The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-14
NATURE STORIES
 NEATLY WRITTEN Facts for President Roose- welt to Include in His
 Collection of Lies. SUSCEPTIBLE LOBSTER. An Office 0ryx, a Sport Lov- ing Hedgehog and a
 Musical Seal.

The interest excited by the sharp controversy between President Roose-
 Welt and the Rev. Mir. Long of Stam-
 ford over nature stories has led to ! many a witty comment. The following
 letter printed by the New York Sun is a second in a delightful series:
 To the Editor of the Sun-~Sir: have
 received not less than forty letters de-
 nouncing me as liar, fifteen asserting
 that l exaggerate, twelve credlting me with more imagination than veracity and half dozen questioning my mem ory since my first paper on Animals l Have Made Wild" One man especial ly doubted my story of the Hose Eat ing Shrew." I am prepared to produce
 the affidavit of Walla Pa Zezinne, my guide. l am giving his native name but VIII furnish his college yell and address to any who wish to interview him. This person also attacked my story of the Musical Cockroaeh." have only to say that in his own work he speaks Of having stealthily crept up on d cock roach behind the shelter of tree. and brutally shot him. Tt was with a feel ing of the keenest pleasure, as sportsman" he writes, that I saw my cochroach wallowing in his blood This man has never gone into the heart or a eoekroach except with q bullet.
 Another man proposes to send me af-
 1davits of his own tending to show that I have stretched the truth. Nv answer is that have no time for af- fldavltsj l am busy looking after the animals. And even if I had the lime and inclination my position before the public is one which does not permit me to enter into controversy with per sons. To resume my veraclous account;
 My Susceptible L0bster.
 In 1886 accompanied a party of nat uralists down Chesapeake Me.y in search of sea monsters. At Love Point. the mouth of Chester river, we dsen- parked and went over to Kent Mar rows for days fishing, hearing that rock ran twenty-seven pounds in that neighborhood, with eye witnesses While there the man who keeps the fisherman's retreat gave me a young lobster, imported from deeper waters. l noticed at the time that the lobster was plainly not crab, which is of the braehyurous crustaceans, with the in fallible sign that his tall folds under his cephalothorax, l mention this AS proof that l could not have been mis- taken in the species. Returning to Bal timore l brought my lobster with me l used 10 carry him. when I had him lully tanned, attached to golden chain hanging from pin in my lapel. One evening l went to the Academy of Mu- sic, wearing my lobster. The play was a musical experimentation with large chorus. At the first chorus I saw that my lobster was growing uneasy; at the second he became almost frantic. Dur ing the intermission I missed him and went on a search. But he was not to be found. The second act was opened. The chorus had just gone off when there was a scream from the stage.
 My office Oryx.
 The oryX Is the general name of the [ family of African antelope. During inc | Boer war happened to be advancing rapidly upon Pretoria I remember the rapid advance particularly, because was with the Boers and the English | were right behind us One day General Botha, out of gratitude for my services | Tn retraining from going into details about his maneuvers. gave me an ante ope of the oryx family. I did not know what to do with him but took him back to Cape Town with me after the war vas over There I set up an office. My oryx was with me daily and was so anne that hit upon the idea of utillz- ng him to carry my dispatches to the telegraph offices. He had two very long. straight, sharp horns, and I soon had i'm so trained that he would stand hv ny desk while l filed page after page )n his horns and at the signal would rot out with the messages, take them o the wire and return with whatever to have been received for me ie made a very good messenger, be- consequence of the small 'oys of Cape Town annoying hlm-he vas always in hurry.
 Mwy T |