Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-04
CONCERNING GOATS
Some Fads and Fancies of an
Angora Kid.
SOON FORGOT ITS MOTHER
Little Creatures Peculiar Idea Of
Play.
MADE Dogs LIFE A BURDEN
When the Animal Became Angry His
Propensity for Butting Was
Made Manifest and Felt.
MADE Dogs LIFE A BURDEN
Written for The Star.

remarked an enthusiastic young farmer
| to the writer one day last spring, we
| stood watching a ine flock of Angoras
which had just been sheared- And certain
| ly, when compared them with q flock of
sheep which were grazing In the next field,
| the goats seemed to have a great advan-
| tage mentally. When they looked and
took notice of anything they did 1t with
| an air OF intelligence which the sheep could
never assume. The goats looked bright
and patrician-the sheep looked dull, and
| just what they were-nuttonheads Even
In the young the difference In character
was very marked; the faces of the kids
We're brighter than those of the lambs.
| and IN the movements of the young goats
there was snap and purpose such could
not be duplicated by their woolly little
neighbors In the next field.
notwithstanding which, when the gener-
Gus farmer. knowing my fondness for ami
mails OF all kinds, offered to present me
with my choice of these same kids. I was
filled with doubt and hesitation. 1 try
hard never to be prejudiced against any
animal, but the word goat has for many
years had very strange effect on me, and
even now sometimes If I hear the animal
mentioned suddenly it gives me a queer
feeling which is produced by nothing else.
This Is the reason In my boyhood
lived for years within a few miles of New
misfortune 70 make visit to Harlem.
Harlem In those days was much less at
tractive than it is today, large sections of
it consisting chiefly of mud and rocks.
Perched on the tops of many of these
rocks were disreputable little shanties,
made out of laths, tarred paper, old bed
quilts. or anything else which by means of
rusty nails and pieces of string could be
induced to keep some of the wind and rain
out for month or two.
Goats Everywhere.
The fora of the region at that time was
scanty; personally I remember nothing of
1t except the Jimson weed. but the fauna
is STAMPED indelibly my mind. 1t was
goats, of all sizes, shapes and colors-of
all degrees of unsightliness and disrennta-
bility. They were everywhere. on the tops
of the rocks against the sky, In the mud
and In and around the shanties of their
owners. Without proper regard for the
feelings Of the Alpine channels the New
York comic papers dubbed Harlem THE
Switzerland of America" and the material
for very large percentage of their jokes
in those days consisted of Billy goats,
which were made to figure in all manner
of ludicrous scrapes, resulting sometimes
from chasing fat policemen over the Har-
lem rocks and sometimes from eating kegs
of nails or even sticks of dynamite.
That these unwholesome creatures lived
chiefly on theater posters is more or less
true and was very generally believed
have frequently seen them In the act of
devoNring these delicacies, and fancy that
the thick, rich paste on the backs of them
was perhaps the chief attraction. But how
ever this may be- it was the general i'm
preston which had been left in my youth
full mind by the Harlem Billy goat which
again intruded itself and caused me to
hesitate when even the daintiest of Angora
kids was offered to me as a gift. But after
another careful look at the silky-haired
little creatures before me / decided that
none of these could ever grow to be even
remotely like the goats of ancient Harlem.
and therefore thankfully accepted one and
took 1t home.
Gradually Forgot the Past.
Poor kid he missed his nanny dread
fully at first and did not forget to keep US
reminded of the fact by a continual and
pathetic bleating. But frequent internal APP
plications of warm milk from bottle
gradually tended to make the youngster
forget the past and begin to look hopefully
to the. future, whence experience taught
him, milk and still more milk was forth
coming.
This kid looked less like a live animal
and more like something out of toy shop
and which ought to be mounted on wheels,
than anything else l have ever seen, ex-
cept other Angora kids of the same age.
Nevertheless, he did not care to be played
with; he preferred to do the playing him
self. When feeling in very good spirits he
had a habit of progressing by leaps. in
which he would bring all his four feet
smartly to the ground at the same time
In manner quite disconcerting to any
smaller animal which might be near. He
seemed to understand that he could startle
other creatures by doing this, and he often
did it. apparently, just for mischief Once
caught him smiling at a large toad. on
the garden path and the next moment he
leaped In the air and came down ''thump"
about as close to the batrachian as he
could without touching it. The toad liter
ally jumped. and the kid repeated thes per
fo-rv fnQ fn nr1in hn off anf
On another occasion / saw him chasing a
stray cat down the road at a lively pace,
making the strange thump, thump,
thump," which. far more than the appear
ance of the saucy mite which made 1t,
filled the poor puss with dfsmay.
But the little goats favorite victim was
dence at our house. This dog, which was
afraid of nothing else simply could not
be induced to stay In the vicinity of the
kid. The latter soon came to understand
would often go out of his way to chase the
collie. The dog did not appear frightened,
but disgusteds and simply got out of. the
way. Sometimes the collie would be lying
the kid, who would look over at the dog as
much as to say Hello! Who told you
you might lie on this piazza?' Then, with
a defiant little walk, he would move In the
direction OF the collie But the latter never
waited for him-sinply arose quietly and.
with head and tail lowered skunk away to
some quiet spot III the DARN OF SdTuel.
Horns Were Useful.
The horns of the little goat became con-
spicuous at very early age, and were
put to immediate use. When he wished to
scratch his head or neck he used one of
his hind hoofs but when 1t was any other
part of the body which needed attention, it
was usually the point of a horn with which
the scratching was done. He grew rapidly,
and as he devoted more and more of his
time to grazing and browsing, we gradually
cut off his supply of milk. until at last
he got his own living entirely.
When he was about three months old
he formed strong affection for lady
member of our household, and for a time
It looked as If we were going to have a
great deal of trouble with him on this
account. He was not happy even for a
moment ii this lady were away, and
bleated continually In her absence. Then,
he would not eat so much as single
blade OF grass except in her presence AS
she could not spend all her time with him,
he often went hungry and the rest of as
went about with our fingers in our ears
so to speak AT last there came day
when the lady was to be absent for twenty
&,x,. - cxc t.oor