Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-01-28

,:r;ro a few miles from boAu, AoA"o'
s.s a large parrot that's something
80 = wonder in a way, not exactly as a
.',ror although Pedro-that's Polly's
"ano-can say things in English,
No. in French and curse like a
snancho in Spanish, but as a fighter.
% pedro is on record as being the
Nv conservative of his species
o-or Joining combat with a rattle
snake. mod
Morgan Witherspoon, a cattleman
from Western Texas, in the city with
= carload of beeves destined for the
,ocal slaughter house, sat in front of
so,oon. near the New Orleans
butchers Cooperative Abattoir, sew
oral DAYS ago, and, being in the mood
for yarn-spinning, MI. Witherspoon
rid himself of a story out Of the or
binary for the benefit Of those near
him.
THE parrot was a young, mean
tomDered little thing at the time
Andrews bought him from a Mexi-
can." Mr.. Witherspoon started his
story. but after a while, when the
bird began to know folks about the
Mace. he manifested a better DISPOSE
ton, didn't squaWk outrageously and
rifle I'D his feathers when any one
approached, and showed no DISPOSE
ton to use that powerful beak OF
his.
Pedro was a wise bird-what par
rot isn't?-and from the children he
readily learned to talk quite a lot.
Mrs. Andrews, who was a Creole lady
from Louisiana, had q mighty fine
voice. and Of an evening when the
family was gathered in the sitting
room after the days work was over,
she would sit at the piano and sing
songs in French. One of these songs
was an easy little ditty, and Pedro,
sitting on his roost in his big tin
cage in the kitchen, instead of going
to sleep as orderly parrots should do
with the advance Of night, put his
faculties to work to master the ditty,
and one day he astonished the good
people by bawling off the first line
If the opening stanza in a voice that
sounded like files grating against
each other.
Mrs. Andrews, greatly amused
devoted much Of her spare time tc
teaching Pedro some more Of this
song. Pedro's favorite perch during
the day in fair weather was the rail
Ing Of the side gallery overlooking
the poultry yard, and Mrs. Andrews
in her spare moments, would take
her chair, place it close to the bird
and, seating herself, sing in low
soft voice.
Pedro seemed to appreciate tina
MS mis- ress' vocal efforts were beini
mace in his behalf, and, arching hi
mead to Il side, and rufling his nec]
feaJhers-a sign indicating eithe
pleasure or anger in one of his specie
ne would listen attentively, cluck
Ing to himself the while.
Pedro, in less than a month
learned the whole four lines of tn
Afst verse, and he would sing then
90. when Mrs. Andrews would Goa
alm with g chicken bone, and every
pody thought Pedro was just to
smart for anything. But If Pedro
aftlstic temperament was develope
ny Mrs. Andrews, all that was bad j
Aih was brought to the surface b
miguel, enc of the Mexican hire
men At lunch hour, when the fan
ny was in the dining room at Dime
ana Miguel was finished with his r.
past the greaser would go to tt
Sard, stand near the gallery and gil
vent to the foulest Spanish oaths ]
eould lay tongue to.
You can do more swearing al
eurslns in Spanish than any 9th
language; it has Billingsgate beat'
nile, and what Miguel said to tn
onu wouldn't make nice reading f
. ounday-school paper. Parrots a
WICK to learn anything, and esp
ua'y attentive are they when b;
Hinss are being handed them.
S0s lucky for Mrs. Andrews that s
asun I mastered Spanish, for had b
suucatlon extended that far I reck
sned have thought that Pedro "
10y nc Tor some reform school or
sai' where obscene and vulgar pr
ols are locked up. If the la
~u1uh talk Spanish her husba
eoula' and he followed Pedro's d
curse beyond the 'Caramba' and
earFaJo' stage with increasing asst,
snineht. Andrews knew where
ay the blame, and, hunting up M
uei' lie kicked the Mexican all arou
1+afd' without telling him why.
miguel, rubbing the sore spt
hroa nlottering maledictions under
o''H' saddled his mule and r,
tbat from the Andrews place,
~" wasn't the last of him by
aAner of means, as the sequel
DIV lie was to appear in a
sasS' seeking a desperate vengea1
~, neuols plan which was to be {,
""'eo by Pedro, the parrot.
one afternoon-it was the 4
N'S after Miguel. the Mexican.