American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1872-05-18
Remarkably Unhealthy Pork.

The following letter was recently re-
ceived by a Chicago business house in
response to quantity of pork sent the
writer, who is engaged in the lumber
business in Wisconsin,:
| GENTLEMEN: This is melancholy
| pleasure; the subject is a sad one; but it
always produces pleasurable emotions to
| address you. The topic on this occasion,
| though a slippery one, will not be tine
tured with romance. Pork will be the
leading feature of this epistle, and you
must be very lenient with the writer if he
fails to make it pleasant one. He never
wrote on dead hogs before, and never
even attempted to make whistle of a
pigs tail.
We received some pork from you,
branded &C. b. D." which, after careful
consideration, we have decided means
CONDEMNED before the Deluge." Some
time since we selected five of the least Of
fensive barrels, cooked some of the con-
tents, and placed it before the men on the
dinner-table. They did not eat any-the
smell was sufficient. That night thirteen
of the men were onthe sick list; DR.. Yum
dusse could not decide the nature of the
trouble. but thought it a cross between
tr4china spiralis and spinal meningitis
We gave Mr.. Smiths dog, .'Poney," one
half an ounce, disguised in beef hash,
highly favored with Belgran butter. He
was cold corpse in 2:14115. There is
venerable Indian here, named Was
sawaussa, who considers the ham of
skunk luxury; who rather prefers fish
that have been washed on the beach for
a month or two; who consumed with rel
ish considerable portion of our poor old
dead horse, "Jim;' who ate some beef
which had been exposed for seven weeks,
tried to sell ms H u1Fr sun: we
aboriginal some of this pork. He replied
in his native impressive language: ugh!
nix-cum sell dis dam Iu-di-an sti-nkl-lke-
hell go dam. Ugh," We offered to give it
him No. rendered him 80 cents bar
rel to take it OF No. Offered teamster
s. to haul it out on the ice mile or two.
No. After much trouble, we persuaded
Emery Sharon, Esq, to take it away. He
has been confined to his bed ever since,
and his mother-in-law, who lived in Que
bee, Is since diseased.
The pork we are using now is spotted
and discolored; the size of the spots are
only varied by the size of the pieces, each
spot being three-thirds the size of the
piece Since it was sent to this camp, we
have changed crews twenty-one times
week The mortality has been fearful.
Valentine Longs dog ''Watch," was the
first victim; 161s bushels bed-bugs, 60 to
the bushel, laid them in their little beds,
ana gently closed tnelr eyes III the sleep
that knows no waking. The bodies of
139 deer are lying in the neighborhood,
who voluntarily rushed into the flames
last October, rather than live to know
their once sweetly- forest home
tainted by the presence of this refuse,
which, with that instinct for which they |
are SD remarkable, they scented afar off. |
One team is constantly employed hauling |
The farmers are living I'M |
der roofless houses, rather than come here |
for shingles. The horses noses are kept |
constantly plugged with fresh manure or |
they would sicken and die. The engine |
refuses to do its work. The pure water of |
the creek declines to run in this direction.
and everybody is demoralized.
Burn this on receipt, or we will not vouch |
for the consequences. The ''three dark
days. were looked forward to with lively |
of pleasure. What the result
will be cannot be foretold. Selah? Tear |.
fully YOURS ***