Animal tales

Compiled by Betty Jane Wilson, society president

A blind cow and thriving silkworms gained newsworthy attention and stories about them were printed in the Valley Falls New Era from 1878 to 1906. Examples of the incidents:

October 5, 1878 — "We'll guarantee that Aunt Kitty Gragg has the oldest cat in the state. While in Cedar Creek the other day, we gave the lady (Aunt Kitty) a call. We noticed the old familiar cat, and asked its age. When Billy Gragg was a baby, the cat was a kitten and the two played together. Billy now has four children, all of whom have played with the same old cat, which is over 21 years old. Per Aunt Kitty."

The Valley Falls New Era, June 24, 1882 — "Last Friday evening, Mr. C.A. Harding's blind cow walked into Coy's Drug Store and attempted to go behind the counter on the east side of the store. In doing so, she broke one of the panes of glass of the window. While Mr. Coy and his assistant were trying to lead her out by the ear, she broke another pane out of the window on the other side. No other damage was done."

The Valley Falls New Era, June 7, 1890 — "Minnie Maxwell's silkworm eggs hatched well. She now has about 8,500 of them about an inch long with an appetite that causes them to devour Osage leaves very rapidly. They are now white and do not leave their feeding shell — "

Continuing on July 5, 1890 — "Minnie Maxwell expressed what marketable silk cocoons she had produced from 1/4 ounce of eggs to Peabody, Kan., and received 33 1/3 cents per pound for 19 1/2 pounds. She now has her curiosity satisfied in that line of business. Blue Mound News."

The Valley Falls New Era, Feb. 5, 1906 — "Inez Batchlor's pet goose is dead. Martin Goodman accidentally caused its death. Goosie was out for a walk and a talk when Martin came dashing along in a burst of speed and hit the pet a fatal blow with his buggy wheels. There was sorrow in the household of Inez. Kind friends carried poor Goosie to her home and laid her out.

"Arrangements were made for the last sad rites. A funeral robe was prepared, a grave was dug, and at the appointed hour, the mourners, a score or more of the children in the neighborhood, buried Goosie in a corner lot of her pasture, closing the ceremony with the familiar hymn: 'Old Rhoda — The Gray Goose is Dead.' "

The society museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday.