Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1884-05-29
TWO.LEGGED HOGS.
The Sort of Show Pittsburgh Enjoys.
Pittsburgh Dispatch.

Pittsburgh Dispatchl
There was great sport at J. M. Gusky's
on Market street, last evening. The enter
tainment consisted of pie-eating contest
between thirty-three citizens, representing
all colors and nationalities, as well as va
rious degrees in the social scale. Each man
entered under the firm belief that he could
get outside of more pies than any other
man in the country, and in consequence 1T
is presumed the thirty-three represented
more appetite and capacity than any SINH
lar number of men in Western Pennsyl-
vania Long before the hour arrived for the
contest to begin, Market street and 4th
avenue were packed and jammed with
dense crowd of eager, shouting men,
women and boys, making those thorough
fares almost impossible The thirty-three
occupied the large display windows 'front.'
ing Market street, standing in rows along
tables provided for the occasion. Before
each man was placed a stack containing
twelve pumpkin pies Not third rate board
ing house pies, but the good, old fashioned
kind our grandmothers used to bake, when
flour was cheap and pumpkins as common
as leaves in the forests. They weighed IA
and 2-5 ounces to the pie, and were about
eight inches in diameter.
A huge gong was sounded and the feast
began. T. Ryan, of Washington city, a
small, shabby looking man, with an ample
mouth and powerful appetite, was the
first to tally, time, SO seconds His backer,
who stood by, remarked: Hes HI on
pie. but Pm leetle skeered about his
stickin' the thing out, for we had billed
beef and cabbage for supper" And the
old man was correct, for Tom overshot
himself on the fourth pie and quit
Everything was wild confusion for the
next hour and half About twenty
minutes before the close of the allotted
time, number one, tall, thin man, wear
ing a claw hammer coat, stOve-pipe hat
and stand-up collar, had devoured six pies
and had a clean lead over the party. He
was wild looking native and would pass
among theatre-gOers as SOtherD.s persona
ton of the crushed tragedean. After de-
vouring six pies he remarked careleSsly
that "a man is sucker to overload his
stomach with pumpkin pie" whereupon he
began to contemplate the struggles of his
companion with apparent relish. His side
partner was an aged colOred man. The
old man looked up and enquired if the
tragedian was through. Getting an affirm
ative answer, he smiled like sunrise, and
said: : Look out fo' me, case Ise comm
now sho' nuff," and he kept his word.
Chunk after chunk followed each other to
the old mans mouth and disappeared until
he had eaten five and one half. Then he
raised his head and winked at the trage-
dian. This settled it. The wink brought
him, and for the next two or three minutes
his conduct was shOckingly similar to that
oI a sea-sick passenger. The cOlOred man
caught up another fragment of pie, but,
like BanguO's ghost, it would not 90 down.
In the second window was group con-
tanning a cOlOred man named {. Parsons
and naughty Caucasian bearing the sig
niicant name of Benjamin Franklin BuZ-
zard Mr.. BuZzard is a medium built man
with chin whiskers and mild cast of
countenance. He didn't seem to be in any
thing of hurry, but kept right on at the
pies before him. The absence of teeth in
Mr.. Buzzard's jaws made his work trifie
deceptive, hut he winked at his companion
the cOlOred man, and allowed he'd git
thar" And he did. for long after the
balance of the party had quit he was found
at his post, and when the gong tapped the
closing hour he had downed 81 pies and
still looked hungry, while his companion
quit with 81 to his cred. Thus the winners
of the three prizes of $25, SIS and $40
were B. F. BuZzard, G. Parsons and F..
Welmott. Among the other heavy feeders
were nos 2, 5! IS, AZ; II, % 1S, d; 20,
AZ %, Al,