The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-06-24
Saved by Wild Pigeons,

CURIOSITY, Stiu al Oiu feSiuenU. " nat
the first flock of pigeons I've seen in
ten years in these parts, and yet / can
when they came here by the
thousands every Spring and fall. They
used TO nest in our woods in the spring,
and came back again every other fall to
feed on the beech nuts. They came
every two wears because they knew that
the beech trees were barren every other
year, and they never made a mistake in
the year, either.
IF it hadn't been for wild pigeons
some of the richest men in this county
and in neighboring counties would have
been poor to-day-that is, if they had
stayed where they We're We used to
have some big pigeon years, but the
season of 1887 beat any two we ever
had. laundering was the only business
in this part of the country then, as that
and tanning are now. The lumber was
RATED down to the Delaware, and then
to Philadelphia and other markets. In.
1887 times were bad. That was the
year OF the great panic. Lumber
couldn't be sold for what it cost to get
it to market, and for what was sold it
was hard to get pay. To make matters
worse, all crops failed in this region
that season. The fall opened with pros
poets for starvation for the hundreds of
people who depended for support on the
lumber business. Employers had no
money to pay workmen, and there was
no way to obtain the necessaries of life.
at happened that in 1887 was the
beech-nut year, and nobody remem-
bered when the nuts had been so plenty
for many years. That was the saliva
ton of the region. People were begin
ming to talk in earnest of making raids
upon the surrounding towns and vii
lagos to obtain supplies, the news of the
bread riots in New York having reached
here, and given them the cue. But be-
fore any act of this kind was committed
the wild pigeons began to arrive in the
beeches, and in very few days the
woods were alive with them. To say
that there We're millions of them does
not approach the number. Every tree
seemed to be loaded, and the ground
was Uttered with the branches broken
of by their weight as they thronged in
trees at night to roost. The noise made
by their wings and Threats was so great
that the report of gun could not be
heard one hundred feet away. A per-
son could go anywhere in the
beeches, shut his eyes and shoot,
and never fail to bring down pigeons.
The whole region turned out to
kill pigeons. They were shot, dubbed,
netted, and killed and captured in
every known manner by men. women
and children, and carried away by the
boatload and sold about the country.
There was a splendid rafting freshet
in the Delaware at the time, but although
there were many RATS ready to run, il
isn't likely one would have been started
down the river if it hadn't been for the
wild pigeons. Old raftmen and others
agreed to run these RATS to Philadelphia
free of charge to the owners if they
would grant them the privilege of load.
ing the lumber with pigeons. The offel
was gladly accepted, and every raft was
run heavily freighted with pigeons
Some of the RATS were stopped at differ.
ent points along the river, where, hard
as the times were, profitable markets
were found for the birds Others rar
through to Philadelphia direct, where
the pigeons were quickly sold at gooC
prices. The freshet kept up so wei
that some Spectators made severa
trips, clearing as high as $1,000 a trip
Before the pigeons left the beecheS
| which was not for weeks, more money
was brought back to the region from
their sale than was received from all thu
| lumber that went to market. Men who
with their families, had been on tn,
verge of starvation, were made com
paratiyely rich almost in day, and tn,
foundations of big fortunes were laid
One of the biggest grocery establish
ments, and one of the wealthiest leathe
firms in New York City to-day, ow
their existence to the big pigeon year O
1887, for the men who own them wer
started in business by their fathers, VIII
made the money by rafting wild pigeon
down the river in that memorable fall
Speaking OF beech nuts and speeula
ton, another big year for nuts wa
1920, and that year man named Cor
roy went into a speculation that ha
quite different result from the one
wild pigeons that followed. In thos
DAYS people were in the habit of lettin
their pigs run in the woods and fatte
on the nuts Conroy conceived the ide
of fattening hogs in this way by til
wholesale, and then gathering them u
and driving them to market He calcl
lated that he could easily make prof
of at least five dollars on every hog thu
fattened He secured the country an
bought up at least thousand and turne
them into the beeches. They got alon
finely; but week or so before he il
tended to collect his hogs and driy
them to market the weather turned tel
ribly cold and foot of snow fell. Whe
he went into the woods to get his hog
he found them scattered about dead,
groups of a dozen or so, where they ha
huddled together to keep warm. A fe
only survived the cold, and they ra
wild Descendants of theirs lived
the woods for years.. and were so wi
. that they afforded many exciting hun
for the sportsmen of that day.-Morsstt
!. IN. T. Cor. ~ Y San.
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