Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-02-28
THE HEN, THE eoBsLER AND
THE PLAIN TRUTH.

Chicago Inter Ocean.-Some doubt
was entertained and expressed by GER
tain readers of this newspaper with
regard to the reliability of the infor-
nation contained in a dispatch print
ed few weeks ago In these columns,
and which ran, substantially as fol-
lows:
'kokomo, Ind, jan. Mrs. John
ing in front of Gibson's grocery yes
terday. had her attention attracted to
a chicken crate from which preceded
the loud cackling of hen. Moved by
curiosity to discover the cause of the
excitement, Mrs. Tomlinson stepped
to the side of the crate, stopped, and
peered in. There to her amazement,
as well as delight, she beheld one of
her favorite pullets, which had disap-
peared a few nights before. is that
you, Mary Ann?" she inquired. wish
ing to make sure Of the Identification
and the pullet answered by polking her
head through the Stats of the crate
and catching the skirt of her mistress
in her bill. Calling a policeman, and
demonstrating to him that there could
be no question as to her ownership n1
4 the chicken, she was soon in posses
sion Of her property. There is prob
ably no happier couple in Indiana to-
night than Mrs. Tomlinson and her
pullet"
It is our almost invariable rule
| when questions are raised with regard
to matters of this kind to wait pa
| tiently before replying until the inev
fo11 Ia f,,,>, 3, o{
would be no difficult matter to point
out instances in Rogers Park Evan
| ston, Woodlawn, Windsor Park, Oak
Park and Austin, where chickens re
spond to a given name-where the
master or mistress, as the case may
he calls UP the hen he wants In the
morning and asks her If she has yet
| laid. and receives an answer in the
negative or the affirmative. according
to circumstances-bu the cynical are
looking for something more thar
mere assertion.
The corroborative testimony which
it is our pleasure to cffe" here ICES
not, as we are aware, Dear directly
| upon the hen, but since 1t has to d.
with the fowl family. it will be admit
ted by all right thinkers chat it serves
to establish the principle fos which
we are contending. This is the testi
mony to which we would call the at
| tention of the open-mindei and I'm
! biased:
Owensburg. KY, Feb. 1--Whsr
Mrs E. L. Lyons of Wellington called
Bob" to 500 turkeys in pen at 10
cal produce house, a big gobbler raj
chortling from the bunch and ate corr
from her hand.
With this as the principal evidence
a warrant was taken out against Jesse
4 Mcintyre, and he Is now under bono
to answer in circuit court on charge
of larceny.
1 Lyons, who is farmer, went to Mil
1 Ter Bros produce house and identified
a gobbler and three turkey hens which
he said had been stolen from him. Ths
proprietor doubted his ability to iden
tify the turkeys among SO many.
WELL" said Lyons, my wife cal
come here and call that gobbler ant
he will answer"
The test was tried and it worked.
1t is sometimes dangerous to tell al
we know with regard to matters O
this kind. We run the risk of havin,
our yeracity doubted. There are own
ers Of back lots in the beautiful su
burbs Of Chicago. nevertheless, VIII,
could, if they cared to do so, relate in
cidents far more startling than an.
1 that have ever been published with re
gard to the intelligence Of the domes
tic fowl, and especially of the hen
which may be taught with patienc
and kindness not only to respond to
name, but to perform many interest
ing. and entertaining tricks that go ia
toward relieving the tedium of tn
long afternoons and evenings in tn
communication districts.