The tribune. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1875-03-03
BABIES, DOGS, AND POULTRY.
a Look Mt the Exhibitions us they nrc now
given us.

a Look Mt tho Exhibitions us they nrc now
given TO us.
We live i'll an age of exhibition and OF
ceasclcss competition which hardly seems
to have had any precedent i'll the past.
The Greeks raced i'll chariUts or wrestled
i'll the arena, or contended i'll mclodious
lambics; the Romans gloated over the
death struggles of gladiators; the chiv-
alrous times had their Journeys of shiy-
cred lances; Spain had bull fights, Eng
land her horse races and tisticufi' rcncoun-
tcrs; but, III our day, we have bctakcn
ourselves to the practical and the useful
and become virtuosi OF breeds and
manufactures. Our medals are for the
fattest oxen, the fastest horses, and the
heeclest sheep; for machines which will
do the days work of fifty pairs of hands
III an hour; for the plumpest babies, for
fowls of the greatest ovarian fecundity.
for rare dogs and tho most charming of
singing birds, for the choicest of fruits
and the most brilliant of flowers. or.
finally, for the best specimens of college
rhetoric. At Detroit the show was n
triple miscellany OF babies, dogs, and
poultry.
For our own part, says the New York
7ftOune, we must admit, though we
hardly know why, that there is some
thing unpleasant about the idea of q
prize baby carrying off the laurels by
virtue of avoirdupois. DO not the
mothers love the lean ones quite rs well,
and even Il little better? \ poor, wee
thing, mostly bones, and small bones at
the best, wailing through the torments
OF dentition, SO helpless that even nature
seems to have forgotten it, though it
would not have the least chance of u
premium, may have plenty of compen-
sating affection in the home to which
God sent it to teach lessons of tender
pity and glad self-sacrifcc. Always it &c
upon exhibition there, and every day it
takes premiums of rattles and rings.
The next biggest child is its beast of
burden; and all household cares are de-
ferred to its own-thc cooking, the
sweeping, and the washing. The weary
father, swearing i'll suppressed and
quiet way, will carry it about all night
in his arms. Day by day it grows leaner
and leaner; and should fate take it after
all, 1t is ever spoken of as a cherub, has
a pretty little headstOne, flowers in q
broken pitcher on its short grave, and
four lines i'll the local newspaper. Poor
mite ! it would have had no chance with
the big babies of the show, but it was
nicer every way than the little bursting
Jumps Of adipose with faces made mean
ingless by their abnormal plumpncss,
and with legs like the least aDpetizing
of German sausages. Yet We are willing
to admit that a row of prize babies is
not without its charms. The parental
pride which brought these specimens to
the fair Is an earnest of care and good
treatment. No animal of any value is
so much ut the mercy in its infancy of
| caprice and convenience as man. We
train horses, hogs, shecp,nn cattle, put
ting on flesh here and taking it off there,
and talking cndlessly about this strain,
and all that; it is only our own frames
of which we are neglectful, so that n
man or woman of perfect physical de-
yelopment is an exception. II is well to
be deal moro careful in such matters,
and to begin with the newborn.
Considering in whose image we arc all
made, it is n little unpleasant to find
the babies exhibited with the dogs and
hens-the spaniels and stag hounds, the
Dorkings and the Bantams One child
is of more value than a thousand black
and-tans, though every ono of them
weighed less than ten pounds. Yet, in
spite of hydrophobia, the dog is an in
tsresting animal, and by his fidelity, in
! triligence and fondness he makes up for
his heas and his nocturnal howls, and
leads us to forgive his passionate appe-
| tite for mutton. He divides cur atfcc-
ton with the cat or the canary bird, and
is often invested by our fond fancy with
instructive intelligence which would
hardly stand the test of scientific scru-
tiny. No domestic animal, however,
degenerates so rapidly through neglect,
and no vagabond is moro of nuisance
than homeless dog. 1t is right, there
fore, that he shonld be an object of in
terest and n candidate for premiums.
Of poultry, we do not find that we
have much to say. These fcathered fire.
quenters of the barnyard are most in
spring, we must admit, in roasted
state, or considered as the producers of
eggs for the morning meal Still, the
rule holds Of the fittest in the best of
its kind. An old hen is not usually re-
| gardel as a marvel of intelligence, and
somewhat draSgled old age awaits the
rooster who is spared the spit. Never
theless, in the strength of his prime, ar
rayed like Solomon in all his glory, and
making salutation to the morn, he is a
gorgeous and impressive creature. So
we can imagine many duller shows than
show of rOosters, or for that matter of
| dogs, or even of babies.