Warren sheaf., 1901-09-05
THE WAYS OF osTR1CHES.
Keeper at Long Branch Thinks They
& Know VERY Little.

Keeper at Long Branch Thinks They
$1 Know Very Little.
The tall, ungainly young man who
takes care Of the ostriches at Long
Branch regards his majestic pets with
a mixture Of amusement and scorn,
says the New York Times.
"Cost us 5000 to bring 'em up here
from Hot Springs, Ark" "sayshe. i
"Our farm is there. Brought15up
in ventilated car. I travelled with
'em myself. What is their character?
Well, they're stupid. They don't
know much and you can't teach 'em
much. And0that there Mckinley,
he's uglier than-get away there,
youp- vicious Mckinley having
endeavored to take sly nip at the
keepers hat. "We have to keep him
shutup alone, you see. He'd kill every
bird in the other inclosure within half
an hour. Killed his mate, Lady Nc
Kinley, as pretty and affectionate o
bird as ever lived, not three weeks ago.
And he was very fond of her, too.
you know, they never have but
one mate; stick to 'em all theirliyes-- )
70 years sometimes. But he let his
villainous temper get up and killed her
the other day. There is certain pc
hceman that comes in here that Nc
Kinley would like to get his claws on
all right. He hates the sight Of him,
and why we don't know, for the po-
liceman is nice fellow and never did
thing to Mckinley, as we know of.
But as soon as he sees him Mckinley
begins to stalk up and down and try
to get at him. No, this little fence is
a plenty. They can't jump and they
can't fly, but they can run all right
Look at there.''
A no-account little cur scuttled un-
der the fence and began to bark furi-
ously. The great birds circled swiftly
round and round the inclosure, with
Funston, a beautiful male, in the lead.
"Only thing insthe world they're
afraid Of is dog said the keeper.
'FHe's so low down they can't kick him.
Take care there, youv'
Roosevelt, an inquisitive young
male % months old, just beginning
to turn black, had come up behind the
keeper, reached his long neck overthe
fence, and began to peck at the tin
buckle on the back Of the keepers
"galluses."
<<They always want to know about
anything bright,'' % said he; "a buckle
or badge. We refused 81 500 for Nc
Kinley the other day. That's on ac-
count Of his feathers. We send all the
feathers to the factory in California.
The females stay this grayish color all
their lives, but the males begin to turn
black at % months. They hatch in
April and August and you had better
let those chickens be if you don't want
little conversation with the mother.
She'll tend to your case all right. For
the first few months the chickens
grow foot month. The eggs weigh
four pounds and are as big as IS hens
eggs. Sh! getout there, you!'
The ostriches had gathered about
the keeper and were Kissing with a
grotesque sound, a combination Of the
noise Of goose and a snake. When
the keeper drove them off they fell to
waltzing, two by two. It was regu-
lar waltz step and reminds one Of the
queer yarns Kipling tells Of the social
functions the animals have off by
themselves in the jungle. /
<fThey say the French got the waltz
step from the ostriches first" observed
the keeper, quite seriously. s'Down
to Hot Springs I often noticed Bob
Fitsimmons and his wife. They had
quarrels quite frequent, though moth
ing so bad as Mckinley. He would
always try to make up first and he'd
chase her round and round the inclo-
sure, but she wouldn't have it that
way. She'd shunt him offand be very
haug ghty. But after awhile she'd go
into their house, and then you could
see them maxim love at great rate,
layin' their bills against each other
and rubbin' each others necks. She
wouldn't have it in public, that's all.
She wanted folks to see she was pun
ishin' him.
When London Will Be Crowded.