Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-08-16
HEAT HELPED THE HEN
The Fowl Deserted Her Eggs. but They
Hatohed ALI the Same
An Incident of the Prevailing SOlstice
Census-The Hot Spell Continues.


with the fact that on certain occasions
during the hot spells. which. at intervals
far apart make our usually delightful sum-
mers disagreeable, the asphalt becomes
soft to a point of mushiness; that the tar
oozes out from the interstices between the
Belgian blocks, and that other phenomena
occur which serve to accentuate the fact
that the temperature is torrid. Still. at no
time in the past has the heat in Wash
ington been regarded as Of sufficient in
tensity to hatch out eggs. During the
present spell, however, this feat has been
accomplished, and several small and yellow
results of the remarkable operation are fol-
lowing a surprised, hut delighted, hen
around in Capitol Hill back yard:
The facts are that lady on Sd street
and genial hen for the edification and
amusement of her two little children.
Shortly after the purchase the fowl dis
played a singular pertinacfty to hover over
cast-of door knobs, thrown aside tea-xettle
spouts and other vagrant articles, indicat-
ing by these proceedings that the motherly
instinct was strong within her, and that
what she most devoutly wished was thir-
teen eggs upon which to settle herself, and
there remain in stately and solemn salts
faction.
Her Ardent Ambition Satisfied.
Accordingly the proprietor of the house
scurried down to the market and secured
setting of warranted eggs with which to
fill the old hens heart with peace and hap
piness, and. eventually, the premises with
her peeping progeny. For two weeks and
three days that hen sat on those eggs. No
allurements could wean her from her self
imposed duty. While the other chickens in
the neighborhood held high carnival and
g1asshoppers and fat earth-worms and
other things dear to the chicken heart she
sat and stared and blinked. and let even no
cluck or chirp disturb her meditations.
At the END of the period mentioned, how
ever. change came Ger the spirit of her
dreams. She knew that she had not laid
these eggs herself. and the probabilities
are that a sickening suspicion crept into
and that the articles beneath her would
come to naught.
She Deserts the Nest.
Accordingly she left the nest and the
eggs and rejoined her companions on the
nearby commons, and contented herself in
scratching for self-preservation, instead of
kicking UP the dirt on behalf of ten or a
dozen little ones. Three days after the
rest had been deserted the owner of the
premises remarked to his wife that he
might as well throw the eggs away, as
they had become cold. Subsequent events
showed that he did not know anything
about the real quality of Washington
weather. something prevented MS reMOV-
ing the eggs from the nest and throwing
them out.
Yesterday evening his devoted wife was
sitting in her dining room when she heard
the faint peep, peep" of juvenile poultry.
Upon investigation 1t was found that the
eggs which the hen had deserted had been
Matched out without her attention, and en-
tirely by the effects of the natural heat of
the atmosphere. The old hen was caught IN
remote end of the premises and put on
the nest. where the young chicks were
clamoring for a mother. She seemed abso-
lutely overwhelmed with establishment, but
cuddled down over them nevertheless, and
this morning she was struttng around
scratching gravel for her sun-hatched pro-
geny as faithfully and as proudly as if
they were really her own.
Hot Enough to Cook Eggs Today.
1t is probable that eggs placed in the sun
this afternoon would not have Matched out
prospective pullets. The chances are that
they would have been cooked. The prom
ised cool wave about which the weather
bureau has been talking with such superb
confidence for the past two or three days
was switched off in the northeast yesterday,
and went cavorting across the lake
trouble about hot weather anyhow, and
where cool wave IS about as superfiuous
as a palm leaf fan, consequently there is no
telling how long this intense weather will
last. The only consolation to be derived from
the conditions is that it Is just about as hot
all through the middle Atlantic states as it Is
in Washington, and this can only be ex-
perienced by those who live up to the belief
that misery loves company.