Huntsville gazette., 1891-05-16
THREE PIG TALES.

why Sow Stole Ears Of Coma Hogs
Friendship For q Hen-A Pig-Diver.
Like the goose the pig Is much ma
Hgned animal. It is taken for granted
that they are both stupid to the core,
and in consequence no one will make
pets of them, and endeavor to find
whether they really have any sense.
Perhaps there is a prejudice against
swine because they are so homely; but
that is no reason why they should be
slandered. For instance hero Is the
story of good Samaritan pig:
A Pennsylvania farmer missed one OF
his hogs, and for three days was un-
able to find him. On the third day, the
hired man, while feeding the pigs, saw
SOW take an ear of corn in her mouth,
trot across the lot and disappear in the
thick underbrush. She returned in
about an hour, and the man told his
employer of the occurrence, and the
SOW was closely watched when the
drove was fed again. She ate her din
ner, and then took big ear of corn in
her mouth and again started for the I'M
derbrush.
She was followed quietly to a little
hollow in the wood, where the missing
hog was discovered. One of his hind
legs was held fast by the stout and
springy roots of a hickory tree, be-
tween two closely-growing forks of
which he had stepped, and which had
spread under his weight and then closed
on his leg like wise.
The ground about was covered with
corn cobs, showing how the sow, which
had evidently been present when the
accident had occurred, had cared for
the prisoner. But for her he certainly
would have persisted, as he never could
have escaped from the trap he was in.
A New York man is the proud posses
scr of Poland-China hog, of fine pedi-
gree, which is so fierce that, with the
exception of his owner, he will permit
no one to approach him. The only other
thing on the farm for which he ever
had any friendship was dominick hen,
which was his inseparable companion
for more than year.
The hog had the run of a half-acre
lot, over which he rooted again and
again, for apparently no other purpose
than to provide the hen with worms,
bugs and other insects. The hog and
hen could be seen any fine day making
the. rounds, the hog turning up the
ground with his great snout and then
granting contentedly as the hen
scratched in the furrow.
This was kept up until the hens ap-
petite was satisfied, and then the hog
would stretch himself in the sun for a
nap, and the hen would either nestle in
the dust by his side or perch on his body
somewhere, and wait for her big adj
mirer to wake up. When the hog was
fed the hen perched on the edge of the
trough and occasionally picked out a
floating morsel
One day another pig was turned into
the Enclosure, and all went well until
the hen perched herself as usual on the
edge of the trough at feed-time. The
new pig did not approve of this, and
with quick and savage movement
caught the hen by the neck and broke
it. For moment the big hog gazed at
the lifeless body of his friend, and then
made one rush upon the dominick's
slayer and with his long tusks tore the
offender so that he died in a few min
utes.
Among a certain litter of New Jer-
sey pigs there was one black runt to
which the owners children took great
| fancy and taught number of tricks.
| One was to hide an apple and send the
| pig in search of it. At this the animal
| became very expert, until it seemed
that an apple could not be hidden any
where that the pig could not find it.
But the hired man thought otherwise;
SO one day he tied a weight to an apple
and threw it into the duck pond, where
| the water was about two feet deep. The
| pig went nosing around until he reached
| the pond, hesitated a moment, then
jumped in, dived to the bottom and re-
| appeared with the apple in his mouth.
| The very nextday, while the children
were in great glee over this perform
ance, the pig disappeared, presumably
stolen by some jealous neighbor.
Two years later, while the farmer
was in town on business, he purchased
black hog that pleased him and
brought it home. The hog was driven
into the yard, where he stopped, looked
critically around the premises, and
then, with grunt of satisfaction,
trotted to one corner of the yard, where
he rooted for few seconds.
Then he trotted to the duck pond and
dived beneath the water. When he re-
appeared and swan ashore, he looked
disappointed; but the farmer. and his
family were delighted, because they had
recovered their pet.-N. Y. Journal.
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