The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1870-10-11
The Hog.

A writer in the Chicago Post grow,
eloquent in praise of the hog. W.
quote:
6 The hog has been in disrepute for {
long time, at least ever since he begar
to play his part in the ancient religions
1t is fashionable to ridicule and denounct
him, to call him a filthy brute, and tc
insist that he is the dire author Of lep
rosy, consumption, cancer, scrofula, and
the most disgusting diseases that aftiic'
humanity. This i. the teaching Of pr
udice, not OF science.
The no; out,iv all hostility, and
laughs, 80 TO speak, at the success OF
his sland,rers. Still is the reeking
rolst pig the sacrifice of many dinner
table, and still is the rural ceiling es.
looned with the savory sausage and the
smoke-houSe fragrant with ham. We
deal with facts, not sentiment The hog
is true cosmopolite-a citizen of the
woill. He Increases and multiplies
and inherits every part Of the habitable
globe. He is as ubiquitous as the bat,
lie does lot S and in high repute for
his manners, but he is most accommo-
dating, thriving with equal content in the
sty OF the rich and the kitchen of the in
digent He wallows sometimes, but
natuialisls tel us lie does this for the
sake OF cleanliness which is next to
Godliness-for the same rcasnn that the
Pacific Islanders grease themsei, g.
Among his quaint ! eculiarities are his
grunt of satisfaction and his squeal Of
remonstrance and erproach. He should
never he fed till he stops his squealing;
it is the approved method Of breaking
him of the habit.
Homer, in his Odyssey, honored the
swine-keeper with the confidence OF
Ulysses-and why not? The hog
called stupid, is really one Of the most
euterprisng and sagacious of animals
The gamekeeper of S.r Henry Millmay
actually broke black SOW to hunt game
in the woods; and she ran in tEe hunt
with wonderful success. She would
track game, back and stand, and point
parlrilgeS, pheasants. snipes and rabbits,
as skilfully as a bred pointer. She
would bound in response 10 whistle,
and wag her head and. sqneal with de-
light on being shown gun.
The Babylonian Talmud says: Cur
Cursed be he that breedeth hogs and the
history of the Maccabees tells us that
the scribe Eleazar walked straight to h
fortunes Of persecution rather than eat
a slice of spare-rb, heroically pre- erring
the martyrs stake to the pork steak.
This animal has been under the ban OF
many religions. The Mohammedans
learned from the Jews, as the Jews had
previously learnd from the Egyptians,
to hate him because he perverseIy de-
clined to chew the cud; but lie still
manages to masticate and digest consid-
cradle pottage in the course Of year.
The hog is the. product of natures
most economical thought. There is the
part that can not be utilized. His flesh,
fat, bristles, hair, hoofs and bones are
all turned to account. THE division
of his unctious body" says Apicius,
ARE as familiar as the divisions Of the
earth. His ears and feet 60 10 souse; ;
his brains are a choice dish for the.
epicure. His tail has for ages been
claimed by successive generations OF
children as their peculiar property.
Tradition points out how to appropriate
it; roast on the Goals, take in the fingers
and eat without salt.
The hog is the staff Of life-the arch
enemy of famine-the poor mans best
friend. Moreover, in his earlier days,
he is strikingly playful, risky, cunning
and graceful-as much more interesting
than a human infant of the same age
as the latter is more interesting than 80
much putty. In adult pighood he is
omniverous and self-reliant, bold and
he breeds faster, grows faster and keeps
cheaper than any other domestic ami
NAL.
America is pre-eminently the home OF
the hog-he is logical deduction from
Indian corn. He was introduced to
Virginia in 1909, and here he multi
piled so rapidly that the colonists were
compelled to palisade Jamestown-higb
to keep out the Indians, close to keep
out the hogs. Mrs. Hog can produce
Ten to twenty at a birth, as often as
twice a year The defendants o. a sin-
g,e pair, allowing six Young for litter,
would amount to six millions in fifty
wears. The gratitude of the country Is
lue to Cincinnati for that, by assiduous
harvesting, she keeps down the inunda-
ton which constantly threatens to over
whelm Us in an uncommon ruin.