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Filler
June 17, 1882
The Cheyenne Daily Leader
Cheyenne, Laramie County, Wyoming
What is this article about?
Satirical Q&A from Detroit Free Press mocks the English Sparrow's introduction to America by a misguided philanthropist, highlighting its noisy, destructive nature, displacement of native birds, and resistance to eradication efforts.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
About the English Sparrow
"What sort of a bird is this?"
"This is an English sparrow. He cannot carry off a lamb, like the eagle, nor is he provided with teeth and claws like the tiger, but he leaves his mark all the same."
"How did he get here?"
"A philanthropist brought him over from England."
What is a philanthropist
"He is a cross between a lunatic and an idiot."
What did he want to bring the sparrows to America for?"
"Because he hated the country, and wanted revenge. It wasn't enough for him that we have small pox, yellow fever, cholera, drouths, floods, cyclones and forest fires, and grasshopper and army worm plagues."
What are the chief merits of the sparrow?"
"His beautiful voice and lovable nature. His song is so much sweeter than a file rasping over cast iron that people have died after hearing it."
"How does he employ his time?"
"In screaming, fighting and voting early and often."
"Where does he build his nest?"
…In the cornices of house. If he could have 1,000 trees. rent free. he would turn up his nose at the offer. He couldn't damage a tree any, but he can make it necessary to paint a house once a month."
"Of what is his nest composed?"
"Of everything he can handle except oyster cans and empty beer bottles."
Does the hard hearted citizen ever destroy these nests?"
"He does, when his family clothes line, crowbar, or long handled shovel is missing, he pulls down a nest and recovers the lost article."
"What does the poor sparrow do then?"
"He rebuilds."
"Can he be discouraged?"
"If his nest was pulled down fifteen or twenty thousand times he might commence to feel downhearted, but those who have routed him out five or six hundred times, have not seen him even change countenance."
"What other birds does he agree with?"
"The buzzard and the polecat. He is too proud to take up with every stranger who comes along. He has driven away our robins, bluebirds, larks and chickadees, and even the hens are looking for another opening."
"Would it be wicked to kill one of these sparrows?"
"Awful, wicked. The philanthropists would raise such a howl that the killer would have to skip the country.
Besides, you can't shoot 'em, they won't be poisoned, and no one yet ever trapped one. A man down in Ohio thinks a blow with a barn door might fetch 'em, but it is as yet an untried experiment."
"That is all for this time. Let us now lay away our books and sit on the steps and listen to the ravishing melody of the sparrow's evening gong."
Detroit Free Press,
"What sort of a bird is this?"
"This is an English sparrow. He cannot carry off a lamb, like the eagle, nor is he provided with teeth and claws like the tiger, but he leaves his mark all the same."
"How did he get here?"
"A philanthropist brought him over from England."
What is a philanthropist
"He is a cross between a lunatic and an idiot."
What did he want to bring the sparrows to America for?"
"Because he hated the country, and wanted revenge. It wasn't enough for him that we have small pox, yellow fever, cholera, drouths, floods, cyclones and forest fires, and grasshopper and army worm plagues."
What are the chief merits of the sparrow?"
"His beautiful voice and lovable nature. His song is so much sweeter than a file rasping over cast iron that people have died after hearing it."
"How does he employ his time?"
"In screaming, fighting and voting early and often."
"Where does he build his nest?"
…In the cornices of house. If he could have 1,000 trees. rent free. he would turn up his nose at the offer. He couldn't damage a tree any, but he can make it necessary to paint a house once a month."
"Of what is his nest composed?"
"Of everything he can handle except oyster cans and empty beer bottles."
Does the hard hearted citizen ever destroy these nests?"
"He does, when his family clothes line, crowbar, or long handled shovel is missing, he pulls down a nest and recovers the lost article."
"What does the poor sparrow do then?"
"He rebuilds."
"Can he be discouraged?"
"If his nest was pulled down fifteen or twenty thousand times he might commence to feel downhearted, but those who have routed him out five or six hundred times, have not seen him even change countenance."
"What other birds does he agree with?"
"The buzzard and the polecat. He is too proud to take up with every stranger who comes along. He has driven away our robins, bluebirds, larks and chickadees, and even the hens are looking for another opening."
"Would it be wicked to kill one of these sparrows?"
"Awful, wicked. The philanthropists would raise such a howl that the killer would have to skip the country.
Besides, you can't shoot 'em, they won't be poisoned, and no one yet ever trapped one. A man down in Ohio thinks a blow with a barn door might fetch 'em, but it is as yet an untried experiment."
"That is all for this time. Let us now lay away our books and sit on the steps and listen to the ravishing melody of the sparrow's evening gong."
Detroit Free Press,
What sub-type of article is it?
Animal Story
Witty Remark
Curiosity
What keywords are associated?
English Sparrow
Philanthropist
Nuisance Bird
Invasive Species
Satirical Dialogue
Where did it happen?
America
Filler Details
Topic
Humorous Critique Of The English Sparrow As A Nuisance In America
Location
America
Event Details
A satirical Q&A dialogue describes the English Sparrow's introduction to America by a philanthropist, its destructive habits, noisy behavior, nest-building in houses, displacement of native birds, and difficulty in controlling, ending with ironic appreciation of its song.