Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-12-10
CAPTURING A DINNER.
A Lively Chase After the Proposed
Thanksgiving Rooster. /
Another Little Story OF Proposal by reIe.
phone by a Youns(?) Man.

incidents where there was a tuSSle to
get the dinner, has come to the notice
of the Journal. In this case 1t was not
one where poverty was the cause of
the great fight for dinner for this
family had their chicken upon which
they were to dine. They had the bird
and yet as circumstances proved, they
did not have him-for a time.
1t is like this: George Gilman has a
lather-in-law who is a little out of the
ordinary in Kindness. Who likes nothing
better than to present his son-in-law
with AN occasional gift that comes
from off the farm of the said obliging
father-in-law. A few days before
Thanksgiving, of this year. he brought
large rooster to his son and told him
it would make nice morsel for a
Thanksgiving dinner, if killed and
in the shed in place where he would
be safe For few days he fed the
bird, and then came the all important
day before Thanksgiving. George went
to the temporary hen coop and took
the bird from it, with the intention of
chopping of it's head and preparing it
for the oven. The rooster may have
heard of the intent for in an instant
ne was gone, with the corpulent gem
! L: IN
lively chase about the yard for a few
minutes, in which George made several
ungraceful attempts at capture. He
tried all sorts of tricks, and some of
them would have called forth great
applause on a foot ball field. He tried
to tackle the bird both fairly and foul
ly. 1t would doubtless have been a
foul tackle had he succeeded in getting
a hand upon the fowl. On a polo arena
his work would have called forth as
many cheers as the terrific blocking of
Furbush and O'Hara on the Augusta
team. All the while the rooster darted
about like creased pig, and went I'M
touched through it all.
Soon the bird flew out of the yard to
the street. and the brave and deter
mined man went after, up and down
the street went bird and man, each
trying to beat the other in the race. A
crowd collected and several started to
assist in the capture. 1t soon assumed
all the features of creased pig con-
test ON 4th of July.
Gilman grew mad and he Went to his
house for gun. He is ordinarily a
good shot, but it did not look that way
from the way he fired at the fowl.
Every time the smoke cleared away
the rooster would be seen in another
part of the field, where it had by this
time retreated. The small boys and
girls cheered and Gilman, with his
teeth set, his clothes torn and dirty,
wasted more ammunition on the bird.
Occasionally he would be heard to
gurgle some sort of an imprecation
upon Lie Oiiu SNSi eiA'AAo I'm
nected with it.
The chase had been on an hour or
more, and it was growing dark. The
crowd surrounded the rooster. which
beat a retreat to neighboring coal
shed. where he went under the floor.
A small boy crawled after him and
soon brought him out.
Talk Of the delight boy shows with
new pair of skates, it did not COM
pare with the smile of exultation that
crossed Gilman's face when he got
that bird. He used several yards of
stout string in tieing it and took it
home, where it was slaughtered with
good grace.
At the Thanksgiving dinner Gilman
could not ask for thetbird to be blessed,
so when he asked grace he omitted any
mention of the bird that was supposed
to be the greater part Of the dinner.
He said he had cussed it sogreatly the
day before that the Lord would think
him two-faced to have blessed it on
the very next day.