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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (June 20, 1903)
: .... ,1 THE OREQOff DA JUNE ; 20, 1903 . 's X jLAiyi.ivr"i,n"""""" ! i "i"' - fi"-i-i- - iriii wivkwuw. JMijjrnfirii'vvvxniV'Minri David Burney V Strange Interest in Learning the Language of ; V; the Animal World and How it Brought Fame and a Fortune - Why Animals, Birds and Insects Can See at Night The Mys teries of the Sea and the Fortune Hidden in a Whale's Stomach -J ..fc, ........ . ! GOOD . STORIES FOR QHILDREN By Walt McDougall 0 NOT believe that at any time or in any place there ever was a boy who pursued ao tranira an1 nnnnrpnt.lv fl unprofitable ft Study aa David Burney did, and yet the result was quite as beneficial to him as if he had studied Hebrew, trigo nometry, acoustics, genealogy archaeology,, pyro technics, palmistry and half a doren others just as difficult to master. ' A f In ancient times, when it was "Very common. In deed, to see boy- studying with alchemists, troj: gers and alleged wirards, such a course as DarW took might not have seemed so verr odd, but now adays it would be nearly impossible to find another lad who had undertaken the language of animals and birds. Such was thrfemarkable learning. which he acquired in this branch of acicnce that he under atood what every creature was ' saying, no matter whether it was an elephant, a cow-bird, a turtle or a cockroach. He learned all this from a poor, obscure old man f who lived in a hovel in the Allegretto mountains in Jt&Jt man who was supposed by the inhabitants of AfJhtit region to be half craxy and who lived almost aa f simply and poorly as any wild denizen of the forest, but who, once in a while, when he took a lancy to a lad, would impart his wtnderful knowledge to him f ora small sum of money. But unless the boy was Very ' bright,persevering - and steady -ie seldom wasted much time on him. David was all these and more, for his memory was so wonderful that he never forgot anything he heard and old Mr. Gran-, ini, the hermit of the mountains, was so charmed with his gentleness, his cleverness and his studious habits that he taught him all that he knew. "What's the use of learning animal-talk f You can't sell hats, shoes or neckties to pigs, goats or rabbits 1" said David's Uncle Ilenry, who had a no tion store in the country. "You'd better learn Rus sian or Filipino and make a dollar or two." "There are other things in the world thon money," replied David. "I wish to learn the habits of ani mals so that I can impart the knowledge to man kind." 4,4.4. "Bosh!" cried his uncle., "Who care to know what time ox night the elephant goes to bed, or whether bears snore or mice hare fits! All this ani 5tnal business is overdone." "Suppose I learn how to raise peals so that we kw . 11 at t 1 T- 1 "Well, perhaps there would be some sense in that," replied Uncle Henry, "but you will most likely spend your time writing down the smart sayings of guinea pigs or what 'stories wart-hogs tell in the forest. I know these naturalists and what they like to dig up about animals." "Well, perhaps 111 find a way to make a little money, after all," said David. As Undo Henry had helped to pay for his schooling, David thought that he ought to make some return for the outlay. So without telling you about the many remark able things which the boy learned, and the conver sations which he held with all sorts of animals that are considered dumb and senseless, how his dog and cat told him the most wonderful tales and how the birds in the trees and shrubs sang such songs to him, that he was constantly writing down all that he" heard, I will simply relate how he made a great deal of money in a most peculiar manner and com pletely satisfied Uncle Henry that it was very profit able to learn the language of animals. 4.4.4. David had been talking with several cata rats, owls and moles about their marvelous ability to see in the dark, and, although they tried to make him understand, he could not comprehend why they should be able to see what was quite invisible to him. Meeting a. rabbit one afternoon, he brought tho subject up and asked the cotton-tail how he managed to dodge the low-hanging branches and stumps when running at full speed through the darkest forest. "I suppose I do just as you would yourself," re plied Bunny. "I see them and duck or dodge in time to avoid hitting them." DAVID DISCOVERS .1 1 d 11 -2rr-f nr" vAVu.Yivt-a - w . But I don't see them!" exclaimed David. "Not at night. I never know a branch is there until it whacks me on the nose !" "Can't you see it shining, just as bright as moon lit snow I" asked the rabbit in wonder. 44,4 "Shining I Do tho trees, rocks and things seem I to shine I" cried David, as the new thought cams j to him. f "Seem! Why, they do shine; there'sno .'seem about it!" responded Bunny, wriggling his nose in surprise. "It's as plain as day!" Now, David had of late been reading about the wonderful properties of certain metals which ra diate light in the darkest room, which is totally 1 invisible to a human eye, but which is so plain thai a photographic plate in a camera sees it and a picture is taken by it that plainly, shows objects, nearby. It seems as if the metal stored up tho sunshine and let it ooze out by degrees, just as ice melts. , David came to the conclusion, after consulting with all of his night-prowling animal friends, in cluding the fox, skunk, mink, mouse' and mole, that . almost every substance has this power of storing sunlight in various degrees and releasing it at night, but the eyes of many animals, not being so, well adapted to seeing in the dark, do not perceive any more than we do this glowing radiance. THE ..WHALE DAVID AND HIS ANIMAL FRIENDS "I now know," said David to his father, "how the mosquito can sail right at you in the dark and land on the one spot where you are not prepared to swat him." "Yes, and I can see now how a cat can walk a fence and dodge a bootjack or a brick!" said his father. "I wish I could manage to see the path and the front steps the same way some nights," he added, thoughtfully. "Yes," said David's mother, "and how lovely it would be to get up in the night and walk around the room without knocking chairs and tables over ! I wish we could do it!" . "Pish, tush!" cried Uncle Henry. "What's the use of all this, except to show that animals don't have gas bills to pay. Find out how to discover some buried treasure, and your learning will be of some use." i N 4,4,4. A .few days after this conversation the Burney family went to tho seashore for the summer, and David waadelighted, as there would be opportuni ties to converse with new animals, such as fish, crabs, lobsters, clams, oysters, starfish and a myr iad others. He spent all of his time on the beach, and people seeing him lying' m the wet, sand with his ear close to a recumbent clam often thought the boy demented; but he was learning all the sub marine lore of the ocean. . Seahorses told him of their races, oysters sang deep-sea songs to him, fiddler crabs taught him. new melodies hitherto undreamed of;' dogfish re vealed how they hunted the sea wolves, chased the sea urchins and scared the sea cows so that their milk? soured; starfish gave him totally new ideas of astronomy, and sea spiders revealed how they existed without weaving any webs in the deep. Every day he learned some new facts, and finallv he came upon the treasure that satisfied Uncle Henry. ' One morning ho arose at daybreak and went to the shore to meet some plover and sandsnipe, but he had scarcely approached the beach before he saw a new- object. Something huge and black loomed up at the water's edge, and, hastening hither, he saw that an enormous whale lay stranded in the shoal water. "What is the matter t" he inquired as he hastened to the monster, whose great, broad head was high and dry on the sand. v .-"Matter!" gasped the whale. '; "The matter is that I am dying." ' , "Why don't you make ao effort and get into deep water before the tide gets any lower!" asked David in great concern, ".What's the use!" replied the cetacean. . "I am bo sick that I care not whether I am afloat or stranded. I am going to die, and I might s well do it here." - : ; . ' . . ' , wSEUtJa iongl',iflauire4jliQ boy,;' - I don't know. I am completely, utterly worn out, and too weak to move," replied the whale, "feebly moving his tail up and down. "Let me see your tongue," said David. 4,4.4. "The whalo put his great tongue out and David saw that it was white and coated, showing much fever. His palate was somewhat inflamed, too, and . appeared harsh and dry. As his mouth .'opened David could see far down his throat beyond the fringes of pendant whalebone, and he said : "I'll just go down into your inside and see if there is anything wrong there. "I wish you would," said the whale. "I am sure there's some foreign substance in me." "Keep- your mouth wide open, then," added David, "so I can get plenty of air." ' Then ho walkd down the" smobtKT dry throat just as he would go into a tunneL He found the whale's lungs in good condition, and did not waste any time in examining them, but hurried on to his stomach, where ho expected to locate the trouble. As ho entered the stomach he stumbled over something about as big asan ordinary valise, and he picked it up, thinking -he had found the cause of tho whale's distress, and he hastened out with it. When the whale saw it he said: "Oh, that's only ambergris. I get a lump of that every little while. -Vs. : THE STARFISH TEACHES HIM ASTCOrJC'Tr 4 It gives me heartburn sometimes, but that'i nol what ails mo now." Now, David knew that ambergris is one of th most valuable orsubstances, a lump as big as one'f head being worth thousands of dollars, and thi lump was five or six times as large. He was de lighted at securing this treasure, worth probably) fifty or sixty thousand dollars, but he laid tha wnxy, repulsive-looking lump on the sand and has til.y re-entered the whale's throat ' Arriving once more in the stornach, where it was as dark as in his own cellar at midnight, he vil proceeding slowly and cautiously along, when he came in contact with something hard. Then, more tha n ever before, ho wished for a bat's or bd owl's eyes, but he felt in all of his pockets, and at last found one match. Lighting it cautiously, he dii covered that tho hard object was a great iron bound chest, rusty and covered with great bar nacles. It had become quite firmly imbedded in tha flesh of the whale's stomach, which showed that if had been there a long time. 4.4.4, He was quite sure this was what ailed the mon ster, and he went out and told him so. The whal reflected a moment and then said: "You're right. Ever since I swallowed that thing off the coast of South America more than threa. hundred vfnra a on T'va -fok that uinultiin wtmm r - - "mm- wrong. It had no taste, and I thought it wa harmless, although it felt heavy on my stomach, 1 suppose it will be tho death of me." "No," said Henry. "I'll get a rope and tie if around it, and then fasten the other end to a tree, after which you must make a desperate effort and back off into deep water. That will fetch it up id a jiffy." "All right Go and get the rope. I can get on easily enough," said the whale. Henry ran home and got a stout rope a hundred and forty feet long. Fastening one end to a big tree, he hurried down to the whale's stomach, where ho lighted a candle and proceeded to tie the rope firmly about the great chest When that was dona he came out and told the whale that he must da the rest 4,4,4. But It was a dreadful task. It was like pulling a tooth to dislodge that chest, but finally up it came as the whale backed off and tugged at the rope like a fish on the hook. The chest rolled out on shore, and the whale eyed it with angry glances, but he said : "That was it I feel better already, and I am 4 thousand times ol'iged to you, but now, as the tide is getting pretty low, I must be moving off or IU bo high and dry indeed. Good morning." , Then hu flopped and floundered until he got into deep water, and, with a final wave of his tail, dived! and vanished. Henry got his father's horse and wagon, and long before other people were out of bed he had the chest1 home. There he opened it without much difficulty,' as tho locks were completely rusted away. And) what do you suppose was in it!" . It was full of gold doubloons, out of some ancient! galleon of Spain, heaped to the very lid with gold, and also scattered in among the coins were many) gleaming gems of grtat value. Uncle Henry's eyes popped when they told him : about the ambergris, but they nearly sprang out of their sockets when they next showed him thia great treasure chest, and he then and there apolo gized to David for his unbelief-and offered to taki Viim in nnrtnfirshin in his business. 4.4.4. But David declined, and while he gave Uncla Ilenry about half a million dollars out of gratituda he decided to keep right on studying the animal tongues and learning animal habits, in spite of tha fact that he was so awfully rich that he need da absolutely nothing but ride in merry-go-rounds os shoot the chutes or something like that from morn . ing until night if he desired. And he enjoys hi studies just as much as you would enjoy looping the-loop or any amusement you can mention, so ha is perfectly happy. WALT McDOUGAIX.
