Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1903-07-09
Short Story
Of the DAY
DAN BEARD, ARTIST.
How He Happened to Draw, and Some
of His Stories About Animals.

Kansas City Star.-"How did /
happen to take up the study of
animals?" A reminiscent twinkle
came into the eyes of Dan Beard, the
famous animal artist. How did |?
Why, | didn't. 1t just grew up with
me; my first recollections are OF
animals and of drawing them" Mr..
Beard paused for a moment. YES"
he continued. nearly all that can re-
call of my childhood days concerns
my boyish love for the animals and in
sects of our neighborhood, and knew
about them before ! had learned my
alphabet.
1T seemed TO come naturally To me
to study an insect or an animal,
A, B, c. and '2x2 u A. / even went
so far as to call them by name all my
own, because no one, my mother in
cluded, who encouraged me in my boy
ish passion, could always tell me their
correct names. What the names we're
! have forgotten except that often
called my pets after cattle or the race
horses of that day You see spent
my boyhooj in Cincinnati and la
Covington, Ky, so was in the center
of the horse-racing country.
One of my earliest recollections is
that at the age of seven | had dis
covered the grub in its various stages
of development into the beetle. When
| had told my parents what had
found they laughed; they couldn't be-
lieve that beetles were the result of
such evolution.
Il had lot of fun with my grape
vine beetles. made little carriages
ID paper and silvers of wood, and
hltched the beetles to them and raced
them for all they were worth for hours
at a time. Fact is, guess raced
nearly every pet owned
And they were many. had crows,
wild pigeons, fish of various kinds,
foxes, squirrels, coons, bullfrogs,
snakes, robins. catbirds chipmunks.
rabbits. owls and what not. Oh. yes
mere was a lot of toads, with five.
legged fellow among them.
charged five pins to view the
freak In my circus. and as a result
my family never had to look for pin
money. | flooded them with pins as
long as possessed that toad.
Get in trouble with my menagerie?
Wen, | guess did. but not with my
mother, She didn't seem to care how
much | stocked the house and the
back yard with all sorts OF creeping.
crawling and walking things. But my
neighbors weren't always so indulgent.
| distinctly remember how they got
after me about my two foxes, Faust
and Marguerite.
Il kept them in box somewhat
sunken in the ground. with the earth
slanting up from the door. A peg was
driven in the center of the box, and to
this | fastened the chain which held
Faust and Marguerite. Therefore
imagine my indignation when neigh
Tor came TO me and accused my foxes
of stealing his missing chickens.
"' faint So | declared, they'r,
chaineds' and to back up my words
Faust and Marguerite came out OF the
kennel as far as the chain would lei
them. and then went back again.
There, | said, triumphantly
cant you see they're chained?
The man went away half con
WINGED, and thought no more of the
matter until the next day, when he
and another neighbor hunted me VI
and again accused my foxes of stealing
chickens.
'Tain't So said. they're chain,
ed: and Faust and Marguerite showed
the gentleman that spoke the truth
Well, they couldn't say anything
more, so they went away. but bright
and early the following day one of the
men showed up again.
Say, he said. your foxes are steal
ing my chickens.
'Tain't So / said. they're chain
ed.
Then, as | spied Faust lying just
outside his house, said 10 him