Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-05-30


These remarks, of course. are a little
bit personal, Earnest, but still they show
your goodness of heart. fear that you
are cursed with the fatal gift of beauty
yourself and wish to have others go with
you on the downward way. You ask
why l do not grow a mustache and
tell you frankly that it is for the public
good that | do not. | used to wear a
long, dropping and beautiful mustache,
which was well received in society, and,
under the quiet stars and opportune cir
cumstances, gave good satisfaction; but
at last the hour came when felt that
must decide between this long. silky mus
tache and soft boiled eggs, Of which |
am passionately fond. l hope that you
understand my position, Earnest, and
that ! am studying the public welfare
more than my own at all times.
Sassafras Oleson, of South Deadman,
writes to know something of the care of
fowls in the spring and summer. "Do
You know he asks, anything of the
best methods for feeding young chicks
who may not get the proper nourish-
ment from the mother? Is there any
way to prevent hens from stealing their
nests and sitting on inanimate objects?
Tell US through the papers as tersely as
possible what your own experience has
been with hens"
To speak tersely of the hen and her
mission in life seems to me almost sacri-
lege. 1t is at least in poor taste. The
hen and her works lie near to every true
heart She does much toward making
us better, and she don't care who knows
it, either. Young chicks who have lost
their mothers by death, and whose
fathers are of shiftless and improvi-
dent nature, may be fed on koumiss, two
parts; moxie, eight parts; distilled water.
ten parts. Mix and administer till relief
is obtained. Sometimes, however, the
chick will readily nurse the guinea hen,
and many lives have been saved in this
way. Whether or not this plan will in
fuence the voice of the rising hen is a
question among henologists of the coun-
try which | will not attempt to answer.
Hens who steal their nests are gener-
ally OF a secretive nature and are more
or less social pariahs. A hen who will
do this should be watched at all times
and won back by kind words from the
step she is about to take. Brute force
will accomplish little. Logic also avails
little at such time but by striking at
the foundations of hen society and show
ing her that it is honorable at all times
to lay good egg, and that as soon as
she begins to be secretive and to seek to
mislead those who know and love her
she at once takes a course which cannot
end with honor to herself or her descend
ants.
have made the hen a study for many
years, and love to watch her even yet as
she resumes her tolls on a falling market
year after year, or seeks to hatch out a
summer hotel by setting ON a door knob
She interests and pleases me. Careful
study of the hen convinces me that her
low, retreating forehead is a true index
to her limited reasoning faculties and
lack of memory, ideality, imagination,
calculation and spirituality. She is also
deficient in her enjoyment of humor.
/ once owned large white draught
rooster who stood about seven hands
high and had feet on him which would
readily break down a whole corn field if
he walked through it. Yet he lacked
the courage of his convictions, and so
cially was not regarded as q success.
Leading hens seemed to regard him as a
good hearted rooster and seemed to won
der that he did not get ON better in a So
cial way. He had a rich baritone voice
and was good provider, digging up
large areas of garden and giving the hens
what was left after he got through, and
yet they gave their smiles to far more
dissolute though perhaps brighter minds.
So took him away awhile and let him
see'something of the world by allowing
him to visit among the neighbors and
see society little. Then / brought him |
home again, and one night colored him |
with diamond dyes SO that he was a |
beautiful scarlet. His name was Sum-
ner.
took Sumner the following morning |
and turned him loose among his old |
neighbors. Surprise was written on |
every face. He realized his advantage, |
and the first thing he did was to greet |
the astonished crowd with a cultural |
remark, which made them jump. He |
then stepped over to hated rival and |
ate off about fifteen cents worth of his |
large, red, pompadour comb. He now
remarked in a courteous way to small |
Poland China hen, who seemed to be at |
the head of all works of social improve
ment, that we were having rather a |
backward spring. Then he picked out
the eye of another rival, much to his sur
prise, and went ON with the converse
ton. BY noon the bright scarlet rooster
owned the town. Those who had picked
ON him before had now gone to the hos
pital, and practically the social world
was his. He got so stuck up that he
crowed wheneverthe conversation Jagged
and was too proud to eat worm that
was not right off the ice. never saw