476 
FANCIERS’ JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 
gf§g““ There is a gentleman by the name of Martin Van 
Buren Bates, residing in the vicinity of Medina, Ohio, who 
is seven feet eleven and a half inches in height, and weighs 
478 pounds. His wife is eight feet in height, and weighs 
415 pounds. They were married in England in 1871. Who 
says there are not giants in these days ? 
An Elephant a Thief.— The elephant at the 
Zoological Gardens, Dublin, innocently got his keeper into 
trouble on the 23d of April. Staff-Surgeon Luckle, who 
had been in the Ashantee war, dropped in the gardens a ring, 
taken among the African spoils. The elephant saw the 
ring drop, put forth his trunk and picked it up. Being in 
the habit of giving to his keeper coins and other indigesti- 
ble presents made to him hy admiring spectators, he gave 
the ring to his keeper. So far the keeper was safe — the ele- 
phant was the unconscious thief. But the whole transaction 
was seen by others ; and the keeper being taxed with hav- 
ing the ring in his possession, said he knew nothing about 
it. He was then observed to throw something away, which 
was found to be the ring. He was fined twenty shillings. 
The elephant appropriated other peoples’ goods. The keeper 
was the receiver. 
Instinct of Turtles. — Audubon, the naturalist, 
stated that at a certain place on the coast of Florida, sea- 
turtles, those huge, stolid-looking reptiles on which aldermen 
are fed at the expense of the taxpayers, possess an extraor- 
dinary faculty of finding places. Working their way up 
out of the reach of the tide- water with their flippers, quite a 
deep hole is excavated in which a batch of eggs are deposi- 
ted, and then carefully covered up. On reaching the water, 
they not unfrequently swim three hundred miles out to sea, 
foraging appropriate food. When another batch of eggs 
are developed, after a lapse of about fourteen days, they will 
return unerringly in a direct line, even in the darkest night, 
and visit the buried eggs. Removing the sand, more are 
deposited and secured. Away they go again as before. 
They know instinctively the day and hour when the young 
brood — incubated by solar rays — will break the shell, and 
are promptly on the spot to liberate them from their prison. 
As soon as fairly out of the hole, the mother turtle leads 
them down the bank to the waves, and there ends her pater- 
nal solicitude and maternal duties. 
The Reformed Crows. — Colonel B had one of 
the best farms near the Illinois River. About a hundred 
acres of it were covered with waving corn. When it came 
up in the spring, the crows seemed determined on its entire 
destruction. When one was killed, it seemed as though a 
dozen came to its funeral ; and though the sharp crack of 
the rifle often drove them away, they always returned with 
its echo. 
The colonel at length became weary of throwing grass, 
and resolved on trying the virtue of stones. He sent to the 
druggist for a barrel of alcohol, in which he soaked a few 
quarts of corn, and scattered it over his field. The blacklegs 
came and partook with their usual relish, and as usual they 
were pretty well corned; and there followed a strange caw- 
ing and cackling, and stuttering and swaggering. When 
the boys attempted to catch them, they were not a little 
amused at their staggering, and their zig-zag way through 
the air. At length they gained the edge of the woods, and 
there, being joined by a new recruit which happened to be 
sober, they united at the tops of their voices in haw-hawk- 
ing and shouting either praises or curses on alcohol — it was 
difficult to tell which — as they rattled away without rhyme 
or reason. But the colonel saved the corn. As soon as 
they became sober, they set their faces steadfastly against 
alcohol, and not another kernel would they touch in his 
field. 
B@“A farmer in Walpole, N. H., had a dog — one of those 
half pointer, half setter good-for-nothings, that “set” on 
the floor at dinner-time and point at the table. 
One day, after due deliberation, the farmer determined 
to commit canicide. He accordingly procured a suitable 
strap, and, calling his faithful dog, proceeded to a stream of 
water not far distant ; and, finding a pool of sufficient depth, 
fastened a stone of suitable size on one end of his strap, and 
commenced adjusting the other end round the dog. Poor 
Tige, perhaps remembering the fate of his juvenile sisters — 
or maybe inheriting natural hydrophobia — and also conclu- 
ding there was a tide in the affairs of dogs as well as men, 
when taken at the flood, began to exhibit unmistakable 
signs of uneasiness, and before the strap could be securely 
fastened, he made a last desperate effort and escaped. He 
did not stop for ceremonious leave-taking, but took a bee- 
line due east over the hills. The celerity of the dog’s move- 
ments made such an impression on the risibles of the farmer 
that whistling was wholly out of the question. Notwith- 
standing his master called long and loud for him in endear- 
ing tones, the dog never looked behind so long as he was in 
sight. 
Weeks and months rolled on, but no tidings from the 
dog. About two years after he left, when his master was 
returning from Keene, on the Surry road, he met his old 
dog with a new master. He spoke to the dog, calling him 
bj' his old name, but Tige would not even look at him. 
POULTRY SHOWS FOR 1874 & 1875. 
New England Poultry Cluh. Worcester, Mass., December 
1, 2, 3, and 4, 1874.* G. H. Estabrook, Secretary. 
The Eastern Pennsylvania Poultry Association. Doyles- 
town, Pa., December 8, 9, 10, and 11, 1874. Theo. P. 
Harvey, Secretary, Doylestown, Pa. 
Connecticut State Poultry Society. Hartford, Conn., De- 
cember 15, 16, 17, and 18, 1874. Dr. G. L. Parmele, Sec’y. 
Maryland State Poultry Association, Baltimore, Jan. 5, 6, 7, 
and 8, 1875. S. H. Slifer, Secretary. 
Lehigh Valley Poultry Association. Allentown, Pa., Jan- 
uary 5, 6, 7, and 8, 1875. John H. Hickman, Secretary. 
Maine Poultry Association. Portland, January 12, 13, 14, 
and 15, 1875. Fred. Fox, Secretary, Portland, Maine. 
Western Pennsylvania Poultry Society. Pittsburg, January 
13 to 20 inclusive. R. F. Shannan, Secretary. 
Massachusetts Poultry Association. Boston Music Hall, 
January 27 to February 4, 1875. Wm. B. Atkinson, Sec- 
retary. 
Western New York Poultry Society. Buffalo, New York, 
February 10 to 17, 1875. Geo. W. White, Secretary. 
GAME HEN, RABBITS, AND GUINEA PIGS.— I have 
a very line Black Game hen, from a strain bred for pit exclusively, price 
$1.50; a few common rabbits, five months old, at $150 per pair; also, 
Guinea pigs at from $2 to $4 per pair. Letters answered same day as re- 
ceived. Correspondence solicited. 
WM. D. ZELL, 422 Charlotte Street, Lancaster, Pa. 
NOTICE TO SHIPPERS. — For $1.10 1 will send one brass Stencil 
Alphabet and Figures, size one inch, with can of stencil paste, sponge 
and brush, complete in a suitable box ; also, stencil and name plates, all 
sizes. Ask for what you want and the price will be given. Letters an- 
swered same day as received. Stencils by mail, post-paid, for price. Ad- 
dress WM. D. ZELL, 422 Charlotte Street, Lancaster, Pa. 
