The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-12-21

led States in the spring.
other day. did you ever hear of wild
Belgian hares in Indiana before? Well,
that's just what these animals are-the
ones / refer to. farmer near Bright
wood, who had been trying for long time
to make a success of the Belgian hare
business, became Disguised early last
spring, after some inexplicable disease had
killed off nearly all of his stock, and, act
ing upon the impulse of the moment, he
turned all of the survivors loose to shift
for themselves. There were just five of
the animals left, and when he liberated
them they hung around the farmyard for
some time, not knowing, apparently, what
to do with themselves.
but finally they disappeared into the
woods near by. and as the months went by
and the farmer saw nothing more of them
he concluded that they had persisted
through inability to obtain enough food
to keep them alive. But the hares evidently
managed to get on better in their wild state
than when in captivity, for, judging from
the number of young Begians to be seen
of late scampering about through the woods
in the vicinity of the farm, the pioneers
not only provided plentifully for them
selves, but found time in which to rear
wonderfully large family Several In
dianapolis sportsmen have enjoyed the un-
usual opportunity of hunting wild Belgian
hares during the last week, and although
over dozen of the young animals have
been brought down by the deadly bullets
there still seems to be quite number of
the little fellows left
According to several of the chief bar
tenders in the principal Indianapolis bar
rooms. the hot drink habit is on the decline,
and will doubtless be thing of the past
a few years from now. "In the old days."
said a man in spotless white apron yes
terday, as he mixed a Martini cocktail, las
soon as the raw, chilly days of the winter
came along there would be a great demand
for such drinks as hot Scotch Tom and
Jerry and egg nog,' and behind nearly
every bar you would see a polished silver
or nickel boiler with an alcohol lamp burn
ing under it to be used in brewing the vari-
Gus styles of hot punches. Then, about
every other patron would enter the bar
room shivering and rubbing his hands to-
gether and asking, as if his very life de-
pended upon it, for a big hot drink. He
would sip the steaming beverage and feel
gloriously warm inside, and then proceed
to go out again into the cold air and catch
the worst cold of his life.
You see the popular Tom and Jerry
punch bowls on the bars of many of the
leading downtown barrooms to-day, but
there isn't nearly the call for hot drinks
that there used to be. l think the passing
OF the hot drink habit is a good thing; 10
shows that Americans are at last learning
TO use better judgment in their drinking.
It's very noticeable to any observing bar
tender that Indianapolis men are growing
more careful every day as to the liquid
refreshment they put into their stomachs.
The man that has found out that certain
drink disagrees with him has the good
sense to let it alone nowadays"
There are good many men engaged in
the queer business of shipping bees through
the mails from New York city," said Wal
ter l.. Pouder the well-known indianapolis
bee man, land there are several apiarists
beside myself in this vicinity that receive
from time to time blue blooded' little SOW
ereigns of the honey-making tribe some
of them imported from European countries
at considerable expense. The lowest price
for a queen bee is 81, and apiarists pay as
high as Sc sometimes for the queens of the
| finest quality.
1.-The method of packing queen bees for
shipment through the mails is interesting.
The dealer uses a block of wood about
four inches in length by one inch wide and
a half inch deep, and into this block he
bores three circular chambers which open
into each other. A combination of sugar
and honey is placed in one of these cham
bers which is to serve for food for the lit
tie travellers during their long Journey A
piece of wire netting is securely fastened
over the top OF the chambers, and in the
end of the block of wood farthest from
the food chamber a small opening is made.
The queen is made to enter this little open
ing, and then in order that the royal tourist
may be properly fed and cared for during
the trip from fifteen to twenty of her SUBJ
| jects are induced 10 follow her. The small
hole through which they have all entered
is covered with more wire netting and the
package is then all ready for the address
and stamps. When package is prepared
in this manner the bees will easily survive
two weeks journey
"Did you ever stop to think what a source
of income turkey feathers are to the big
poultry packing establishments remarked
| a farmer one morning last week as he wit
| messed the execution of some OF his finest
| gobblers which he had just brought into
| town from his farm south of the city and
turned over TO a firm Of poultry dealers
| near the market house. 1.-The feathers
plucked from turkeys here i'm Indianapolis
between now and Christmas day will prob
| ably net a couple of hundred dollars Be-
| fore the gobblers are dipped in the boiling
water in the picking rooms the large
feathers OF the wings are all strfpped on
| and saved, and after being carefully dried
| they are shipped TO the factories where
feather busters are made. Good prices are
received for these plumes. Ordinary feath-
/ ers from various kinds of poultry are al
] ways In demand. too. They bring from Z
cents pound TO cents an ounce, accord
ing 10 the quality