Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 207, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 September 1918 — STORIES OF AMERICAN CITIES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

STORIES OF AMERICAN CITIES

Pelican With Hunlike Proclivities Is Interned NEW ORLEANS.—BiII, the only white pelican In captivity In the South, beloved of every child, who has ever visited the flying cage in Audubon park, Is to be Interned for the period of the war. Bill Is charged with being

a slacker, a pro-Gennan, and of openly practicing German frightfulness. In his pelicanesque manner, Bill, for two years, has strutted about the cage. Far from exhibiting the beautiful domestic virtues of the emblematic bird of the state —the brown pelican—Bill has consistently acted In a rude, Hunlike manner and terrorized the other denizens of the cftge. Bill has been known to chase his Inoffensive companions in captivity about the inclosure, pecking at terns,

drivings ducks below the surface until they were almost suffocated and climbing with sinister Intent to the top of the cage and trying to garrote witik his enormous beak the innocent birds who had taken refuge there. He was captured some two years ago down Terrebonne way. A hunter shot Bill in the wing, and moreover cut him out of the airplane service. When retrieved by the dog he fought first the dog and then the hunter. His disposition much resembles that of a Mexican centipede. Finding it almost impossible to kill Bill short of deliberate murder, he was sent to the state department of conservation, in whose charge he has remained ever since. The other day,, with evident malice aforethought, Bill sought out a little duckling, Induced it to go into ihe water, and then deliberately tried to drown it by holding its head under water for several minutes. Running amuck, Bill ~ then took a fall out of everything in the cage and licked them all. The “happy family” of the flying cage blew up. It was no longer happy, but miserable. So Bill was sentenced to internment. He will spend the rest of his existence in an inclosed lake. It is surrounded by barbed wire. Bill is peevish, but there is class to him at that, and the children who are old pals of Bill are now notified that all future dates they have with him will have to be kept in the lake and not the cage.

Just a Little Diplomacy, and Behold! Iced Tea WASHINGTON— All is fair in love and war—and hot weather. If you don’t believe it/ask the Iceman. What icemen went through with in Washington a week or so ago only icemen know. The icemair is the target of house*,.

wives all along the route. If he gives them ten cents worth of ice, they want to know why he won’t give them 2|> cents worth. And if his ice runs out and no more is to be had —woe upon him! It was the hottest day of the year. For two days running a certain man —we will call him Mr. Jones —had gone without ice in his apartment. Appeal to rival icemen brought forth answers aplenty, but no ice. As for going out in the street and beseeching

icemen to let him have some frozen water, Mr. Jones was above that. “I’ll die of thirst before I’ll do that,” he said. And, what’s more, he meant it, and stuck to it. But he got Ice. It was about six o’clock that evening. Heat waves chased each other hither and yon. Not an ice wagon was to be seen on the horizon. Suddenly a rumble was heard up the street. Nearer and nearer it came. > - It was an ice wagon—an emergency wagon! Up the staircase came a colored boy lugging a great chunk of ice. “Gee, if I can only get that,” sighed Mr. Jones. The boy came past. “Who is it for?” asked Jones, a gleam of hope appearing. “Well, now, I’ve forgot exactly who it is for,” answered the boy. “Man by the name of Jones, wasn’t it?” asked Jones. “It might have been Jones,” said the boy, hesitating. • “Then you’ve got the right Icechest,” cried the triumphant Joones. “Bring it right in here.” And that was how Mr. and Mrs. Jones came to have ice tea that evening, after all.

Prunella’s Vengeful Spirit Caused Much Trouble NEW YORK.—Prunella, a cat at 665 Cauldwell avenue, could not for the nine lives of her understand why residents of Cauldwell and Westchester avenues did not appreciate her supercontralto voice which she raised nightly

above the tenors, basses, sopranos, etc., of her alley quartet. Nor could Prunella discern the reason why neighbors showered her and her band with milk bottles, brickbats and flowerpots when she serenaded nightly with purely American cat music, while Beauty, a thoroughly yellow. German canary bird belonging to Mrs. Helen Dwinell of (JTCauldwell avenue, was permitted to warble night and day only those airs she learned in the Harz mountains. Last Thursday, with murder in her

eye, Prunella decided to end Beauty’s life. But Beauty had been taken from the front window and was warbling a German melody from the kitchen window. With a few swift movements Prunella reached the window, sprang upon the ledge, and with her claws she opened Beauty’s cage. Maybe Beauty thought Prunella was inviting her to join a songfest. At any rate Beauty hopped out of the cage and into Prunella’s jaws. Mrs. Dwinell had only one recourse —the law. She filed suit in the municipal court of the Bronx, asserting that Mr. Samson, being the Owner of Prunella, is responsible for the deeds of the cat and seeks to recover $25 damages for Beauty’s death. Prunella has left the neighborhood, evidently la search of some place where she can preserve that ninth life. Wife Objected to Being Kicked Down Coal Chute DETROIT. —It was a source of surprise to Mrs. Matilda Ruffery when Fred, -her husband, brought home a handsome piece of silk and told her to make the nicest dress she could. When, after the gown was finished at the expense

of punctured fingers and overtaxed eyes, he told her that it was Intended for another woman, there was something of a scene. It was the basis of a divorce suit in which a decree was granted by Circuit Judge Dingeman. "We had an arrangement with~a family of neighbors that when there was sickness in one family the other family should give all possible assistance,” Mrs. Ruffery explained. “Fred got sick and a young woman from the neighborhood came in and

took care of him. She was a good-lookjng young woman about twenty-one years old, and Fred seemed entirely satisfied with the care he was getting. “After he got well, hewent to a store and bought the silk. I was a little surprised, and I was more surprised at the interest he took in the making of the dress. ■ “He would hover around my chair and make suggestions as to trimming. I had never known him to be so much concerned over my wardrobe. “Then he told me it was for the girl who had taken care of him. I was disappointed and told him so, and he kicked me down the coal chutes”