Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1898-01-13

START Tss~~es Engaged IN . Fe~r
rsyfsG J~s-

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Va. have becz struggling Eith Grim
iual mystery worthy Of Sherlock
Hoines' attertio1- thoazh I; involves
not1irg more serious thzn the theft %
q few chickens II : the method how
ever. AID 10; the crime itself. whieH
Interests The true detective.
In TIE ease ia question one Of The
s-rarxsst peculiariiies Of criminals :
veu Illustrated. namely. the wasting q
great skill end irgsnBity EPc= he
achieving Of petty results The reai
criminal VIII always DO more w0rk
stealing Eve esnts than ~oGld suffice e
earn Eve dollars These Virginia
thieves. IL they would turn moderately
honest. might enter upon remu1era-
tire career IN the show business
The thieves. 50 far as can BE- learned.
made their first appearance az the resi-
denee Of Mr. Cl4ytor. or the Msehan-
icsvilIe turnpike. highway 10; IN
known to history In the latter part
q i December afternoon there was
ruuPus in Mr.. CiaytOr's hen coop. No
ore had the pace in view al that time.
bu; several persons employed b. Mr.
CIaytor we're rear by. and they at once
ran TO the spot. The sound. 70 their
probably experienced ears. indicated
chicken thieves. but no glimpse Of the
escaping vandais was obtained This
xzx surprising. for the rescue party
was 80 quickly upon the scene that il
was almost impossible 20 fancy any
thiers having time enough to run for
shelter
Examination revealed no trace Of am
mans work, nor any human footprint
n the soft earth Whatever other
tracks there may have been were IN
noticed al tha; time. Mr.. Ciaytor's serv-
ants convinced themselves that three
fat pullets were missing. but bow they
we're distracted was a mystery
That same afternoon Farmer H. r
John. whose place was near Claytor's.
suffered a similar loss. aud there Was
10 elew. The unusual theft made some
talk, which was INCREASED next DAY
y hen il was learned that poultry had
mys;eriously vanished from the store
Of one O'Neil. also on the Mechanics
vile turnpike.
Neither Mr. O'Neil nor anyone about
the place had seen suspicious eharac-
tiers lettering near; but there was no
doubt about the disappearance Of the
poultry.
The frs; calculation Of the mystery
came from another storekeeper named
Strong. who was robbed in a most open
manner. He was standing near the
door of his place of business when he
saw three strange dogs. a setter, a
pointer and a shepherd, trot up He
paid no particular attention TO them
until, in fash. each had seized fat
chicken from a number that were dis
played outside the store. and was max
ing away with il at incredible speed.
Mr. Strong confesses that he was SC
surprised as 10 be incapable of action
The whole thing was so deft. so hu.
manly planned. and so speedily exc
cuted that he felt as IL he were witness
/ ing an incident that belonged to fairy.
land. When he rallied his faculties and
began pursuit. the dogs could not be
found.
Since then these intelligent but dis
honest brutes have appeared at variou.
places in the vicinity. and their meth
DDS have been learned. They are un
doubtedly trained with great care
They know the ordinary rules of eau
ton; they have been taught to seize ,
chicken. whether alive or dead, in tn,
best manner. and to run with theil
booty without being seriously embar
raised by II.
II has been aseerfained that two o,
more men lie in wait for the plumber
but the dogs know better than TO run
straight towards the hiding place. The,
make detours: they separate; If pursuit.
is too close they will not notice fheii
masters. but will run on until the dan
ger is at an end, returning in a mos
cautious manner. In this way, up Il
last accounts, great many thefts hat
been perpetrated. and the human au
thors were still undiscovered.
Now then, here is the problem: Giver
two men with intelligence and patienc,
enough 10 train three dogs to such won
derful skill. why don't they exhibit tn,
dogs and earn an honest living? Hth,
show business is beneath their dignity
surely their ability and foresight il
great enough to enable them to wi,
fortune. instead of skuiking on the out
skirts of Virginia farms. sleeping il
barns and subsisting on an unvaryin,
| Diet NJ hroiled stolen ch;oI.,