Saturday, September 22, 2018

Pigeon Pie, Anyone?

The city of Maryville had a problem on its hands in late 1930, in the form of pigeons. Hoards of them. They seemed to be everywhere. Doing what pigeons do do. The sheriff caught the attention of the local newspaper, the Maryville Daily Forum.

“The sheriff put on his hunting outfit, took his trusty rifle in his hand and went forth to rid the business district of the pigeon pest. This morning there were no pigeons to be seen and it looks as though the sheriff 'did his duty.'"

Picture this . . .

"After shooting one or two off of the courthouse, the sheriff went down to the Methodist church on Main Street and proceeded to kill off a few pigeons there. He then went to the South Methodist church on Buchanan Street and knocked some more down. He then traveled on north to the Christian Church where a few more casualties occurred. One that the sheriff told the morning was pretty hard to believe. Listen and see for yourself. Mr. England saw a pigeon sitting on a wire near the courthouse tower. There was another close up against the tower. The sheriff sighted his gun at the pigeon on the wire, pulled the trigger, and the pigeon close to the tower fell to the ground while the other escaped. The sheriff also tells of another instance when he shot a pigeon. The bird fell right in front of a man going down the street. The man promptly picked the pigeon up, shoved it under his coat, and said, “Here’s one he’s not going to get,” and sallied on down the street. So, with the Methodist pigeons, the South Methodist pigeons and the Christian pigeons, inmates in the jail will partake of some “wild game.”

I'm not sure what pigeon pie tastes like, and personally I don't want to find out.

"Sheriff Harve England is an excellent marksman; therefore, the prisoners at the county jail are benefiting by eating pigeon pie today."

"The sheriff says that he shot forty-three pigeons yesterday, but could only get thirty-some-odd of them. 'The rest fell in places he could not reach.'" 


NOTE: Two years later Earl Gravens, a prisoner in the jail, absconded with Sheriff England's favorite hunting jacket during Gravens' escape. I wonder if he did it because it was cold out or maybe he was trying to spare his fellow inmates from any more pigeon pie?"

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