Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1900-05-22
YANKEE HENS IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Change Their Nature After Having
Been Acc1imate In Boerdom.


Been Acc1imated In Boerdom.
Zone of the greatest troubles expert
enced by people living in tropical coun-
tries" said L. T.. Warden, .of Chicago,
at the Gilsey house, 'is to obtain meat
Of a quality fit to eat. Take the Phil
lppInes, for Instance. The cattle there
are magnificent to look at, but they
cut up into mighty poor food, being fat
and also stringy. Almost all the meat
used by our men there comes from
Australia, being brought In refrigera-
tor ships, from which it is Issued three
times a week. The Australian Is as
good beef as man would care to eat.
There is, or rather was-for it Is nearly
a year and a half since was there-a
lack of poultry, also. No hens or
chickens can be obtained, but only
ducks, which is an exceedingly poor
substitute for hens egg, In my esti-
nation. understand that since then
they have tried to remedy this and
other deficiencies by importing hens
and other things, but 1 doubt the sue
cess Of the experiment. for the climate,
different kind of food and the like, may
change the flesh of the fowl and the
quality Of the egg. G. A. Williams. a
friend of mine, who used to be United
States consul at Johannesburg. and
who now lives in the Transvaal, told
me that when he first went to South
Africa he endeavored to raise the char
acter and quality Of his table supplies
by importation. The meat in South
Africa was poor, but that could not be
helped. American fowls, Williams
thought, would be a decided improve
ment over those of the Transvaal, and
their eggs would enable him to begin
each day with an easy stomach and q
satisfied mind. So he brought out q
flock of American-bred poultry At
first all went well; the breakfast egg
was a godsend and the occasional
chicken at dinner all that he had fond
ly anticipated. but then there came q
change, at first SO gradual that Will
Jams was inclined to attribute 1t to loss
Of appetite. The breakfast egg grew
coarse and coarser in flavor until 1t be-
came wholly uneatable and the dinner
chicken deteriorated in similar manner
and with Identical result. With the
former, however, the outward appear
anca of the egg remained the same, but
the poultry not only changed IN quail
ity and flavor of flesh, but also IN ex-
ternal appearance as well. Without
increasing the size of the body, the
necks grew longer and thinner and.the
legs heightened out of ALI proportion,
until at last the hens resembled moth
ing SO much as diminutiye ostriches.
They were unfit to eat and Of no other
domestic use, and SO Williams gave
them away to the Kaffirs, but for some
time he thought of exhibiting them
here at poultry show, mainly to as
certain what names competent judges
would apply to them, but the expense
deferred him. He also had another
scheme to get even, which was to en-
ter the roosters in cooking mains.
Williams said they could lick anything
that wore feathers, short Of an eagle
or an ostrich, and that there was not
dog in the Transvaal that would come
anywhere near his house while they re-
mained his property, SO utterly had the
few dogs which had tried conclusions
with them been routed."-New YORK
Tribune.