin-China rooster. land
hen people at that The noise they're
making is not cackling. 1t is called
conversation, and one of them is not sup
posed to listen to the other. They're
only talking about Easter bonnets, and
each one is going to have her say,
whether any one hears or not"
At this juncture the chanticleer saw n
favorte pulet with a grain of corn. and
quickly hopping from his perch, he chival-
rously relieved her Of the same.
Chickens are right much like people,
after all. "Omne vivum eX ovo.'
THE IDLE REPORTER.
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