New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-09-09
SAN GRIGGS's CARRIER HENS.
Uncle s1LE TELLS THE STORY OF HIS
BROTHER-IN-LAW'S SUCCESS
Full EXPERIMENT.

my brOther'n-law had raisln carrier mems uP
10 KillawOg a spell ago."
Carrier hens?" interrupted Bud Brown. Eye
mean carrier pidgins don't ye?"
The old man stared carefully at Bud for
nearly a minute and then drawled, when say
carrier hens 1 mean carrier hens Who's
tellin this story anyhow" Thus interrogated
Bud said nothing, and turning to the others
Uncle Sile resumed:
"That brother n-law of mine an ingenious |
cuss-a most ingenious cuss-always inventin |
somethin'. Had a barn full o contraptlons'
but l think his breed O. carrier hens is leetle
mite the smartest thing he ever done. One day
he read a piece in the paper bout these here
carrier pidgins. and how useful they wuz in
war and Sam got to wonderin if he couldn't
make use ov the fundermentle principle S he
called it, He thought ont fer several days. an
one afternoon, ne was drivin' one oV Bill
Jasper's hens out the tomater patch.
bright dee struck him.
"Jasper owned a farm few rods down the |
crick from hisn, and this old hen used to cross
th crick and go up to Grlggss oarh 10
lay every day She was the worst thing to steal
her nest YOU ever see. Sans Idee was to git
holt ov that hen and start breed OV car
riers He offered to swop a dozen algs Ter
her and Jasper allowed he'd take him up
helm s how the hen up to Griggs's most
ov tn time anyhow-leastwise most ov the time
when she ort to be on duty. s ye might say, to
home Only Jasper said ne thought it tuck |
considera BILE nerve to offer to swop aigs fer her.
longs most of the ags wuz hs'n. by rights
However. Sam got the hen and went to work |
right away experimental with his new breed
KNOWN that hens can't fly very far. he decided
to make hisn walkers and mated the hen with |
the longest legged Shanghai rooster he could hnd.
Well sir the scheme worked like charm. BY |
fall Sam had big flock young pullets, and
every one of 'em carriers. They want much to
look at but they wuz good layers. He built a
lot of coops the sidehin back ov the house
and put few pullets in each one. and eV'ry |
mornin' as reg lar clOckwOrk they all come !
down to the barn to lay, and then went back |
ag'in. Sam kept movn' the coops further away |
tell some O them pulIets walked two miles |
ev'ry day to lay. The exercise seemed to be
good fer 'em, and they laid bigger and nicer
lookin' aigs than anybody elses. Sam always
get a cent a dozen more fer 'em at the
store. The storekeeper told the neighbOrs what
nice aigs Sam gttin', and Sam he kept
braggin' EN- up tell by spring everybody in
the county had heard Ov EN-. and everybody at
heard ov EN- wanted settin ov aigs So Sam
supplied the hull neighbOrhoOd at a good fig
ger but he didn't say nothin bout their ben'
carriers
That summer Sam spent good deal Ov his
time fxin' up cosey little nestin places all about
the place, and along toward fall the fun com
menced Jest as soon ov them pullets
got ready to lay, instinct wuz too much fer her,
an she would kind o. side off tell nobody wuz
Iookin' and then make bee line to Griggss TO
hunt a nest. Sam kept pretty busy gath
erin the aigs, and guess they would have been
a drug on the market If Sam hadn't got in with
a Teller from New-York at give him a good
price fer 'em on account their size and looks.
THE neighbOrs couldn't understand why they
didn't git more aigs. but they never mistrusted
the new hens. cause Sans wuz dom so we'll
The next spring Sam paid off the mortgage on
his house with the purceeds from them aigs. an
if it hadn't been fer his everastin' experimental
spOse he might o had fortune by this time"
Here Uncle Sile paused, if he had reached
the end of his story until Dave Miller broke
the silence by inquiring. What finally become
the carrier hens, Uncle Sile?"
THE carrier hens?" echoed the old gentleman
carelessly, if they the furthest from his
thoughts "Oh. yes Well, you see Sam want
wn to let we'll enough alone. He kept breed
in' them hens up sO'st they would be able to
stand it to be sold further away from home.
After he'd got 'em started, pears like the homn'
instinct got stronger with ev'ry batch of
chickens. This would "a been all right if it |
hadn't got into the aigs but when they got |
so'st they'd roll right out the box an start |
fer home if they wasn't smashed it spoiled |
Sans market At first they thought il was rats,