Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1886-08-28
Hons and Hnm0risfs.

A certain chord Of sympathy exists
between thesetwo species. the hen and the
hunorist. Columns Of laughable arti-
cles have been written By the latter upon
the formers prediction to produce on a
falling market. and stop the production
when the price of her commodity was go
ing up. But beneath the wit and sar-
casm the observing reader will have
noted a strong undercurrent of 4admira-
ton on the part of the humorist for the sa-
gacitv of the American hen in endeasbr-
ing to bull or bear the market as she saw
fit. Then, again. when her attempts at
Matching out door knobs. fire brick. and
brownstone fronts have been referred to,
there is. the same undertone indicative
of the writer's respect for the patience
Of that hen.
That humorists love hens there IS no
doubt. Now there is George Peck, for
example. For years he has devoted the
best of his genius to his Heaeru. ard he
carries his love so far that he will never
taste chicken soup until he has been as
surcd that the fowl of which it is com
posed was a member OF the masculine per
s~uasion. Bob Burdette is superstitious
in the matter OF hens. To see a pure
white hen, acts like inspiration upon Bob,
and it is said that The Rise md Fall
Of the Mustachc was evolved on that
day when a white hen strayed into his
kitchen. \ jet black rooster is his Ne
mesis, and no power on earth could
make him start on a journey or ascend
the platform the day he has passed one
with its head pointed toward him. Even
rough Bill Nye is the everlasting friend
of the hen. lie owes his start in life to
a pair Of barnyard fowls whom he caught
scratching up his garden "sass." This
made Bill mad. Swearing a plaintive
swear, and Selling his double-barreled
persuader, he got a bead on them; but
ere he fired his educated eye caught the
glimpse of something bright Approach-
ing the spot he discovered that the fowls
had laid bare a soil laden with gold dust.
to eternity by the wild Western humor
route had better speak d~isparagingly Of
the hen in the presence of Bill Nye. G.
Whitaker, it is said, saves all the tid-bits
from his table for a ~superannuated hen
which has made her home in his back
yard. Mark Twain points with pride t
the portrait Of a hen, now dead, which
he captured in the5 act Of scratching III
the rcsting-placc of seven sleepers. Ano
have accidentally osefheard that a Ger
tain Philadelphia humorist has the cali OF
his brethren with a pet hen which sleep,
on the headboard of his bed, and vii
never 90 to roost until its master ha.
come home. We admire while we pit,
that hen.
These and many more cases that coult
be cited, prove the assertion that humor
lists love hens. Now let US see wha
there is in common between them. !
hen is very tender and fresh when frs
Matched. So is the humorist; but the,
both become hardened and toughcnco
with age and experience, Hens scratcl
for their living; where is the humoris
who has not had to scratch mighty hard
at that? The hen pecks; the humorist i
very often henpecked. A hen watehe
over her brood with a mothers eyeI
humorist with fatherly pride, watche
his young as they are waited abou
through the columns of friendly publ
cations, and it makes him sad and wear
to see one of his most promising creation
passed off as original by tho Grab-a.
Gazette. The hen cackles when she ha
laid an egg. The humorist cries II j
ecstasy when he has written an articl
WI itch meets with public favor. Hen
lay. Humorists lie. Whoever has rea
the writings of Eli Perkins will bear til
writer out in this statement. FINAL
hens die unrregcttcd, and their memory
shrouded in oblivion. Has not this bee
the case in a great many instances wit
the humorist:- Chicago Ledger.