The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1904-09-28
TIE NONPAREJL MAN
The Story of Ragfoot and Her Rooster
cniId--IncIdents In the Life Of Four
teenth Street Hen Whose Maternal In
stincts Would Not BE ThWarted.

teenth Street Hen Whose Maternal In
stlncts Would Not BE ThWarted.
The story OF Ragfoot and her rooster
child was told the other day, arousng in
the hearers Homeric laughter. And yet
there was something of pathos in it, too.
tRagfoot is a well-known Fourteenth
street hen who for many years has fur
nished her family, in return for crumbs
corn and Indian meal mush, with a dash
of red pepper in the winter, with con-
slant and never-failing flow of eggs. In
fact, the one dream of Ragfoots quiet life
seemed to be to turn the abundant food
supply into the largest possible output Of
large, pearly eggs, such as the grocer
charges you a bit extra for under the
caption line of Fresh Laid"
But one day the great joy of mother
hood beat in Ragfoot's breast. She
thought to herself how wonderful to lead
out thirteen young, tender lives to gather
grubs in the cool Of the day! How beau
tiful to gather them under ones wings
and brood over them at nightfall! AS
she turned this thought over in her mind
it gained complete possession of her and
the passionate desire to set, no matter if
it were but on bureau knobs and croauet
balls anything, anything, only so that she
might be sitting on it, seized absolute
control Of her being.
Seeing that she was not to be turned
from her purpose, the family supplied the
necessary nest and the thirteen eggs and
Ragfoot settled down upon them with a
sigh of supreme content.
Morning rose red and glorious in the
eastern heavens and evening died away
III purple splendOr in the west, but Rag
foot sat on. At the end of her long vigil,
one solitary chicken hoped out Of his
shell, looked around with some curiosity,
in, tr1,iy, hi looc
and remarked, First one out. eh?" Then
Ragfoot's joy knew no bounds. Her
feathers all stood straight out with rap
ture and her clucks We're smothered in
emotion, as tho there was molasses in her
throat. She sat on the other eggs day
or two more. but the little rooster was the
| only chicken in the coop. He grew like
weed and became as big as his mother
before she cast him off to shift for him
| self. Then again came upon her the
curious but ot-to-be-resisted subjective
mandate to set. She must be about il
at once and could brook no delay. At this
| the family rose up in arms and tied hel
by the leg out in the yard, where there
was no nest Nigh and she sat on the
earth and tried to hatch that but in vain
| After a day OR two she gave up the
sitting idea, but began to cluck vigorously
and look around for chickens. Then Rag
foot's son, now the big rooster of the
| poultry ydrO, came rushing up. " Joy
Was he not her child! She clucked affec
tionately at him, scratched for him ant
tried to take him under her wings a
night. He liked it and acted the sill!
Little chicken to perfection.
Attracted by the unusual sight of al
old hen mothering a big rooster and try
ing to cover him with her wings at night
a number of the neighbors stood aroun
and laughed themselves nearly sick. Blu
Ragfoot was irsensible to ridicule. So tn
big rooster got two motherings, and ha
his grubs and worms carefully selected fC
him and grew so big and fat and hoars
in his crow that his appearance made tn
. mouths of colored people who passed tn
house water.
One night he disappeared, was gon,
l vanished, erumpit, evasit! Where, no on
T ever knew. Ragfoot mourned for a tim
but after a. few days the memory Of he
large son grew DINNER as she again tire
, herself into the egg. business and almo:
laid herself away in her efforts to max
up for lost time.
S What dreams we are and what dream
we DO pursue!
: A collector in Fargo, says the Forum
called on a man quite early in the morl
. ing and a stern-faced and long sufferir
5 wife answered the bell.
. "Is your husband up YETI" he inquire
pleasantly. 1-'",l...
II guess he is
. II would like to see him, please"
. 80 would I. He hasn't come hon
: yet"
How would you like to be that old pt
when he gets home?
o Milt Nelson husked seventy-two al
d two>thirds bushels of corn day la
e week from his upper eighty at Lake Ha
/. riet. A husky and husking nephew w
:. just behind with a record of siXty-sev
n bushels. At times the air was SO full
= corn that the sun was obscured. The or
5, Of Hennepin county is bumper one al
= Mr.. Nelson's estimate Of the crop of t
l. United States is halfway between that
the two best experts and several billio
distant from the government estimate.
"a this way he hopes to make good in t
~ final roundup.
~ Chauncey Depew is out with a NJ
-, story. It tells how he was rudely int
~ rupted while speaking. He says:
W ~, II think I offended the crowd at Coble
~ kill by saying to them during the br
~, ~ interval that could make my voice hea
- that they were trying to interfere WI
~. -, free speech and that they were using
- same weapon that Samson used again
~ ~ the Philstines.
80 "'That's a lie!' shouted one man
. the crowd; 1T wasn't Sampson; it "
~ Schley.'"
:. There was a call over the telephone
- the Metropole hotel in Fargo the OIL
o. day for Mr.. Johnson and five Johnsons
the lobby made dash for the instrume
Great material for political tickets the
Ill "A. J. R