Omaha daily bee., 1900-09-26
FANCIER FANCIES FAT HARES
Takes Them from His Neighbor's Warren
aud Makes Fot PIES Of Them,
DOCTORS HATCH DEEP LAID SCHEME
After Pnrtaking of rbe savory Dish
MIR. stokes Makes "a Discovery
that FiIIs Him with
Alarm.

To the neighborhood OF which Forty-third
and Bristol streets is the center the pre-
yailing Belgian hare madness Is thing OF
rare and unusual interest. Within the last
twenty-four hours IL has engaged the atten-
tion OF every man. woman and child com
pretended within a radius of five blocks ana
all now feel a personal though Indirect, con-
Germ in the new Industry" II Is because
Of a mishap to a person who VIII be known
herein as Stokes, because Stokes is not
his name.
Stokes is a Belgian hare fancier who
fancies the Belgian hares OF his neighbors.
lie is o victim Of the latest madness, with
a complication Of kleptomania.
DR.. A. e. Ames lives at Forty-third and
Bristol streets. Along early in the summer
the doctor acquired two fine hares, which he
hoped would form the nucleus OF an impos-
ing rabbitery. so he built high picket fence
around his back yard and reinforced 1t with
wire screen. one night about week later
the rodents were stolen.
That the doctor was angry goes without
SAYING, but he was not discouraged. That
picket fence hadn't been built for nothing.
lie set his brains to work to figure out some
scheme to dissuade the rabbit thief, and
finally called into consultation his fellow
practitioner, Or. G. W. Taylor, who lives
less than a block away. They talked the
matter over at length anticipating all the
difficulties presented by the problem, not the
least of which is the fact that under the
state law rabbits are not property, A man
can no more be prosecuted for stealing a
Belgian hare In Nebraska than he could be
prosecuted for stealing a maltese cat. But
finally, between them, they hit upon a plan.
Three weeks ago the doctor bought six more
rabbits.
About noon Monday little boy burst
breathlessly into the office OF Dr. Taylor
and exclaimed:
My papa is poisoned, and were all
poisoned Come quick!"
The doctor, recognizing the child, winked
at his reflection in a mirror and bestirred
himself in the matter of silk hat and
medicine case.
"who is your papa" he asked.
"Mister stokes. Oh
Sorry, son, but ! was jus, going out on
another call Run down and get Or. Ames; f;
he Just came in
The boy obeyed and moment later Dr,
Ames was on his way to the Stokes home.
He was there a half hour. On his return
he stopped at the ofice of Or. Taylor.
Didn't Know what Allied Him.
After the physicians had mad their laugh,
Dr. Ames explained: He didn't know me !;
seemed to think that | was you, so he
talked freely / asked him what kind of
poison he had taken. and he said he didn t
know whether he was inocuated with
scrorula or bubonic plague. but 1t was
something terrible. He'd bought some rab-
bits at the market, he said, and the rab-
bits had evidently come originally from
some medical college that practiced vivi-
section. for he found in examining the
pelts after the beasts had been served in
potpio, that around the neck of each was a
little tag. one tag read:
"'This hare has been inoculated with
dphtheria culture.
Tho other bore this device:
This hare has been inoculated with
tuberculosis
From the description OF the tags rec
ognized them as the ones / had written
out three weeks ago"
you gave the patients an antidote, OF
course?" observed DR.. Taylor.
well, l felt kind OF sorry for his wife
and children" replied DR.. Ames. They
were no doubt innocent. So | recommended
strong coffee for them. and told them
they'd be all right in an hour, but as for