The Concordia sentinel. (Vidalia, Concordia Parish, La.) 1882-current, 1920-11-13
LIVES With BIRDS
Caretaker Has Absolutely No
Other Companions.
Joo about as Lonesome as One Could
Imagine Is Eagerly Sought by
Hundreds of Men.

WANTED-A man to live alone on ar
island finland lake, eight miles -
shore; transportation, food, clothing shaI.
ter BOAT, etc, furnished; no work. N,
Compensatton. Summertime GOO rrrib,,p.
building. New York.
Every Easter Sunday for rho loo,
hrteen years this advertisement has
appeared in Help Wanted" columns
EVERY year hundreds of men. and AZ.
caslonally a woman, have made oppli.
cation for the job
Many of those who have answered.
ana received no reply have formed the
opinion that the whole thing is a prac-
lcai Joke, played by an individual
VINO Is collecting data of the different
hihdS or people who react to the same
illpuiSe-or something like that. In
NeStlSauOn, however, has proved that
there Is in truth a man who offers
precisely the sort of position de-
scribed and that it has been filed sat
IsIactorily each summer for 10 wears
Inc man is the director of large
weil-known dry goods house in New
1ork. He has home in the Adiron-
uackS near lake with four little is-
lands in the center. Every wear COL
ohy OF arctic or burgomaster seaguus
ailghts on these islands and stays
mere throughout the summer. In or
0er TO protect the eggs and the voung
man is hired to live on one of the
islands.
He has no duty other than the ma.
trolling of the shore and tbe bird
haunts. He goes early in Nav when
the birds begin to arrive and leaves
dlter they do. In no case is il neces-
sary for him to stay longer than Oc-
tOber l.
There is a humorous anglo to tho
SITUATION an angle that gives truth
10 the trlte saying that distance lends
When the advisabilitv
OF getting man to look after these
Dlrds hrst formulated itself in the
mlnd OF the man who has made him.
self their friend, he decided he couId
nire one of the men in the neighbor-
Ing community for the task.
he preached the subject to some of |
them and offered to pay $50 a month
with food and shelter as described in
the advertisement. Thirty dollars a
month at that time meant a good deal
more than it does today. Neverthe- |
less he could find nobody to whom the
IDEA OF living a solitary life on a
axe island made any appeal.
knowing human nature intimately
ne employs hundreds of men and wom-
en-he decided to insert an advertise
nent in city papers, tell briefly what
vas expected and make no offer of
other than food. cloth
ng, and shelter. The response was
tupendous. Immediately letters be-
AN pouring In by the score from men
every walk of life asking that they
e allowed to go off into the solitudes
The Bowery bum applied and said
hat be wanted nothing but the woods
nd the waters; the youth whose love
al been unrequited made a similar
equest; the man whose aim was TO
rive at the topmOst rung of the lad
er of. literary success was certain that
he advertisement had been inserted
5 godsend from heaven.
Out of the hundreds that applied J
ne was finally chosen. Among the I
fteen who have worked there are a
naturalist. Gn attorney gen.
al of a neighboring state. and
an named Daniel Boone, who is a Z
rect descendant Of the pioneer who
IRE that name.
In almost every case the men asked
be allowed to return the following
ar. but the rules laid down by the
an who has interested himself in this
1rk are against this. He does not
mt the keeper of the birds to grow
quainted with the people in the
ighboring community, as he might
he returned to the same place year
ter year.
1t is not the men that interest him:
is the preservation of this species
seagulls. which are, he states, the
gest of their kind, having a spread
wings of five feet. Their contri-
ton to humanity is the scavenger
~ they perform. 1t is estimated
It they eat two, pounds of offal |