The herald., 1897-02-19
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
An APPETITE FOR NAILS
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Ninetytwo pieces of hardware were
discovered in the stomach of a COW be-
longing to John Risler, a well-knoWn
farmer, living near here, says a Lock-
town On. j. correspondent of the Cour-
ierJ Journal when it was killed the lat
ter part of last month.
SO extraordinary is the case generally
regarded, and so many requests for
veritcation have poured in on Mr.. Ris-
Ter, that he has made affidavit, GUNNER
ating the articles, which reads in part
as follows:
This is an exact statement of what
was taken from my cows stomach One
twopenny wire nail, l fourpenny nail,
twopenny nails, il eightpenny and
threepenny cut nails fourpenny nails,
L fivepenny wrought nail SO pieces of
nails, one-inch screws, pieces of wire,
stones, l hog ring, one-half threshing
machine spike, paddock and piece Of
chain. In all 92 different objects were
taken from the stomach.
Some of them showed that they had
been there for many months, if not
years, while others had apparently been
swallowed quite recently"
COW Which apparently thrived and
grew fat upon diet of shingle nails
padlocks and small pieces of steel link
chain is certainly an animal whose gas
tronomic achievements are worthy Of
chronicling.
Tender green grass, rich meadow hay,
or even delectable bran mash, had no
attractions for this Jersey when any old
pieces of hardware were obtainable. Her
preference seemed to be for such un-
usual thlngs as railroad spikes, nut
heads, screws and pieces of wire
In only one respect did this COW differ
from any other of her species. She gave
an excellent quality of milk and more
than the ordinary quantity, and how she
came to develop taste for iron is unex-
planned.
She might still be making a living
hardware store of herself had not her
owner decided TO convert the living ami
NAL into beef for winter and spring con-
sumption by his family.
She was in appearance the fattest and
sleekest of all the herd. Her glossy sides
shone like those of a well kept race
horse. There was every indication thar
the COW would make prime beef and
she was accordingly sent to the s1augh-
ter, but Mr.. Risler received in return
a beef which would throw discredit upon
a Maverick
There was hardly meat enough to cover
the bones. What little there was was
fbrous ard as full of muscle as that
of the widest steer which ever came
over the drive. A healthy yearling
would give a better proper zion of meat,
anu MT. ftlSleT lOSC no time IN Sett1ng
out to investigate. ss5a
After patiently listening to the many
reasons given by Mr.. Risler as to why
the meat sent him could not possibly
be that of the COW which he had sent to
the butcher that phlegmatic individual
asked, What did you send me, any,
how?"
"Why, the best four-year- old COW in
my place, to be sure, and all you send
me back is the skeleton of a cow" was
the energetic reply.
Hold on minute" said the butcher,
Just see what you sent me inside that
| COW before you talk about skeleton"
| and with that he brought out a peck
measure filled with very varied assort-
| ment of hardware such as was never
produced from the stomach of any cow
| before.
| Mr.. Risler carefully looked over the
| collection and after Identifying the pad
| lock and a stray piece of chain as some
of his own prperty which had been MISS
| ing for some months, he handed the mass
| of metal back to the butcher with the
remark, well. / was lucky to get even
skeleton if the COW had to take care
of all that stuff but where did she get it +?
I guess that explains the iron taste in
the milk, and small wonder"