Bisbee daily review., 1907-11-27
WHY SANTA BARBARA
 NEEDS NO BAROMETER

Barbara has a living barometer. No need for the residents of that quiet l little city to remember the date of the rainy season or to consult the mer- cury in the glass tubes. Neither is ] there necessity for weather bureau or a district forecaster. All they have to do if they want to know if there is going to be a storm is to stop | for a moment at Mir. Larco's as they | pass down State street and ask if Jack | has returned. If the well-known fish | dealer answers in the affirmative they prepare for a rainy day. A search is made For rubbers, that always seem to hug dark corners, and maekintoshes are inpected to see if they will last another season. If not, new ones are l bought immediately, for inquiries at | Mir. Larco's for news Of Jacks return 1 know that they will need them within twenty-four hours.
 Jack is Santa Barbara S McAdie He is an enormous saltwater pelican, cap tured years ago by some fishermen on the islands that may be plainly seen a few miles out in the ocean from Santa Barbara. A fish hook covered with small smelt was the means of
 
 gether. The pelican was pursuing | fish under water, according to his usual routine, expecting to rise to the surface later and swallow those it 1 had captured in it's capacious poucIi. The smelt dangled temptingly in front of him and met the fate of all small | fish that came within reach of his | long bill. But, unfortunately, Jack | +h1 Fs,L ,X ! time, and was jerked to the surface by ! the fishermen, who felt by the weight 1 that they must surely have something | we'll worth their while. When the drak-gray plumage of the bird came l in sight the men were so surprised | that they almost let their catch drop ! back into the water again. The hook was carefully extracted and the large water fowl fed with numberless small | fish to keep him content and suuu- natured until his captors landed. He was taken to Mir. Larco's and there l for six months of the year at least he makes his home. As the society columns would put it, Jack winters in l Santa Barbara. Six months of the 1 year he lives on the islands or takes | short trips, but always before storm i he comes home. He never miscaIcu- 1 lates. In fact, Mir. Larco considers his feathered barometer so infallible that he never ventures far out on the | ocean in his fishing boats after Jacks ] return.
 To the inhabitants of Santa Bar i bara and frequent visitors the pelican 1 is, of course, a familiar sight Last winter, however, a former resident ot l San Francisco concluded to spend his 1 Christmas holidays in the pretty | southern town. He was walking slow, l ly down State street, the main thor oughfare, one day, when, much to i his astonishment, ne saw an enor- nous bird flying low up the street from the direction of the ocean. Ii 1 proceeded leisurely, as though the tops ! of the buildings were familiar objects to it, and finally flew down and rested for a moment on a window ledge. The 5GSTT 5FTIUI.5IGTTI z56l tIlTT that I1 pelican and eSciittedIsf :aE sae-css the the | street to capture it. As he approach ed cautiously and on tiptoe the bird deliberately took flight and entered yard where a signboard read: Lar co, Fish Dealer" The man eXcitediy i Followed, almost knocking down the proprietor of the place in his haste.
 Hurry, hurry" he exclaimed There's a pelican just flown into your back yard, and if you'll only hur ry you can catch him sure. Come on I'll help you
 Neither the proprietor or the place nor his employe made move. In stead, the visitor from San FrarcIaD. saw bored disgusted expression CT each couDtenance.
 It's too bad you waste such gCoe natural acting on such poor :olSe,
 Mir. Larco at last remarked.
 Explanations finally followed, but
 it took the visitor a whole hour tC convince the fisherman that he didn1
 know the bird was Jack returning from ono of his trips to toll Santa Barbarans, in his own way, hot tC venture forth without their umbrellas When Jack first arrived at Mir. Lar
 co.'s in charge of the fisherman he wa,
 delighted to meet there first consI
 of his, a fresh-water pelican by th' name of Jim. Jim had accepted Mir
 Larcos hospitality for many years
 and was so content with sslis kom,
 that he rarely ventured more than 1 few blocks away. A freight tTsiI
 crew had found him at Sargus, shor
 distance from Santa Barbara. with hi
 wing crippled. Unable to 1ly, Jim
 capture was easy, and the crew
 brought him to Santa Barnara and of
 fered to sell hiIn to NJ. Barco. Jus
 for a whim the fisa dealer bought him
 had his wing treated ani Jim soon be
 came a well-knowa and much-esteeIn
 ed resident of the pretty town
 At first he refused 10 ne coaxed tS
 ea- but one day he was persuaded ts
 try some small i've smeits, whose
 sqRirms he concluded would certs,i.s
 tickle his palate. So he opeEed bii
 bill. not unlike. a hamper. and toe fish
 ermen filled it very sn1cl in the same
 way that they would pack c fasket Jim found the process so dstishtfu and at the same time such hesltffd one that he soon grew very friendl. and well, and it was not iolg before he considered himself sufficiently re n. 1.aa