The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1898-01-14
TWO LUCKY AN FINALS.
A Dog and a Parrot Fall Heir To
Much Money.

| There are, from time to time dogs ex.
hibited at our bench shows that are
worth from 81 900 to 81 800 to their mas
tiers, but Rover Spooner is the first dog
on record that has ever found his mas,
ter worth 81 500 to him.
Like takes to like, the proyerb says
mud in this case ii is true. Spooner was
a tramp when he fell in with Rover
who was tramp, too, the difference
being that Spooner tramped from
choice while Rover carried the chain
aud ball OF dogdum, tin can on his tail,
aud was In wretched condition general
ly. but since that meeting the dog has
never known want or unkindness, nor
| the man loneliness.
| john A. Spooner was for years a sea-
man, but having saved his pile he left
| the water and took to II rowing life on
land. lie was tramp, but never a
pauper, During his wanderings in
southern Illinois he met a miserable
| pup, terrified almost out of his life by
the noise made by each movement of Il
tin can which was tied to his tail. The
seamen are proverbially tender-hearted
where animals are concerned, aud
Spooner, true to his class, was touched.
lie liberated the dog, dubbed him
"Rover" as the most appropriate of
names, and the two became as Robin
son Crusoe and his dog.
Spooner is now an old man; he is
over 70, and fears that, should his dog
outliye him, his fate will be hard one.
He, therefore, called upon Attorney T..
i. Ellison and had a will drawn up by
which he leaves his full estate--S1, roo
in trust for Rover, and the Guarantee
Title and Trust company are chosen to
see that the heir is properly looked
utter and his estate cared for.
Another good catch in the animal
world would be q parrot that has just
stepped into fortune of $4,000, the
money to be invested in mortgages
and the'interest to be spent in supply
ing the bird with every possible ease
and comfort.
The parrot was originally the prop
NlNN Vi Att - ~uNJyVHuIi, hHuu WutSt
death he was adopted by her sister, Mrs
Mary d. bradford He was originally
imported from Brazil in n happy state
of ignorance, and his education, during
the rs years that he has been in the
Bradford family, has been all on the
lines of refinement and truly Bostonian
elegance, for the parrot, who Is not
poll, has lived all his quarter of CEN
fury in the Hub. For many years, and |
until his death, DR.. Bradford and the
parrot were inseparable friends; they
ronversed or sat in silence for hours, the |
bird never having developed the scream
ing loquacity of his sister, the usual
poll.
After the doctors death his widow
took the bird into her especial care and |
finally realizing that the natural lon
gevity of her charge made ii extremely |
probable that, in time, her death would /
leave him to a possibly harsh fate, she |
made a special provision for him in her |
will to hold good so long us he shall I
live, which will probably some rs or so |
years more,
Mr.. George H. Pierce is named as
trustee aud will invest the money and
take charge of the bird. The parrot is
bathed each day, well groomed. his
cage kept immaculate and has every del
icacy that could tempt the parrot pail
ate. At present the bird lives at the
Gladstone hotel, Roxbury, Mass, with
Mrs. Katherine Stenwood. He is a
great source of curiosity, but by the d.
rect terms of the will, which has fixed
his fate in life, he is never to be put on
Observation-Disclosures Press.