Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-02-04
The Last of the Porkers.

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Square yesterday by the appearance of a
hog in the busy haunts. He was no sleek
pOrker that had managed to effect his escape
from comfortable stye to wallow in the
free mud of the streets. He was a street
heg-had been one from the days Of bis
early pighood. As shoat he was familiar
with the rattlingo of trucks through the dusty
streets, and had many narrow escape
from destruction in the "imminent and
deadly" passage Of mule herds through the
city. He bore traces of hard fought fields,
where hog and dog had commended for the
possession Of scraps of meat thrown by
cleanly housekeepers On the public streets.
His ears were slit and corrugated from the
teeth of canine antagoni SITS, and a "game"
eye was the legacy left him by a cruel
stone-throwing boy. Trained for an active
life, he was not burdened with an excess of
adipose matter. Summer heats affected
not his attenuated frame. Obese swine
might swelter under the scorching sun, and
settle deep into cool mud-holes to escape
from the fiery rays. He was impervious TO
such weather, and ran abouBas fresh and
lively at noon of July day as in the cool
evenings of December. He had been
careless, dissipated hog, INDUCING in
all manner of nocturnal frolics, and
sleeping off the effects of his excuses in the
quiet shelter of some fence while respect
able hogs were partaking Of the swiH de-
signed to make them useful and nutritious
in future state. His jovial disposition had
got him into many bad scrape. In his
playful moods he would snatch a savory
steak from a butchers stall and run off with
- l.; ,it4h ut ba
At other times he would consort with his
boon companions in making raids on stores,
and enjoy the huge joke Of keeping the
clerks at the doors armed with sticks to
prevent their entrance. A favorite pastime
of his was to slip suddenly between the legs
of careless pedestrian and upset him in the
mud. He was ubiquitous. Wherever the
remains of watermelon were thrown upon
a street there was he, in the midst Of a
crowd of his fellow scayeDgers, devouring
it. He was nomadic in his habits, visiting
all parts of the city, obtaining precarious
existence by edible refuse thrown upon the
streets. He never had an owner. Time
and again had sable citizens conspired to
abridge his freedom, but he was proof
against the snare of sWill and the circum-
venting Wiles of his biped enemies. No
gives had ever chafed his free limbs; no
stye had ever enclosed him from the busy
world. The descendant of free hogs, he re-
tanned his freedom under all circumstances.
Even when a tyrannical City Council
issued a ukase for his destruction, and the
blue coated myrmidons of the law sought
to enforce it, he scorned the attacks of men
and showed 'clean pair of heels" to the
fleetest of pursuing dogs. No steeple chaser
could ''take a fence" in more gallant style
than he, and the surest footed goat was not |
more at home in places difficult of access. |
He had no home, yet he had his favorite .
resort. That was the market square, but /
after the despotic edict of the City /
Council was put in force, he found .
bis beloved haunt unsafe for him. ,
Day after day he watched the IA !
niliar faces of old friends disappear
from the streets till at length he found him
self alone. Filled with grief at the almost
extinction of his race, he made
MS way to the Square yesterday, evidently
with the deliberate intention of surrender
ng himself to the police. As he entered the
1usy resort and made his way through the
labyrinth Of carts and horses, a crowd fol-
owed him. He paid no attention to their
gibes, but with head mournfully
biased, the remnants of his ears hanging
oosely, and the fragment Of his curtaled
narrative wagging mOurnfully, he
OOk his sad way towards the
'olice station, He might have surrendered
himself quietly if negro boy had not at
empted to arrest him by force. The act
eemed to startle him from his lethargy
nd change his mind. lie pricked up his
ars, elevated his snout, and rushed wildly
rom the square followed by swarm of
ogs and boys. None of them could ap
roach him in that headlong race. In five
minutes he had disappeared, and the pant
lg dogs and boys returned to the square
isappointed. The last porker is still at
irge.