Willmar tribune., 1899-07-05
CURIOUS TRAMP HEN.

CURIOUS TRAMP HEN.
.'&" and Also q Tender o.
" Conscience. .1 - =
II was in the Genesee valley in York
state recently" said John Gilbert, the
travelling groceryman, land went over
to Arnold's place to see how the won
derful tramp hen was getting along,
and was grieved to hear that she was
dead. That hen beat all. Nobody ever
knew where she came from. Arnold
found her in the yard one morning five
years ago keeping company with the
only chicken he owned at that time, an
other hen. The strange hen was plainly
a tramp. No one in all that vicinity had
lost hen, and no one had ever seen
this one. She was a red hen, with
blush cast to her comb, and of breed
uncertain. She settled down in the
Arnold place with such an air of con-
tentment and ardent determination to
stay there that Arnold raised no objec-
ton. Two or three days later the hen
made nest on an ash heap and laid
an egg in it. She must have laid the
egg early in the morning, for it was
there at seven o'clock, when Arnold dis
covered it. This was on Monday. The
hen laid an egg eve:y day after that
until the following Sunday, and each
egg seemed to be put in the nest an
hour later each day. Sunday the hen
didn't lay, but at noon next day she de-
posted an egg in the nest. As if to
make up for skipping an egg Sunday,
Mondays egg was an unusually large
one and had two yolks.
'This remarkable hen kept on laying
an egg daily during that week, the one
that was laid on Friday being deposited
in the nest at just four o'clock in the
afternoon. Next day she started in
at six o'clock in the morning with her
egg for that day, and on Sunday rested
again and laid no egg. The following
Monday, though, she laid another very
large egg. This, too, was found to have
two yolks. It was laid at seven 'clock.
And so she went on, depositing an egg
in the nest an hour later each day until
she reached four o'clock in the after
noon, when she would resume opera
tions at six o'clock in the morning, al
ways taking rest on Sunday and max
ing up for it by laying double-yolked
egg on Monday. She was 80 regular and
prompt on the hour that the Arnold
family got to depending more on the
hen for the right time O. day than they
did on the clock, but not until one day,
according to the clock, she had laid her
egg at ten minutes before 12, and they
thought she had made mistake; but
they found that she hadn't, the clock
being just ten minutes slow.
AT the end of May queer thing hap
pened. The hen skipped week day
without laying an egg. Arnold was
worried, because such thing had not
occurred before. All of a sudden an
idea hit me.
'Say!' said I. You haven't found
out yet what a real wonder this hen is!
Yesterday was May 80, wasn't it?'
YES said Arnold.
Decoration day. said 1. Holiday
This hen doesn't work on holidays,
take it, any more than she does on Sun
days!'
"And that proved to be the case, fol
Arnold kept me posted good while by
letter as to the, doing of the hen. Whe1
Fourth of July came round no egg, bu1
double-yolked one next day. Their
right along she went again. with an egg
every day but Sunday, double yolk OF
Monday until Thanksgiving. No egg
Thanksgiving, double yoIk next day
No egg Christmas, no egg New Year.
day, but double-yolk eggs after each O.
these holidays. And so she went on a!
regular as the days and Sundays ant
holidays came. I hadn't heard any
thing from the hen for long time, he1
performances having become an alt
thing, so last week, when I was up il
the country again, went over to SCI
how the wonderful tramp hen was get
ting along.
"'Oh!" said Arnold, she's dead
How did it happen?' saidI.
"'Well, you know Christmas fell OF
Sunday said Arnold. of course sht
didn't lay any egg on Sunday, and, a!
we kept Monday as the holiday, O
course she didn't lay an egg on tha
day. Tuesday she laid an egg that wa
sight to see. 1t was as big as goos,
egg, and three yolks! But I don't thinl
she liked doing three days work in on,
and she couldn't conscientiously dt
anything else. New Years came alons
the same way. Saturday the hen lait
her egg at her regular hour for tha
day, and we didn't notice particularly
until Tuesday morning that she wasn'
around as usual. There was no egg
either big or little, in the nest that day
and we became alarmed. We started
out to look up the hen. We found he
lying under the manger, dead
''That's what Arnold told me, and
had no reason to doubt it. That hen wa
quite as wonderful in her death, accord
ing to my ideas, as she was in her life
She was extraordi, ary, and no mistake
but she drew her conscience down lit
tie too fine."-Chicago Inter Ocean,.
A Captain at the Front.
Capt. Boltwood, commander of tn
Ottawa company in the Twentiet]
Kansas, has been acting major and bat
talon commander all through the Ma
nila campaign. Writing home Capt
Boltwood says: "As far as appearance
go, we are hard looking set. We ar
dressed in our brown canvas suits an,