Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 302, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 December 1911 — Killed Owl He Thought Was a Burglar [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Killed Owl He Thought Was a Burglar

Cincinnati. —The whack of a ciub resounding at the dead of night in the parlor, of the residence of M. 6. Herman, coupled with the piercing icream of a dying maltese owl, mark»d the climax of a three-cornered battle, waged in darkness, between the owl, Night Patrolman Joe Conlon of the Newport police force and the Herman household. And when the halfarticulate and eerie cry of the dying bird of prey subsided and lights were turned on, neighbors of the Hermans, who had heard the crash of bric-a-brac, the thumping of the policeman's" mace on"the lintel of the Herman threshold and the hoots of the cause of the trouble, did not know whether to tuyn over in their beds or call out the fire department. It was a bit of a braw night when Patrolman Conlon rounded the corner

and passed-the Herman home. Mr. Herman, a’ neophyte of the fresh-air movement, had left the parlor window wide open. The owl, one of a nest which have been keeping Newport awake of nights for the past month, Invaded N tfie room and a fearsome noise ensued. After the owl, which was making, wide circles of the room, * had smashed an antique clock, a hall tree, several small pictures' and a Louis XIV. chair of frail design, and had Its claws entangled in a piano cover, on which were a Japanese vase and a rose Jar, was taking charge of this portion of the home furniture, Herman was roused by Patrolman Conlon thumping on the door^ "There’s burglars in the house!" exclaimed Conlon. “Who-o-o?” mournfully inquired the owl. "Burglars! Don’t you hear ’em?” shouted Conlon. Not knowing whether their quarry was hunlan or ghostlike, the pair cautiously turned, the doorknob. Before Herman could reach the light button there was a feathery swish past his head and he struck out with Conlon’s club. The owl’s cry of mortal anguish followed.