The record-union., 1899-06-14

Lost From One Vessel, It Made It's
Way to Another.

LOST from O0e v0SSSA, AZ 0AOe ACS
Way to Another.
The adventures of Nine. PATHS par
rot, Koko, form a little chapter of
great perils to himself. disconsolation
and tears on the part of his mistress
and Of curious condolences touching
the bird, owner and the Samaritan of
the seas who acts the graceful part of
rescuer.
In 1883 the firm of Abbey, Schoeffel
& Grau, theatrical SPECTATORS and man.
ayers, included in their various enter
prises a tour with Nine. Patti and a
strong opera company to Buenos Ayres,
Montevideo and Rio. Marcus Mayer,
business manager, went out in advance,
and on the Royal Mail steamer Fagus
formed the acquaintance of an African
parrot, whose linguistic abilities ele-
waited him to the distinction of being
almost as polyglot as the accomplished
Mr.. Mayer himself. Before. leaving
England Nine. Patti had commission
ed the agent to procure for her any
South American birds of plumage or
song that he might meet with, and es-
pecially q half dozen of the gayly
feathered but by no means musical
macaws for which Brazil is famous The
parrot was not included in any of the
specifications, but his ready use Of
Spanish, Portuguese, French and Eng
lish-a few words, at least, in all Of
them-and some ridiculous speech in the
dialect of the West India negroes JUS
titled his purchase from the chief engi-
neer Of the Fagus. and when Nine
Patti arrived at the Hotel d'Etranger
in Rio Koko was awaiting her in her
apartments with the greeting, "Soy
Koko-a disposition a listed"
Amid his more brilliant companions
he at first attracted but little attention
but in few days. possibly having
heard his mistress sing, he evinced his
delight in manner so flattering that
he was raised to the position of first
favorite. At Montevideo Senior Hora
the editor of the newspaper, 'El Ex-
presso,' gave Koko a gold collar, in
scribed in Spanish with the words: II
am Koko, the polyglot- parrot of the
Nicolini. I don't sing myself, but there
are angel voices in our family
Wearing his collar as usual, Koko
was seated on his mistress shoulder one
morning in the, deck saloon of the
lee door of the saloon was open, when
some children threw open the one on
the windward side and came in with
a rush that startled the bird from his
perch. Unaccustoned to use his wings
he was caught in the current of wind
and swept out of the saloon, and. de-
spite his own endeavors. in a moment
was over the side and adrift in the
northeast trades. For half an hour
they watched him. until he became a
black speck in the distance and finally
disappeared. This happened in the lat
ter part Of August, 1888.
The next morning the sailors of the
American bark Lapwing, from Rio to
Baltimore. found Ko41o in the mizzen-
top exhausted and speeches.. but. I'M
der the care of Mrs. Starting, the Cap
tain's wife. he recovered his vigor and
voice, and since then until recently has
been going UP and down the earth, add
ing to his other accomplishments that
of great traveller. Some months ago
the Lapwing being at sea on a voyage
from the Chinese .seas to New York
somewhere south -ef-the Cape of Good
Hope. met an American whaler, which
asked for fresh provisions and news A
boat was sent with the needed articles
and the whaler in exchange threw into
it file of old New York 'Heralds'' for
1888. They were all thumbed and worn
but Mrs. Starting, turning them care
Fessly over, caught the headline, Mad
anne PATHS Koko Lost at Sea-" It
formed part of a cable dispatch from
London. The correspondent of that
journal having met Mr. Abbey on his
return home, had inquired about the
South American tour. and had been
told that it was successful, with no
greater mishap than the loss of Mad
ame's favorite parrot Koko, which had
been blown off the ship somewhere near
the equator.
Up to this time neither Captain Star
ling nor his wife knew to whom the
bird belonged, for they had not associ-
ated the family name. Nicolini, engrav-
ed on the birds collar with the one by
which the great singer is known to the
public. On arriving at New York, they
easily learned the whereabouts of the
great singer, and under the charge of
a friend Of theirs crossing on the Luz
cania last week, Koko finished the in
terrupted voyage to England and was
restored to his delighted mistress.-Lon-
don letter in the Philadelphia Times.