Show I I mourn i for Old 3 b tbt bW War e g Jl r HE lo of the stuffed bird that for THE two decades from Its perch under the groat dome had surveyed with gaze thousands or of vis visitors visitors end nd sightseers rs hu has stirred a re revival vival vhal Stories of of the old war pet feL The tales tale In inthe the school read readers r while they may serve to immortalize the Intrepid bird and InCI to act as an In for the In the iris daM roos ts are plain and unvarnished with the narratives that to day are passing current among the Yet vet erans erana Old Ola Abe or of whom half Wisconsin is 19 talking was captured ed on the Flam beau river between and Price counties In affil 1361 by Chief Sky II a Chip Chippewa Pt wa Indian lIOn on of Thunder or of Beeer r or of the Flambeau u band ot of the tribe caught the young bird I after a climb to the top of oC a gigantic I I I hemlock tree and a week later realized on hl his adventure b by selling his captive I for a bushel of oC corn The bird was j I I carried to Eau Claire just as company I C was being mustered In The lumber lumbermen lumbermen men from the pine woods voted in the I eagle as a volunteer and atter a sUr sUrgeons surgeons geons examination It Was added to the theof of recruits and began Us its course from obscurity to fame I When the company marched Into I Camp Randall at Madison in 1881 n a salute WitS was fired In honor of the bird which became the mascot of oC the wh whole le regiment It went through the war mr I carried Into Int battle aloft on a perch from which it rose screaming to the length of Its cord At the end of DC the war the bird waS tiros placed on exhibition I once In Chicago Its Value had risen from the original bushel of corn to a 6 for Cor each feather th t fell from Us its UsI I plume while P T Barnum offered 20 4 I f r for permission to place It in his hig circus I Stories of Old Abe a as the they pass among the veterans credit him with miraculous feats and achieVements Itt It was in St Louis on the way to the front that the bird had Its first esca esca escapade The veterans say suy that it was all an annoyed 1 noyed b by negroes who sneeringly called it buzzard and cro crop but at any rate the eagle broke Its cord anc and soared above the chimney tops and aud perched on the peak of oC a mansion It wa was captured with difficulty difficult after the according to the for formal teal mal version had mollified it with an address in the Chippewa tongue Dog His Partner In January 1862 at Cairo Ill Old Abe who was becoming cadaverous from a diet of hardtack and s sa J horse scraped up an tv vv I with Frank a dog whom he taught I tt to go out foraging for squirrels and i rabbits Ac According to the stories the 1 I canine friend treated the eagle a as the T i ravens did Elijah One day the for forager agar ager was unsuccessful ul and Old Abe Abc dug his talons into the dogs back and the ithe p partnership was lofts over In the he battle before Corinth Old Abe wa was aloft in sight of the army anny whirling and dancing on his perch Battles Battlos made him voracious oracious by this tinie Thomas ThomasT J Hlll Hill of Eau Claire Ciaire his bearer the rope in a clump or of bushes when the eagle became exasperated and struck I his o his masters face BUnd Blind Blinded ed the soldier rushed down the line followed by his comrades who made one or of the most desperate charges in inthe inthe the history of the regiment It was in a charge before VIcksburg May 1863 that Old Abe Abc performed perform I i 1 I T his most J re m dien feat W Ed ud 1 1 ing standard when he pr ate Hr comrades I rushed by any t e eagle eaSer eager to be beat beat at the front dragged him In the direction direction tion of the battle until the they struck a alog log and were thrown back together in ina a clump of brush At that Instant a cannon ball passed overhead Tell me the grizzled veterans end I their tales tell m me will you ou whether er cr Abe pro protected by dence The emblem bearer a acquired one or of orthe the vices of camp life He was tot above aboe taking a glass with a comrade At Bear Creek he fit t gloriously y drunk on peach d on another oc occasion occasion casion left his f a for the bat battle le perch wiping his beak on his wings as he flew fiew to his pl et at the head of the line Une Still the veterans sa say r you cant expect an ool eagle to pea a Sunda Sunday t school Ol scholar all the Um time a nip or two At Old Abe Abc emulated the example or of tie ducks at Rome Pome and gave warning of the approach of oC the enemy at nig His whistle sent o t s scouts ous aho ho caught aught a spy whom they to give up the coun cou and lead leod them Into Jato the be bes besieged s city The bird seemed to bear a charmed life Ufe Not one of his beArers ous marks as they were wert wa way shot down The soldiers declared that bird dodged the bullets In his hi la Ja battle where It a rout seemed Old Abe rallied his regiment b by 1 a rabbit on his perch heedles l lof of roaring cannon and shrieking t tAt At the of the war the bird be became came a 8 pensioner at Madison having hang room to himself in th the basement of tl the e capital He was exhibited at caU ln lags s of soldiers all over the country and WitS was a side Ide attraction with such Much celebrities as Generals Grant Lo Logan n nI t I Sherman Sheridan and other I leaders Feathers from his glossy SI plu plumage mage sold at fabUlous priceS and sculptors tors made bronzes or of the famous Camous bird 1 At the Grand Army reunion In ChI ChIcago Chicago cago May 11 1873 the bird was an hon honOred honored Ored guest With headquarters at the Grand Pacific hOtel and later b he paced the last tamp amp of on hI his character by a three months so 80 1 jO m Boston A cold eUsea deth deith With a few fee fee J at his wines he expired In t a 8 that t als 1 of hie hIB keeper George Gat Ctt Gatet et Geo George said sad Abe seemed emed to know war about to die for when ire he asked solicitously Must we J lone e Yea 1 4 Abel Ahe Ute the bird looked wit itt to his kee keepers rs face and then sunk back backI into nto his arms Around hint hiD were o oI ons I armed and vete veterans ralls Wh I tears showed that they had lost Jest a J Wis b I |