Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1885-05-28
Hogs and Hog Killing.

/ will say few words relative to
our native hogs. Hogs? Yes sir,
hogs! American hogs that pillow deep
burrows in the garden among the
squash and pea vines, and revolution
ize the earth anent the cucumber and
parsnip beds.
Those identical hogs that in sleepy
solitude wander out in the morning
sunshine and revel upon the milky
sweet corn and infantile water mel
ons. and tickle the crimped edge but
ter squash under the chin with their
hairy bristles.
Tho eccentricities of the hog are
numerous. There is dreamy, visit
full look about the countenance of the
average hog when in repose that sug-
costs deep, overhanging sorrow,
which can only be broken by taking a
fence board and swatting him across
the back bone, when he will immedi-
ately brighten up, say good evening
and dash quickly between your legs
oh, so quickly.
This is often embarrassing to the
swatter, when performed in the pres
ence OF company, but the hog enjoys
it.
The hog has acquired considerable
note as runner. He is shown off to
best advantage in corn-lield with
man CARRYING a hay rake in close pur-
suit. have seen large pig, free
from general debility, keep just eleven
feet ahead of the farmer in holly con-
tested race around corn-fcld, and
run past tho gate seventeen or eighteen
consecutive times before induced to
invade his normal sphere again.
Never feel too overly confident of a
hog. He is full of meanness and
treacherous undertakings.
Hog killing and pork packing has
risen to vast industry IN this coun-
try, gigantic monopoly. And our
pork is slapped atwart the counters
not only of our own country. but
those of foreign strand.
Years ago. when the abnormally
reticent redman roamed the plains,
they were about the only ones who
ever did much hog killing. The settler
raised the hogs and tho red man rails
cd the settlers hair. after which he
borrowed his gun, without objection
of tho owner, and did the hog killing.
l0t bOll COitcCJcu Wy bhO ihuidho Aoi
hog killing In those days was consid-
cradle. And yet the settlers rarely
complained. A man can't very well
worry about domestic infelicities
with large irregular hole shot
through under his fifth rib, and the
whole area of his dome of thought
peeled off and laid aside.
It is very different with our farmers
now. They do their own butchering,
reserve the toll formerly collected by
the Indians, and it is sailed down for
rainy day. They also save enough
natural hair, which in carly times was
appropriated by the redman, to make
it quite an object.
remember once attending the MUIR
der of a large ambitious hog. commit
ted by an amateur butcher. He had
driven a large cheese knife into the
hogs internal improvements seven or
eight times, and had dissected his
wind pipe, together with large por.
ton of his digestive apparatus but the
hog refused to die.
He was the most obstinate pig have
eve, seen. took hold of his hind
legs and endcavored to alleviate his
sufferings by rolling him over, wher
his legs suddenly recoiled. Did you
ever soc hog in dying strains recoil
his lcgsp A jcrky, quivering spas
modic recoil that ills the sorrowine
eyes of the unterrified with briny
waste / felt just that way my
self.
Bending over the hog ] said. Poor
piggy, IL will soon be over" Then hi
feet shot out and caught me some
where in the waist-band, and / per
formed beautiful but very irregular
parabola over the fence into row o
raspberry bushes. / paused then ant
there in that hog-killing business.
have paused ever since.