Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1868-03-10
WHY TIE HOGS RUNATIARcE

feopie IN washington are 80 much used to
the remarkable. that they are not apt to get very
much astonlshed at anything, yet II is undoubt-
ecly the fact that mild wonder exists in the
public mind as 70 the why and wherefore of so
many hogs running at large. The act Of 1853
provides that hogs running at large shall be
seized by the police, confscated and sent to the
Vorkbouse; other acts since passed provide
other things In the way Of fines, penalties and
Punishments, all intended to prevent these
unpleasant animals from making them
selves public nuisances, yet they still run
At large, and they increase and multiply anna
zingly. In 1873 there were perhaps TWO or
three thousand porkers within the CITY limits
They were then felt to be a great nuisance
Now there are probably from twenty to thirty
thou sand hogs at large. making themselves ac-
Cursed and detestable. Not gate can be left
unhasped or a door Unattached but IN walks one
OF thfse Egyptian plaques. We venture to say
there Is not an ornamental fence in Washington
that Goes not bear the muddy imprint of a
pigs back The adroitness with which an ex-
periencsd city porker will insinuate his snout
and then his body through the palings OF a
garden fence, and the amount of havoc he
can create IN said garden before he
Is routed, is known 10 thousands I'm
der such incentives to profanity piety willis
IN community; no man can go to family wor-
snip IN proper frame of mind who has lust
routfd adrove Of hogs from his asparagus bed
My do the hogs run at large! In the debate
last night in the Board of Aldermen the theory
Wa started that the policemen, whose duty il
Is 10 enforce the law, are affected by pig blind
rees- Some people are affected by color-blind-
nees-there are certain colors they cannot see
20 with the policemen-they are pig blind; they
cannot see pig; they were never known to see
pig-pigs 10 the right Of them, pigs 10 the left
Of them, pigs 10 the front of them, no DIGS see
they.
In behalf of the policemen, il was urged that
the reason they do not enforce the law and seize
the hcgs is because 1t would spoil their good
clothes; the old COZ pOraiiOn police did not wear
good clothes, and INDUCED in pig-catchine TO
SOnne extent; but now that the CORPORATION no.
lice - abolished, there are no qualified N.Y.
catchers- 1t is. no doubt, a disagreeabls duty
for our handsome, smartl addressed policemen TO
catch pigs, specially when the pig Is Obstinate
and ladies are looking out of the window Some
tine-, too. the owner makes himself or herself
unpleasant, as in the case of the colored yirayo
Mary Ann Burke, of the Seventh Ward, who
on one occasion rescued her porker from n
lightweight policeman. and not content with
thls. tossed both officer and pig into the muddy
s;ye. But unpleasant duties must be performed
and Sc II would not be right to ask the police
n~n to spell their good Clothes il might be
managed ~ providing the police with an extra
uniform suitable for pig catching occasions: or
certain number Of able bodied expert police
men might be set apart for this special duty
Or perhaps the best course would be TO enforce
nnes instead Of sizing the pigs; but at any rate
let US have some remedy for the nuisance