Evening star., 1922-10-08
Heard and Seen

Remember tho story OF the gentle
man who attempted to catch q lone
roach in his bathroom, but was flnally
forced to give 1t up whom the crea-
ture outwitted him. making. its
escape?
Well, here is the sequel to that
story.
| The mans wife came home. She
was horrified when she learned that
a roach had been discovered in her
home
Il hope I see 1t. that's ALL" she said
breathing out vengeance upon the
whole insect tribe.
| One evening the gentleman heard q
tremendous thump emanate from the
/; bathroom. His wife appeared, smil-
ing broadly.
Il got him that time" she said. 81
dropped can of cleanser right
| square on him."
! AS 1t was late. the roach was allow
| ed to remain in peace beneath his
tin until next morning.
7 You had better go see II your
roach is there" the man said ''You
know he is a willy creature. The
| thing has brains
| His brains will do him no good
this time" said the woman. He has
| been dead a long time now
way"
She went into the bathroom. She
was SO quiet upon her return that her
husband got curious.
We'll. was he there?" he asked.
wife.
Did you sweep him upr
Well, not exactly"
We'll. what did you dor
We'll. you see, picked up the can
Of cleanser"
Yes"
And the roach was still alive"
Yes: 60 on"
And when lifted the can of him
he ran across the room"
1nd "1ns got away"
81 thought So"
The natural pond of North Amer
| ican waterfowl at the National
Geological Park affords a world Of
entertainment for one who has pa
! thence enough to sit on one of the
comfortable benches at the edges OF
the pool long enough to become ac-
quainted with the ducks.
The fowl live life of contentment,
fed daily by a mysterious providence
which takes the form OF a khaki-clad
attendant bearing grain, and occa
stonally fresh grass. He is often
aided and abetted by visitors. who
pick clovers and grass for the ducks.
They eat 1T greediiy. One gray
goose. especially. seems to have an
Unsuitable appetite for fresh grass.
He prefers to be hand fed. While the
| rest Of the birds are down at the
other END Of the pool he will swim
fence and gnAsh his bill on the wire.
Careful observation fails to dis
cover any warfare among the differ
ent species Of fowl. Perhaps here is
one solution of world turmoil. No
matter what size duck attacks
another. the victim never fights back.
He invariably fees. Might is right
in the waterfowl pool, but the Often
sive always wins.
A great swan seems to be the king
Of the outfit, pokins his long neck
out at smaller ducks. chasing them
around II for any reason he gets 1t
in for them
swans latest enemy. 1t seems that
some people made IT habit to feed
the goose with fresh grass whenever
they came to the park. Whenever
the swan would paddle up to get a
mouthful the people would refuse
him any. carefully giving all the
grass to the goose.
The swan got jealous. One day
when the goose was being fed with
succulent clover blossoms the swan
came swimming up at the head OF a
great fotilla of fowl. large and small.
There were whistling. swans, big
ducks and little ducks: fellows show
ing iridescent colors. others Of plain
brown hue; some sitting high in the
water. long hecks protruding; others
sitting low in the waves. squat heads
seated closely on their round bodies.
The great swan came on at the
head of the gang. his neck elongated.
murder in his cold black eye. He
made straight for that goose. Seiz-
ing it's wing in his bill. he dragged
the goose underneath the water and
held him there.
OF course, it would take consider
able time to drown one of these
creatures. but for a while it looked
as IL that was exactly what the swan
was going to do to that poor goose.
But after while the swan eased up.
the goose came to the surface and
walked onto dry land as if nothing
had happened. II was all in the day
Of a North American waterfowl. evil
IDENTIFY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.