Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1910-04-01


the ship to take charge Of the unloading
Of his poultry, taking with him Gu
ban youth as interpreter. The inter-
prefer was the cause of all the trouble.
Ostriches, like falcons, are tractable
when they can't see, and SO when it is
desired to load or unload them they
are hooded. The Interpreter asked Mr..
Barbour If 1t wasn't hot for the os-
triches with the hoods over their heads,
and Mr.. Barbour conceded that 1t was,
at the same time stepping into the cab
In to attend to some papers. The in
terpreter, misinterprc ting Mr.. 5sBar-
bour's assent to his obviously correct
remark upon the weather, oficiously
unhooded two of the desert chicks, ant
trouble began Immediately to ensue
and kept right on ensuing.
But all that is depression. The two
birds romped about, kicking right and
left, while crew and passengers took
refuge below or aloft and they COB
bled few, Delaying pins and bolt
heads and other hard things to digest
that were thrown at them or that they
found lying about. Then they stalked
back and forth majestically and the
rooster bird tried to crow and flap his
wings, but failed absurdly, as the crow
Of the ostrich and his wings are rudi-
mentary.
The sudden activity aboard the ALLIE
MANIA, caused by the loosing Of the
birds, had been followed by enforced
( idleness of all hands, and the problem
of how to unload the rest of the cargo
became serious one, the captain
swearing loudly that he couldn't af-
ford to pay demurrage on account Of o
couple Of blanked dry land stormy pet
rels. Finally some one suggested that
they might be caught by sprinkling
salt on their tails, and the cook was
ordered up from his galley with a sack
OF salt. He came up pale and trem-
bling and was saved from the deadly
I kick Of the ostrich only by the timely
interposition OF an ornithologist among
the passengers, who called the angry
9 captains attention to- the fact that
ostriches haven't any tails.
One who had travelled In Africa then
3 famed hope again into flicker by
suggesting that IL they only had some
gand for the ostriches to stick theiI
heads into they could catch them cas-
4 Ivy; that that was the way they always
caught them in the desert, where there
is plenty of sand.
"A boat was at once lowered and dis
! patched to the city for sand. When 4
returned with It's cargo the sand was
hoisted aboard and dumped on the
Z deck at the end farthest from the
ostriches and made into nice heaps
4 like gigantic golf tees, after which sew
eral of the crew were sent around II
the boat to the bow Of the ship, al
which end the ostrtches were, to say
..Shoog' The ostriches wouldn't sshoo,
as they had found a key Of nails and
10 were taking dinner.
"a brave lady went out among thu
sand dunes and CALEB. Birdy, birdy!!'
But the desert scorchers disregardet
her Establishments. a small boy asked
the captain why he didn't scuttle tf.
ship and drown 'em alive, 'like the pi
PUTS do" About that dine the bird.
Finished the keg Of nails and camt
majestically stalking aft, but Btoppet
halfway and began picking their teetl
with their toe nails. The oraithologis
suddenly remembered that ostriches Il
I captivity are very fond Of broken bot
/ ties, especially for dessert and two q
the. crew were at once get to wofl
breaking bottles When the oeFiche
sighted the dainty repast they nad
for It with all haste, and while the.
d were RECALLING themselves ropes wsr'
put about their legs and they wer
carried ashore bound band and foot