The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1909-07-17
QU|BUS.
The Wonderful Story Of A
Set Hen and Her Unu-
sual Hatch.
st. Martins is Entitled To the
"First Prize" All other
Would-be Competitors are
Out-Classed.

And now the story comes from st.
Martins Of the nnchalleneed perform
ance of hen Upon the chicken
ranch of Nv. Stone, under the shadows
of the parish metropolis, this wonder
ful performance 10 said to have recently
concluded
i Mr. Stone set number of hens IN
the spring, as the story goes, and
among the number was an ambitious
fowl, in her second season, She had
in the previous year given promise of
her setting qualities; 80 she was given
the choicest eggs of the iarm. and all
she could cover. THIS hen developed
from n pe'ted chick. which was easily
distinguishable from the other mem
hers of iis brood Some member of
the family named 1t luibus. II is not
quite certain why this name was given;
poss,bly the meaning of the word had
something to do with It's selection but
AZ the chick developed and proved its
gender, the name was contracted into
Vui. This chicken belonged to the
Plymouth Rock family. On schedule
time Out converted every egg Of her
nest into n promising little chick.
Now, inst on the day Of this hatch
Mr. Stone received n setting of extra
fine eggs from Western fancier and
for which he had paid a fancy price
His dilemma Of the moment was in the
fact that he had no hen to give them
to. While contrary to the regular
rules. under cover OF the darkness of
night, Ours little chicks were stolen
from nnder her and she was given the
new set Of eggs. The act was the re-
cult Of an extremity IN nm effort to
save the eggs, even Mt the risk Of the
loss Of Qui, herself The next morn
ing she showed some signs of unrest nj
the vanishing dreams Of motherhood,
but she soon became contented aud
settled down 10 renewed effort.
With the passing Of days Qui again
proved true TO her name. But the
fates seemed to have willed that she
should never teach brood To scratch,
for Mr.. Stone. on the day Of her second
hatch, received another specially fine
set of eggs. There being no other hen
on the farm ready for the task and
Qui, looking none the worse for wear,
was again robbed Of her brood aud
given the new eggs. This settled IL
for Qui-shc got the habit-iixed and
incurable.
When Outs third brood came along
successfully she was little thin and
showed no signs Of motherly soiici
tude for her charge. Upon The first
opportunity she abandoned them and
returned 10 her old nest. She even
refused to have her little chicks forced
Upon her, SO they had to lie otherwise
provided for. Qui was determined to
return to the old nest, and so persist
ent was she in this that "dncking" re-
peatedly and solitary confinement of
weeks failed to weaken her set views
Of life. Mr.. Stone, at last disgusted.
bethought him of the plan Of letting
her set It out or Of killing her in the
effort; 80 he gathered up half dozen
old white porcelain door knobs that
were lying around the premises and
slipped them under Qui In her old
nest.
II was manifest that the hen was
proud Of her new undertaking and II
was equally plain that Mr. Stone was
equally amused and disgusted at her
behavior, and that he was determined
to cure her Of her desire 10 set. Days
and days passed. Oui kept faithfully
on with her contract. Finally. onq]
bright morning, Mr.. St me, noticing
evidences Of unusal happening aboYt
the nest, carefully lifted the hen Off
and there, to his unboundsd amaze
ment, he found full set of QI-
| Stune-Eucks.