Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-02-09

ness of Importance. l saw a supply
of the mouldy beans fed to the pork
er, and then | Departed. to say that
l did not think of my pig. while l
was away, would be to state an I'M
truth. did think of him; though
lost to sight to memory dear.
L am seldom away from home and
consequently am missed when | am
away, and my welcome on returning
is wont to be of the most affection
ate description. But on this occa-
sion, greatly to my surprise, Susan
was not in the front hall to greet me-
l waded through the children into
the back part of the house, where
Susan was. | fancied she looked at
me with a alf-frightened air, but l
took her fondlY in my arms and was
about to impress a rapturous kiss Oh
her lips, when my eye CHANGED to
go out of the window, and sus-
pended the kiss midway of delivery.
The door of the pig pen stood wide
open, and there was a peculiar as
pect of deSOlatiOn about it.
where's our pOrker?' l asked,
POstponing the kiss pro tempore.
'Our porker,' said Mrs. Dobb-
graJ ely, is in his grave
Good heavensp I-cried, 'dead'
and Immediately went out to look at
his deserted abode.
was quite calm by dinner time,
and informed Susan that | was ready
to hear the particulars of the sad
event.
well, James, she continued, you
know you directed those beans to be
fed him.
'Oh, that's it! 1 thought it would
be laid at my door in some manner,
Notwithstanding the little circum-
stance that | was over two hundred
miles away. But proceed
so the girl gave him beans for
dinner, and beans for supper, and the
uext morning she went out with some
more, and then l heard her scream.
l went out and there he was, swelled
up, oh, dreadfullyI twice as large as
life, dear, and lying on his side and
kicking his legs family. Neighbor
Jones looked over the fence and ask
ed what the matter was.'
with a bunch of Isabellas, doubt
less
'And when we told him, he came
over the fence and said pooh! he
wasn't dead; that he knew what the
matter was with the pig; bloated
stomach; he could cure him. Have
you any brandy?' said he. 1 told him
we had, and came into the house and
got bottle,
what! that S. o. P. brandy?' 1
exclaimed.
yes, dear, of course
Good gracious! and you gave that
fifteen dollar brandy to that miser-
able two dollar pig?'
'Yes, dear, but it did no good.
Then neighbor Jones bled him
The savage!'
'And that did no good either. So
at last we gave it up, and neighbor
Jones had his man bury it in the gar
den.'
'In our garden?'
No, dear, in Mr.. Jones' garden
A sudden idea crossed my mind:
well, upon my wordp l respond
ed, it seems as if we were not even
to have the benefit of the carcass as
fertilizer of the soil. This caps the
climax
what do you mean, James?
why, Susan, don't you know that
dead animals enrich the soil where
they are buried, IN decomposing and
supplying ammonia and phosphorie
acid and things that make the vege-
tables grow big?'
James, how can you talk such
stuff 2
Stuff? Not bit of it. Jones
knows all about it. That's the way
he fertilizes his garden. He's got a
dead dog and three dead cats buried
at the foot of his grape-vines, which
accounts for the superiority of the
Isabellas, my dear
'Mr. Dodd, if you don't stop 1
shall leave the table, said Susan, in
great disgust.
So l stopped, like dutiful hus-
band. But Susan hasn't eaten Il
grape from Jones' garden since.
We have had the pig-pen cleaned
up nicely for the children, and they
use it for a playhouse. 1t makes
very good playhouse.