New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-07-03

flashes OF silence by the hour together. His
voice is human that 1t has often been mistaken
for mans. Anecdotes about him abound. Here
is a sample or two OF them;
zone raven kept the guardhouse at Chat
ham. managed more than once to turn out the
guard. who thought they were summoned by the
sentinel duty. Another. the favorite OF regi-
OF which used hear much when
young would walk demureIy 20 the parade
ground. take his place by the side OF the command
ing officer and. in defiance of military discipline.
repeat with appropriate intonations. each word OF
command The stable yard OF country inn IN the
olden time. brewers yard in recent times
formed an excellent school for scandal for q pet
raven. who would only learn to initiate all the
sounds made by all the animals or birds which fire.
quented the spot but would pick up stable Ian
suage' or brewing language with somewhat OBJ
1ectionahle facility. One raven kept at the Ele
plant and Castle, when that famous hosiery was
the resort OF four horse coaches rather than omn-
buses. would take his place in outward bound
coach the observed OF all observers. by the side Of
a coachman who had Won his heart. and return IN
a homeward bound coach which he met on the road
by the side OF another favOrite jehu.
Another raven. kept At the Old Bear Inn at
Hungerford. struck up n close friendship with a
Newfoundland dog. When the dog broke his leg
the waited him constantly. catered for
him. forgetting for the time his greedness.
and rarely, II ever, left his side. one night when
the dog by accident shut within the stable
alone. Ralph succeeded in pecking hole through
Another kept in yard in which a big basket
sparrow trap sometimes set watched mar
rowly tho process from his favorite corner. and
managed when the trap fell. lift it up.
hoping to get at the sparrows within. They. OF
course. escaped before he could drop the trap.
But. taught by experience. he opened
uunications with another tame an adjoIn-
Ing yard. and the next time the trap fell while one
OF them lifted 1t up. the other pounced upon the
quarry. Wild ravens have. In like manner been OBJ
S{O httvf
The strange story OF yet another raven owe In
outline to John Digby OF tho Middlc Temple who
got 1t from his friend the owner. and saw much of
what 1t relates. A female raven. known at that
time to be sixty years old. and who had passed
much Of her early and middle life with strange
companion, blind porcupne. given IN the
year 1854 by ]. H Quincy the we'll known ornithol-
ogist to the rector Of Bluntsham. in HUNTINGDON
shire. She seemed disconsoate the loss of her
surroundings that her new owner. falling 10 get an
other raven managed to secure a seaguu as her
mpaniOn. warm friendship sprang up be-
tween the birds. They followed another about
everywhere and the raven used often treat her
companion to pieces of putrid meat which she had
buried. for her own consumption, i'll the shubberies.
These dellcacies in the eyes of the raven.
they not good for the gull In course OF
time whether from indigestion not the gull fell
i'll and the raven became more assiduous than ever
in her attentions. never leaving him and plying him
with her most pauseous tt-bts. The gull grew
worse. was perhaps natural under tho treat
ment. and less companionable; and, one day. when
ne positively refused to touch more unsavory
morsel than usual which the had denied TO
herself and. doubtless. thought be a panacea
the raven IN fit of fury at the ingratitude of her
patient. fell upon her friend, killed it, tore 1t to
pieces, and. burying half of 1t for future consump-
ton. devoured the rest.
'Of course a tame raven is a arrant thief and it
you let him loose you must expect to pay for your
amusement. Anything bright especially attracts
him. A butler who had lost spoon after spoon and
had thrown the blame upon every one but the real
offender. at last saw Ralph with the proverbial
silver spoon in his mouth watched him sneak off
to the hole which served him for d savings bank
and found therein not only the spoon which he had
missed. but others which he had not. The bank ON
this occasion. paid compound interest on the de-
posit
'One OF my own tame ravens a native OF Raven
Tarn mad the run of stable yard, OF a garden and
81 fisld-in tact pxsttx ven slsa Of TIA whe,a Of