The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-04-27
sl1xD NJ WILD PT0EoMa
VITA sAs nsIp o. . NE HsssA Net Year ase
a Dsiswars River Frsshss.


MoRssroS. N. Y, April lo.-A flock Of wild
pigeons. flying very high In q northwester,y
direction. attracted tho attention OF this VII
la9e's population yesterday. and tho flock was
watched with intense interest until 1t disap-
peared In the distance. :.
Now, that's what I call genuine curiosity.
said an old resident. That's the first mock OF
pigeons Two seen In ten years In these parts.
and yet I can remember when they came mere
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 food on tho
beech nuts. They came every two years DO
cause they know that the bccch trees were par
rem evory other year. and they never made
mistake In the year. either.
II II hadn't been for Wild pigeons some OF
the richest mon In this county and In neigh
boring counties would have been poor to-day
that IL. II they had stayed where they were.
season Of 1887 beat any two We eyer had:
now. The iambSr was. rated down 70 the
pafEsss IN" iss H'a times NO wsrS BAD That
Pa M VIM ssS ST. Sala S e a %s ass
rexioa that season; Ths M opened %sd, With Z;
people who depended for support on the lum.
Der business. Employers had no money to pay
workms9 and a there was no way to obtain tho
II happened that 1887 was the beech. nut
year, and nobody remembered when the nuts
The salvation n Of the region. People were be.
ginning to talk In earnest OF making raids upon
supplies tho news Of the bread. riots in New
York having reached here Hpd them
beeches, and In = very few days the woods were
tSe ground was littsred With tho brancSs: bro.
hsa N 4 ey n sSr Esas
their wings and threats was 90 great thSt the
ESn c sSaa mot ss hssS 100 as
. bring down, pigeons. Ths whole region
eaSssa out nsttsd ana and
sSIIdren sna carried away By tho SoasiOsd and
rating ssAs a tn:
sss .oaa fs see sssSs III
It hadn't. been for the Wild pigeons. Old raft
Phiiadeiphfa free Of charge 70, the owners II
they would grant them tho privilege Of loading
accepted, and every raft was run heavily
S po s' al sons , hs Tsas
Sets were founa for the birds. Others ran
through to Philadelphla direct. where the
pigeons were quickly sold ut good prices. The
freshet kept up SO we'll that some specul ators
made several trips. clearing as high as
was brought back TO tho region from their sale
than was received for all the lumber. that
went to market. Men who. with their fami-
lies. had been on the verge Of starvation. were
made comparatively rich almost in day. and
the foundations Of big fortunes were laid. One
nj IA " a q n h q
Of the wealthiest leather firms In New York
city to-day. owe their existence to the big
pigeon year OF 1887, for the men who own them
were started In business by their fathers. who
made the money by rafting wild pigeons down
the river In that memorable foil.
speaking OF beech nuts and speculation.
year a man named Conroy went into a
speculation that had quite a different result
from the one In wild pigeons that followed. In
those DAYS people were In the habit OF letting
their pigs run In tho woods and fatten on the
nuts. Conroy conceived the idea Of fattening
hogs in this way by waoiesale. and then gsth-
He calculated that no could easily make a
profit OF at least IS on every hog .lius fat
tened. He secured the country and bought up
at least u thousand pigs and turned them into
the bceches., They got along finely but u week
he 10 s SF
bly, cold and o foot OF snow foil. When he went
into the woods to got his hogs he found them
scattered about dead In groups OF a dozen or
SO. where they had hCddled together to keep
warm. A few only survived tho cold. and they
ran Wild. Descendants Of theirs lived In tho
men OF that day."