The Morning News

Setter and Eagle.

"A strange accident happened near Georgetown, Col., a week or ten days ago," said Mr. William S. Bradley, at the Cochran to a Washington Post reporter. "Out in the suburbs of the town the little child of a man named Kincaide was playing with a large hunting dog, who was very fond of the little one, and was looked upon as a sort of guardian of the child in the mother's absence. A big eagle suddenly swooped down on the little one and seized it in its talons. The child was too heavy for him to lift, and before he could make a second attempt the setter had fastened his teeth in the eagle's body. It is a rare thing for a setter to fight unless he is crowded, but his fondness for the child made him conquer his dog nature, and sail in like a terrier. The mother heard the child's screams, and rushed to its assistance, while the dog and the bird were turning the yard into something resembling a slaughter pen. It must have been a terrific fight. It lasted several minutes, but finally, though frightfully lacerated, Ponto got the king of the air and gave him his quietus. One eye was hanging out of the dog's socket and his left shoulder was nearly torn off, with fearful wounds in the belly, but the eagle was quite as badly used up by the dog's teeth. The gallant animal is still living, and with the care he is receiving at the hands of the child's father and mother, and in fact, the whole family, there is some hope of his recovery. The strangest part about it is that this was done by a setter. If it had been a hound or a terrier it wouldn't have surprised me. The average golden eagle weighs twelve pounds, is three feet from the tip of his bill to the tip of his tail and has wings of seven feet spread.