Mystery surrounded the disappearance of about fifty of the choicest fowls on the poultry farm of George Bagg, at Brewerton, on Oneida Lake, N. Y. Twenty hens were taken a few weeks ago; soon afterward about twenty more disappeared, and a week ago ten more joined the missing.
The poultry house was double padlocked, a homemade burglar alarm was employed, and still the poultry seemed to melt away. There were no traces of predatory animals, and the superstitious wagged their heads, while Mr. Bagg was in despair.[Pg 56]
A few days ago he put in the day hiding in some bushes midway between his poultry yard and the nearby banks of the river which flows into Oneida Lake. As he watched, the mystery was solved. Four unusually large geese from the farm of Frank Binn, across the river, had been fraternizing with the Bagg hens all summer and been enticing them to leave their home and go over to the other farm.
The geese were seen solemnly waddling down to the water, followed by several hens. When the geese stepped into the river, a hen would flutter a few feet up and down the bank, and then, with a squawk, would fly or hop onto the back of a goose. Then, squatting contentedly, the fowls were carried over to the Binn farm. There Mr. Bagg found his missing hens, the geese having carried them all over on their backs.
Vicious Deer Trapped.
While J. F. Parkhill, a prominent stockman of Breckenridge, Texas, was out hunting his cows on the Hubbard River, in the northern part of this county, his attention was attracted to a vacant ranch house by some violent disturbance going on within. Upon approaching the building, he beheld a buck deer on the inside engaged in killing a large rattlesnake. Suddenly the deer made a break for the door, but was fought back by Mr. Parkhill with a scantling until he could barricade the entrance.
The next day, Mr. Parkhill, along with County Clerk J. A. Ault, Colonel Warner Parkhill, and J. L. Griffith, went to the vacant house and hauled the deer home in a wagon. The deer was a vicious animal, and Mr. Parkhill was severely cut and bruised by the deer while trying to keep it in the ranch house until the door was barricaded.
Want to Sell a Leg?
Any one with a leg to spare is here notified that he will be able to do business with Will Taylor, of Portersville, Ala. He appears to be anxious to dicker for one without any unnecessary delay.
The Chattanooga police department received a letter from Mr. Taylor in which he made it quite plain that he wants a leg at once. His, he states, is off just above the knee, but he fails to say whether left or right leg is needed to make his feet track. The letter, addressed to “Mr. Police, Chattanooga,� is as follows: