Juniata sentinel. [volume] (Mifflintown, Pa.) 1846-1873, 1870-12-07
The HOG.

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eloquent in the praise of the hog. We
quote:
The hog has been in disrepute for a
long time, at least ever since he began
to play his part in the ancient religions.
1t is fashionable to ridicule and denounce
him, to call hin filthy brute, and to in
sist that he is the dire author of leprosy,
consumption, cancer, scrofnla. and the
most disgusting diseases that afflict hu-
manity. This is the teaching of preju-
dice, not of science.
The hog will outlive all hostility, and
laughs, so to speak, at the success of his
slauderers. Still is the reeking roast
pig the sacrifice of many dinner table,
and still is the rural ceiling festooned
with the savory sausage and the smoke
house fragrant with ham. We deal with
facts, not sentiments The hog is true
cosmopolite-a citizen of the world. He
increases aud multiplies and inherits
every part of the inhabitable globe. lie
is as ubiquitous as the bat. He does
not stand in high repute for his manners,
bnt he is most accommodating, thriving
with equal content in the sty of the rich
and the kitchen OF the INDECENT. He
wallows sometimes but naturalist tell me
that he does this for the sake of cleanli,
ness, which is next to Godliness-for the
same reason that the Pacific Islanders
grease themselves. Among his quaint
peculiarities are his grunt of satisfaction
and his squeal of remonstrance and re-
proach He should never be fed till he
stops his squealing; it is the approved
method of breaking him of the habit.
Homer, in his odyssey, honored the
swinekeeper with the confidence of Uyls-
ses-and why not? The hog, called
stupid. is really one of the most enterpri-
sing and sagacious of animals. The
gamekeeper of Sir Henry Midmay actu-
ally broke black SOW to hunt game in
the woods; and she ran in the hunt with
wonderful success. She would track
game. back and stand and point partrid-
ges, pheasents, snipes and rabbits, as
skillfully as bred pointer. She would
bound in response to a whistle, and
would wag her head and squeal with de-
light on being shown gun.
The Babylonian Talmud says =
Cursed be he that breedeth hogs; and
the history of the Maccabees tells US
that the scribe Eleazar walked straight
to the tortures of persecution rather than
eat slice of spare r.b. heroically prefer
ring the martyrs stake to the pork stake.
This animal has been under the ban of
many religions. The Mohammedans
learned from the Jews, as the Jews had
previously learned from the Egyptians,
to hate him because he perversely de-
clined to "chew the cud )" but be still
to masticate and digest con-
pottage in the course of year
The hog is the product of natures
most economical thought. There is no
part that cannot be utilized. His flesh,
fat, bristles, hair, hoofs and bones are all
turned to account 1.-The divisions of
his unctious body says Apicius, "are as
familiar as the division of the earth. His
ears and feet 60 to souse. his brains are
a choise dish for the epicure. His tail
has for ages been claimed by successive
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 stikingly playful, frisky. cunning
and giaceful-and much more interesting
than human infant of the same age as
the latter is more interesting than 60
much putty. In adult pighood he is
omniverous and self-reliant, bold and ex-
peditionary, aud he breeds faster. and
he grows fasters and keeps cheaper than
any other domestic animal.
America is pre- eminently the home of
the hog-he is logical deduction from
Indian corn. He was introduced to Vir.
ginia in 1909, and here he multiplied 80
rapidly that the colonists were compelled
to palisade Jamestown-higher to keep
out the Indians, close to keep out the |.
hogs. Mrs. Hog can produce ten to
twenty at birth, as often as twice
year. The descendants of single pair
allowing six young to litter. would |
amount to six millions in fifty years
The gratitude of the country is doe to
Cincinnati for that, by assiduous harvest
ing, she keeps DOWN the inundation |
which constantly threatens to overwhelm
rs in common ruin
Miss Annie Kirst, daring young lady
If Danville, was driving spirited horse