San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-06-21
THE RAzoRsAck AT HOME.
He Does Not Resemble His Pampered
Brother of Berkshire Breed,

The form, contour and face of the
rounded, sleek-sided, short-legged
Berkshire and other hogs of high de-
gree do not much resemble the angu-
lar, razor-backed hog common through
out the south. The countenance OF
the well-bred, well-cared-for species is
chubby and contentedlooking, the
ears small, the snout inclined to turn
up rather than down. His less for
tunate cousin has long, narrow face,
immense, Topping ears that hang dis
consolately over his eyes and an elon-
gated, pointed snout that seems provi-
dentially formed to aid his earthly ex-
plorations.
"Root, hog or die" is a common say
ing in the country of which this hog is
a native and the swine seem to realize
the situation. They have long legs and
always run with their shouts close to
the ground, convenient for unearthing
anything eatable which may come in
their way. They diligently root up
the promising morsel of food and gulp
it down without stopping to enjoy it
and run on apparently faster than
ever, grunting as they go, in search of
something more-some favorite acorn
or juicy bit of grass or berry root, up
on which they largely depend for sub
sistence.
Naturally, the vast amount of i'm
perative exercise they take ranging
through the pine woods effectually
prevents their taking on much super
huous flesh, and the hair on their mar
row backs is as rough and coarse as
that of the well-bred hog is smooth
and glossy. The majority of them are
dingy white color, perhaps spotted
with black, and when a white-coated
one, scantily covered with hair, has
pale eyes bound around with pink, and
very light eyelashes protruding
beneath his dropping ears, he is as
ugly a living object as can be imagined.
The little pigs are moderately pretty
when quite young, but not in the least
like the plump, little, chubby-faced
baby Berkshire, and long before they
have arrived at the age when they are
called ''shotes" they have become I'M
calmly and common looking. The
negroes have great faith in the ability
of the hog to survive any amount of
neglect and still live to provide
sausages and pork stew for the winter
season. At certain seasons, when the
"shotes" can do damage to the matur-
ing crops, it is necessary to confne
them until the fields are bare once
more and will admit of their ranging
at will.
In hn ,f rxrally II
negro boy and girl were found seated
on top of the fence which surrounded a
small pen, hinging corn to two hogs
within the Enclosure. The rude feed
ing-trough was as dry as if no liquor
had ever dampened it and this on hot
summer afternoon, Inquiry as to when
the prisoners had last had water given
them elected no response from the shy
little ''shote-minders." After some in
quiry and explanation that the pigs
would like water the boy consented to
go to the house, some distance of, for
bucket, after bringing which the
children went to the spring, in little
hollow in the woods behind the pen,
and procured water for the thirsty
creatures. 1t is needless to say that
they drank it with avidity. This pen
was in an open field, with not single
bit of shade near. 1t had belonged to
an humble establishment, the house
and barn of which had been
moved to some other tract of
land, and the owner of the
hogs had utilized the pen just where it
was, the distance from his dwelling,
which was plentifully supplied with
well water, rendering it most neon
venient to attend to the wants of the
animals. The pen could easily have
been moved, as the fence around it
was made of movable rails, placed zig
gag fashion, on purpose that it might
be changed from place to place, but
evidently the comfort of the shotes
was not regarded as of much impor-
lance. Later a small slim figure in a
scant, homespun dress, faded and torn,
suddenly emerged from a narrow path,
which opened upon the road, and
childish voice said, timidly: want
some headache blossom, ma'am?" lit
tie black hand holding out bunch of
delicate pink flowers, with perfume
more powerful than sweet. The &C.
ceptance of this offering seemed to
thaw out her reserve and the little girl
volunteered the information that she
and Yankee" (her brother) ''aimed to
dash water to de hog cherry evenin'."
In the days of the old regime the
crops were all fenced in and the hogs
and cattle as well were allowed to roam
at will through the Businesses of the
swamps and timbered tracts. Often
times the animals were not seen for
months. When the time drew near for
hog-killing, parties were made up to
''drive" the swamps and capture the