Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-10-05

my inevitable fate and get the petticoat prob.
lem out of the WY by placing myself out oil
reach in matrimonial harness. Another glass
OF wine? No? Well, good night, old fellow
I'll just finish this cigar and then 60 home to
roost myself"
LITTLE PIGS GO TO MARKET
Animals That Are Food For Man and
How They Are Brought to Washington.
Piggy-Wig and Piggy-wee were lying side by
side in front of a Wholesale market mans stall
on Louisiana avenue, enjoying the warm sun
They were the sole survivors Of a batch oil
twelve which had arrived that morning by
boat, in rough box. consigned to the dealer
above mentioned. AT any rate the other ten
had already been purchased and carried off by
ruthless retail butchers, and if they had only
known it they themselves were on the point OF
meeting the common fate that awaits all pigs
and piglets at the hands Of voluble French
man, maitre de cuisine of leading hotel, who
was at that very moment dickerIng for the
pair with their proprietor. After all, in such
skilled hands as those of monsieur le chef
what an apotheosis Of cracking and brown
gravy awaits them2 One may venture to as
sert that, if they knew it all, they would con-
approaching dOOm Win tuc
same spirit of cheerful resignation as animates
the Strasbourg goose, which, placed in painful
proximity to q hot fire, deprived of drink and
with its feet nailed to a board, is consoled for
the fortunes it endures by the thought that III
This way its enlarged liver is rendered CASTRO
nomically Nerviceable TO the superior ANIMAL
mtn.
1t is probable, however, that the two little
pigs were not thinking of anything in particu.
lar. They did not even know that they weighed
Is pounds apiece to an ounce-just the proper
ayoirdupois for a roaster-and that they haG
been born not many days ago in Maryland
They had come from the great pig-raising dis
trict, so to 10 miles down the river, which sup
plies Washington almost wholly with such in
fantile porkers, though few are shipped
hither from Virginia. At this size they are
worth from Si.50 to 81 each for cooking. How
ever. comparatively few are brought to the
city for that purpose. Most of those you SET
along Louisiana avenue are sold to farmers fol-
raising. The latter range from ~ to ~. SO IL
price, breed being matter Of Importance and
value.
WHAT SUGGESTED GEESE
to THE STAB reporters mind was q grateful Of
those birds of domestic variety and with
normal livers, close by which the two little
pigs were lying. They had arrived from
Maryland on the same boat with the small
grunters and, lacking the philosophy of their
four-legged travelling companions, they ex
pressed in loud squawks their disgust at the
situation. 1t was scarcely grateful, too, OIL
their part, inasmuch as the receptacle which
confined them was of a particularly swell pat
tern, bearing the same relation to ordinary
crates for the conveyance of fowls as is held
by the Pullman parlor car to the common rail-
way vehicle.
COMFORTABLE QUARTERS.
This crate was about five feet long by three
feet wide and two feet high, and the first one
Of its kind was evidently constructed by a
genius who had in view the comfort and conse-
4uen. good condition of chickens. geese or
ducks sent to market. In consideration of the
fact that the continuance in question is coming
very much into fashion on Louisiana avenue il
may be OF interest to state that all such crates
are made by one factory in Madison county,
Virginia, save only few that come from Rock
ingham county. The bottoms are of poplar
plank, which does not warp, and the sides and
top are made Of little ribs OF elastic white oak
held at the ends by rims of ash. The result il
q very light and strong affair that will cost
81 80 and last two years with good treatment.
And, furthermore, things piled upon it in the
freight cars will not crush it in and iujure the
oc cupants.
Wooden coops Of the ordinary pattern. the
market man said, come mostly from Park
ersburg, VIVA, where two-thirds of them
are manufactured by single arm. Many,
too. are brought to Washington from
Marietta, Ohio. One of them costs fifty cents
new, and lasts six mouths, perhaps Most
numerous of all receptacles for this PURPOSE
however, are the "wire baskets" which look as
If they were made of cheap chicken net and old
barrel slaves tackled together. But in reality
they are very carefully constructed. and i,
takes SIPS to buy one. They will last wear
or two, but they crowd the fowls and are easily
crushed in transit. Most of them are turned
out IN Washington, though not a few reach
here from Baltimore and Alexandria.
HOME MATE CooPs.
There are two or three colored men in thi,
city. by the way, who do a considerable bust
ness in making ifty-cent wooden coops. These
coops and crates of all sorts are chiefly owned
by the people who ship to the commission mer.
chants, and the express companies return them
empty to the senders. Hitherto this latter ser
vice has been performed free, the result beina
that very many we're lost; for the express com
panies, being paid nothing for the work. took
no care of them, and the freight handler.
would chuck them out anywhere to get rid nj
them. But within sixty days a new regulation
has been established charging ten cents apiece
Tor crates and coops returned, and now they
usually arrive.
EGO CRATES.
for some reason, are still dead-headed. The
latter are simply boxes manufactured all over
the country, holding thirty dozen each, three
dozen in layer. The paste board filings
into which the eggs fit like little square nests
are all made in Lima, Ohio, and are heavily
patented. TO the casual eye they look simple
enough, but IL you will examine them you will
see that they are constructed with wonderful
ingenuity, both for strength ana for conven-
fence In folding up. 1t is in the manner OF
the strips of paste board together by
curious scissored mortices that the essence OF
the invention lies. A set of them, to hold
thirty dozen, viii last three months about.
THE BARRELS USED
for sending produce to market are manufac-
tured at various shipping points in the west.
The old ones are bought up by barrel men here
in Washington, who re-cooper them and sell
them cheap for potatoes, eabbages and such
uses. This making-over OF barrels 10 big
business at the capital.
As for calves. sheep and lambs. they are con-
signed by the farmers in Maryland and Viz
GINA to the commission men on the avenue In
rude boxes just tinkered up for the purpose.
The retail butchers from the Center market
after their work is over for the day, and pick
out the animals they want. These they take
out to the slaughter houses in Georgetow or
elsewhere, kill and dress them and bring the
carcasses down to their places of business to be
put away In the cold until tender aud ready for
eating.
Rondcl.