The Frankfort roundabout. [volume] (Frankfort, Ky.) 1882-1908, 1899-05-27
VOL. xxi.
Ostriches and Their Keepers Find Ari-
IONA Congenial.

Phoenix, Arlz., April 10 Inc
climate of Arizona. in the Salt river
valley, is practically the same as
that of Southern Africa. This is the
reason hy ofthe fin herds ofOslriches
in the United States, the one a few
miles from Phoenix, has grown more
rapidly than the others. Seven years
AGO one pair of African Ostriches was
'bruup Int here. To-day there are 1O4
grow n bids and a number Of chick
ems. all descendants o, the one pair.
This Arizona herd is located on a
beautiful 14O acre alfalfa field, irri-
gated with water from the Salt river.
1t is owned by company OF enter
prisiny men in Phoenix and cared
for by an Englishman from Africa,
where he spent many years caring
for ostriches.
"They are mean DEVILS" said this
Englishman. up to the time they
are three or four years old one can
90 in the field with them, but after
that a mans life Is not safe. They
will attack any one who comes in
the enclosure. They never make
any friends and are always. vicious.
l carry long torked stick TO put
against their necks when they come
for me. Some times, though, fel-
low gets caught in the field without
stick" go, :,
"What do you do thel.?" asked
the reporter for the Star.
"Lie down." said the Englishinan
Iaconically. 1.-THE birds only weigh
about 800 pounds each, and after they
have walked over you a while they
will go away"
"1hey fly int with their feet, kick
ing forward" he continued. 1.-The
blow is only effective at heighth of
at least three feet from the ground.
II will kill cow if it gets the full
force of this kick, but they cannot
peck much or do any damage in any
way except by kicking in front OF
Them"
"Can you ride them?"
"A man can't stick on. They go
so fast it cuts your wind off,"
osTRICHEs ARE CENTENARIANs.
"How long do they liver"
"Tbey never die" promptly re-
sponded the ostrich tender. "The
birds domesticated in Africa fifty
wears ago are still alive aud doing
well. They have no disease we
know Of, and unless some accident
happens to them they may live a
hundred years, think. If they
break leg they are gone, for it
splinters into II thousand pieces, and
the ostrich must be killed."
AS the Englishman and the re-
porter for The Star approached one
end of half acre lot, in which were
penned a great black male andasmall-
er greyisn female ostrich, the male
came gliding down the lot like Il
pacing hose. The light in his
small eyes was baleful and his atti-
tude full of vengeance. "There's a
bird I've attended some time" said
the keeper, "and look at him."
The ostrich reared and plunged at
the high hedge in his efforts to get at
the man. One forgot the small
size OF the animals brain, and its
corresponding lack of the most or
binary sense. 1t Looked almost fine
a. it sought combat. After fruit
less effort to climb the fence the
male commenced to chase the female
about the yard.
"He's trying to make her 60 to the
nest there and sit on the eggs. It's
her turn; she's not attending TO her
duty and the old man knows it,"
The Englishman chuckl9d. "YOu
SEE its This way" he continued.
"Ostriches mate in pairs. The male
digs the nest in the dirt. He rests
his body on the breast bone and then
scraps with his feet. He revolves
around until hole about three feet
across is scoOped up and about a foot
deep. He then shows the female
where the nest is. She lays an egg
every other day until she has laid
fifteen. The male sits on the eggs at
night and the female in the daytime.
except for about an hour at noon,
when the male takes her place to let
her 20 tn water and feed.
RAISING THE CHICKS.
"The eggs take about forty-tw0
days to hatch, and the big birds help
the little ones out OF the shells.
They are good parents and raise
nearly all the chicks. The female
will lay about three nests full before
she will stop, so we take about thirty
eggs from her and hatch them in the
INCUBATOR. We let the birds hatch
oul the last fifteen eggs themselves
aftT the " Gather gets warm. When
bot\ binds are off the nest and the
W Aher is very hot they put a little
sandpver the eggs to keep them from
cooking" U
Vs. the business pay here in the
UnitA Slates?" asked the reporter.
"Yd think il will soon, any
way. You see, we charge admission
to the lrm and sell eggs for 81 apiece
arriA.t;na rNha.a nra M hi,Is, f,V