The Yale expositor., 1907-06-14
a Phenomenal
Rooster

and mine; very likely you never paid
much attention to him! but / don't
care In what light you look at him, the
more you study him the more talented
he appears. You talk about your
American iggles and birds of freedom,
and all such slush as that, but that in
significant-looking chicken yonder kin
give any of them 20 points and pocket
them at the first shot. l pledge you
my word that that rooster has fine
traits of, character that'd adorn almost
any walk of life. He's just lovely!
don't say anything about his voice.
That's neither here nor there. AL
though If you're going to allude to that
subject, l just want to mention that,
as far as growing is concerned, he kin
begin earlier, knock off later, and reel
off more crows in a minute than any
other rooster in the state.
Most chickens are kinder stupid;
but what l like about him is, that he is
sympathetic; he has feeling. l know
last fall that my shanghai hen was
taken sick while she was trying to
hatch out some eggs, and that rooster
was so compassionate that he used to
go in, and sit on that nest for hours,
trying to help her out so that she
could go off recreating after exercise.
And when she died, he turned right in
and took charge of things; seemed to
feel that he ought to be a father to
those unborn little orphans, and he
straddled around over those eggs for
ever so long as graceful as a mer-
maid!
HE never got much satisfaction out
of it, though Most of them were duck
eggs, and it seemed to kinder cut him
up when he looked at those birds after
they Matched out. He took it to heart
and appeared to feel low-spirited and
afflicted. He would go off and stand
by himself-stand on one leg in cor
ner of the fence and let his mind brood
over his troubles until you'd pity him.
1t Disguised him to think how the job
turned out.
Now you wouldn't think such
chicken as that would have much
courage, but as true as I'm telling you
VI
tigers as to go to sleep. He got a no
ton in his head that that rooster over
there on the Baptist church steeple
was alive, and he couldn't bear to
think that it was up there sailing
around and putting on airs over him,
and good many times I've seen him
try to fly up at il SOS to arrange a
Grrl. L. h I.,fS
make it, he'd crow at the Baptist
rooster and dare it to come down, and
at last, when all his efforts we're USE
less, would you believe that rooster
one day tackled the sexton as the
weathercock's next friend, and drove
his spurs so far into the sections
shanks that he walked on crutches for
more'n a week. l never saw a mere
chicken have such fine instincts and
such pluck.
He is a splendid fighter, anyway,
just as he stands. And so intelligent,
too. Why, he had a little fuss with
Pitman's Poland rooster here some
time back, and instead of going at him
and taking the chances of getting
licked, that chicken actually put him
self into training, ate nothing but corn,
took regular exercise, went to roost
early, took a cold bath every morning,
and got a friendly pullet to rub him
down with a corncob. 1t was wonder
full! and in a week or so he was all
bone and muscle, and he fiickered over
the fence after Pitman's rooster and
sent him cahooting into the next world
in the fourth round.
Il never saw such rooster for intel
lectual culture. Now do you know l
believe that chicken actually takes an
interest in politics! oh, you may
laugh, but last fall during the cam
paign, he was so excited about some
thing that he couldn't eat, and the
night they had the Democratic mass
meeting here he roasted on the chan
delier in the hall, and every time Gen.
Beller made good point that chicken
would crow and flap his wings as much
as to say: 'Them's my sentiments!'
And on the day of the parade he
turned out and followed the last wag-
on, keeping step with the music, and
never dropping out of line but once,
when he stopped to fight a Republican
rooster belonging to old Byerly, who
was on the Republican ticket for coun-
ty commissioner. And in the morning,
after the Democrats won, he just got
on the fence out here and crowed so
vociferously you could've heard him
across the river. particularly when 1
run up the American flag and read the
latest returns.
Eyes, sir Now l know you'll think
it's ridiculous when l tell you, but It's
an actual fact that that very day my
daughter was playing the 'Star-span-
gled Banner on the piano, and that
rooster, when he heard 1t, came scud-
ding into the parlor, and after Tipping
up on the piano he struck out and
crowed that tune just as natural as IL
he was an educated musician. Posi-
tive truth, and he beat time with his
tall He didn't crow like any other
rooster. Every morning he works Off
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