Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-23
A WONDERFUL HEN.

Lays nm Egg Every Day Except sun
days and Holidays.
From the New York Sun.
81 became acquainted with rather re-
markable hen on my recent trip up through
western New York." said John Gilbert,
travelling grocerynan. ''She lives in Mount
Morris, In the Genesee Valley No one
knows where she came from, but citizen
named Arnold discovered her in his yard
one morning last April. keeping company
with the only chicken he owned, another
hem The strange hen was plainly tramp.
but she settled down on the Arnold place
contentedly, and with evident determine
ton to stay there Arnold did not object.
and a few days later the hen made nest
on top of an ash heap and laid an egg in 1t.
She must have deposited the egg early IN
the morning, for it was there at Z o'clock,
when Arnold discovered it. This was on
Monday She laid an egg every day after
that until the following Sunday, and each
egg was laid an hour later every day. Sum
day the hen didn't lay, but at II O'Clock
next day she deposited an egg, as usual
AS if to make up for skipping an egg on
Sunday Mondays egg was an unusually
large one. and was found to be double
yolked.
This remarkable hen laid an egg every
day, the one on Friday being deposited in
the nest at just o'clock in the afternoon
The next day, Saturday. she started In at
6 o'clock in the morning with her egg for
that day. and on Sunday laid none. The
following Monday, though. she dropped an
other very large egg. This one, too, was
found to have two yolks, and was laid at
Z o'clock. And she went on, depositing
an egg in the nest an hour later every day
until she reached o'clock in the afternoon,
when she would go back and begin at q
o'clock in the morning again, always taxi
ing q rest on Sunday and making up for 1t
by laying double-yolked egg on Monday.
She was so regular and prompt on the hour
that the Arnold family got to setting their
clock by her, but this was not until one
day, according to their clock she laid her
egg for that day at ten minutes to IL, and
they thought she had made mistake: but
they found that she hadn't, the clock being
just ten minutes slow.
1.-The fame of this hen soon spread about
that part of the Genesee Valley, and folks
got to coming miles to see her. but along
about the end of May they found that they
didn't really know what wonder that
tramp hen was 1t was on a Wednesday,
and Arnold went out at the hour an egg
was due that day, but there was no egg in
the nest. The hen was wallowing lazily in
the dust near by, but she laid no egg that
day. There was much disappointment over
this, and it was not until they found a
double yolked egg in the nest next day that
Arnold began to think. After thinking he
got an idea.
why, said he, yesterday was May So
Decoration day! This hen, / guess doesn't
work holidays any more than she does
Sundaysp
And that was just what she didn't. This
was proved when the Fourth of July came
round. No egg on that day, but double
yoiked egg next day. Then right along
she went again, an egg every day except
Sundays, double yolk on Mondays. until
Thanksgiving. No egg Thanksgiving, dou-
HE yolk day after. No egg Christmas, no
egg New Year day, but double yolks after
each one of those holidays. She's been go
ing right along since then, laying five or
binary eggs every week and double yok
on Mondays, and. of course, is expected to
take another day Off on February -, Wash
ington's birthday.
"'What will she do when a holiday comes
Sunday% said Arnold the other day. Why,
she'd lay egg with three yolks next
day, that's what she'd do! And I'll bet on
it"
"And nobody would bet against him."