The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-07-18
TRAINING PIGS TO RACE.
A New Business in California-How It
is Done.
From the South San Froncisco Ns,os.


From the South San Francisco Netcs.
Ever since Healy's pig Casey covered him
self with glory and renown by fighting the
rattlesnake Mars, Michenfelder has been
thinking Of raising breed Of athletic pork
ers, whose feats of agility and skill would
be told and retold from the rising to the
setting of the sun.
With this object In view he has been
securing the country far and wide and ad-
vertising In most extensive manner for
high percentage of muscle and slnew and be
practically devoid of fat.
He has now secured choice litter, which
promises we'll to come up to the required
standard. and every morning, with the
regularity OF a good race-horse breeder, he
takes the little chaps out to train.
He begins in the early dawn by giving
them stiff walk up to the reservoir and
back, and whenever one OF the youngsters
gets too fresh or sulks on the way he puts
his little curly tail 10 clothespils, and if
there is any punishment that Is more NOR
ally degrading and hurtful to the armour
propre of a small pig than another it is to
have the spring taken out OF his curly tail
by having the said tail weighted by clothes
pins
After their walk he takes them back to
their yard and gives them cold shower
bath with garden hose. Then they get a
light breakfast of weak swiil, after which
they are given a half hours rest for the pur-
pose Of facilitating digestion.
At 80 the speed trials begin, and as
Michenfelder himself has too much business
to attend to to personally supertntend this
matter he has hit upon an ingenious labor
saving device whereby he can make those
pigs run like wildfre without exerting him
self at all. He just strolls downtown with
piece of liver in his hand and coaxes up
Healy's dog jock aud Black Pedro from the
Pioneer, as we'll as NeR's Cy and Pearce's
three dogs and half a dozen other stray
CANNES that have nothing in particular to
occupy their attention. These he 'sickS"
on the porkers, and when the dogs are
''sicked" it is a comfort to watch the pigs
run. The sticking" process lasts from
twenty to thirty-1ve minutes. by which
time the athletes are swimming In their own
perspiration and the dogs are beginning to
be tagged out They are permitted to rest
until noon, at which time Michenfelder
rounds up few more dogs and gives his
pets more exercise.
BY this process he has reduced his herd to
the narrow dimensions Of fence rails, but he
has endowed them with a speed heretofore
unknown among porkers. Healy has an
other string out OF the old Casey stock train
ing in Oakland, and Kofoed and Hanson
are also starting speeding sites. There will
be at least four good sites of racing pigs
owned in this city before the fall, when it is
proposed that a pig race track be opened
here and purses pus up by an as
ISOLATION for the encouragement of
the sport. 1t is more than likely that
sport in Colma, Redwood, San Mafeo and
adjoining districts will follow Michenfeldsr's
example aud raise several other strings Of
racers. II so, the fall meeting of the Pig
Racing Association will assuredly be suo-
soon become Widespread One thing in favor
Of the new pastime is its moderate expense
when compared with horse racing or cours-
ing with greyhounds. Pigs are cheap and
easily handled, and it costs less per annum
to maintain a hrst-class sty of crack run
ming pigs than it does to train the smallest
string OF thrd-rate plugs that ever appeared
at country fair horse race.