Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-03-09
HOG GUESSING.
A Winter Amusement on Long Island
that is Still in Much
Vogue.

Hog guessing is one of the sports of
the olden time which has survived the
competition of baseball and golf. In fact
the, numerous hog guessings held Of late
and the large crowds which have at
tended them indicate revival OF the
sport. Every Long island village must
have, at least, it's annual hog guessing.
The important occasion is sure to draw
crowd and make fat the pocketbook OF
the popular hotel proprietor.
10 make hog guessing a success re-
quires judicious management and llb-
eral advertising. In the first place the
biggest hog in the town must be OBJ
tanned several weeks before the time
appointed for the guessing and the hog
pen must be conveniently located near
the bar-room, so that the hogs growth
from day to day may be noted by the
patrons of the hotel. Ii he is OF I'M
usual size he is often weighed say, a
month before the guessing and his
weight announced. Posters are put up
in neighboring hotels, blacksmith shops
and other places of public resort, ana
everything possible is done to draw
crowd.
AS the day approaches interest IN the
victim increases and many a so-called
lucky guesser owes his reputation TO the
clandestine visit to the hog pen with
tape measure Every butcher and pro-
fessional hog guesser has a rule OF MS
own for determining the weight OF
hog but the usual rule is to multiply the
girth round the breast, just behlnd Inc
shoulder blade. and the length OF the
back. from the tail to the forepart OF the
shoulder blade, in inches and divide by
IA for the superficial feet. Multiply the
result hv II, the weight allowed for each
superficial foot
The Berkshires are the favorite breed,
because Of their immense size and early
maturity. The marks of the thorough
bred are four white feet. white spot
between the eyes and a few white hairs
behind each shoulder. The main color,
of course, is black. The weights range
all the way from 500 to 800 or even 800
pounds. The bigger the hog the greater
the interest in his weight and the more
free advertisement of the guessing:
When the day arrives, the crowd gath
ers early in the morning, and motley
crowd it is. grading all the way from
the truant school boy to the dignltled
church deacon. They come on foot and
in all sorts of vehicles, including, in rare
| instances, the modern bicycle. A club is
| often formed of members. who each
| guess a different weight, with the under
/ standing that if the hog is won by any
of the members it is divided between all
| Of them. These clubs often come to-
gether in big farm wagon. The hero
of the occasion is the professional pig
sticker, usually an old-time butcher, who
made a living by going from farm to
farm killing live stock of all kinds; next
in Importance is the hotel proprietor OF
the local politician.
AS soon as the hog stops kicking the
carcass is hoisted on the platform and
prepared for scalding. When all is ready
the body is soused in the scalding water
a. few times and then withdrawn and
the work of scraping begins. This is
done with the clam shells, dull knives
or anything that will scrape without cut
ting After the process of scraping the
skin is complete the hog is usually
weighed amid the greatest excitement.
The holders of the guesses nearest the
weight at once claim the pork and are
expected to pay for all the liquor drank
during the rest of the afternoon and
give the butcher a liberal tip besides.
Sometimes the hog is cut up and sold
at auction and the proceeds divided
among the ENTHUSIASTICALLY Eagle.