The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-02-01
ALcoAoLIzlo. oEssE. !.

4 Nsrth .DAksta .HaEnss,s aesesseI.
Brings Hin Absnaaat RstuSas.
: A farmer on the Fort Rlsa rsesrva-
ton, about ten miles below Msmarck,
N. D.. on the Missouri River. has .
liberal supply, Of wild geese. beth dead
aud alive, a the result Of an expert.
ment upon which be has been ponder.
Ing for some time, and which worked
to bis entire satisfaction and greatly
to the disadvantage Of the geese. The
season for the flight Of the great Can.
ada geese has begun, and thousands Of
the honkers stop at different places
along the river on route. The sand
bars In the morning are black with the
great flocks Of. geese, and they make
short pilgrimages from the bars to the
fields OF the farmers adjacent to the
river for feed. They remain several
days in the locality and furnish abun-
dant amusement for sportsmen.
At the farm Of the man In question
there is huge sand bar projecting in
to the river, but SO far from the shore
that no hunter can steal upon the
geese which congregate there near
enough to get shot. Aware Of their
immunity, large hocks Of the birds set
tie there every morning and sun them.
selves for several hours, and then
migrate to the Interior for food.
Having observed the movements Of
the geese for several days the farmer
resolved to accomplish by. strategy
what he could not accomplish BY
stealth, and every morning before tho
arrival Of the birds, he distributed
about a peck Of corn about the bar.
Upon the return Of the geese this would
be speedily devoured, and the process
was repeated every morning for several
days, greatly to the satisfaction of the
geese. ..,..
i Last Saturday night the farmer came
to the city and secured q quart Of the
best alcohol, which he said would be
suffcient to saturate a peck Of corn
quite thoroughly. He placed the corn
n'the alcohol over aight. 50 that it was
thoroughly soaked, and in the morning
at the usual time he spread 1t over the
bar and concealed himself in the brush
along the shore Of the river and await
cd the coming Of tie geese.
They came as usual, and also as
usual ate up the corn. Soon after
there was great disturbance manifest
among the feathered denizens of the
bar. The alcohol had a swift effect
and soon the bar was covered with
sprawling. waddling, maudlin geese in
all stages of intoxication. Those that
had eaten most freely of the doctored
corn were speedily affected, and in var
ious ways. Some of them were imme-
diately overpowered and lay helpless
In the sand In sort of drunken stupor.
Others attempted to fly and were I'M
able to do so, their wings refusing to
perform their usual functions, and the
only result Of their efforts being an
ain.less Hopping about the bar. Others
staggered off like tipsy men and finally
succumbed to the influence of the
liquor and lay down in the sun In a
drunken sleep. A few were able to
fly and scared off for few moments,
but the alcohol was too much for them
and they were forced to circle back to
the bar and settle again on the sand.
After waiting for the liquor to have
effect the farmer emerged from his
hiding place and approached the
drunken birds. They seemed to have
lost their usual fear and many of them
were inspired with remarkable pug
nacity, flying at him and endeavoriug
to beat him with their wings. It was
q laughable sight and none Of the
geese realized their danger, but were
inspired with all the drunken courage
Of men in the same situation. The
farmer knocked over a number of them
with club and captured as many as
were totally stupefed with the liquor,
alive, for decoys.