Bisbee daily review., 1911-12-31


 ing interminably evenings by the fire. and who saw the old gambling propensity growing in him again. II he would only take 10 chickens it would be a hobby 10 take his atten. ton when ne wasn't keeping books. and he would have no time to bother with those things which had come so near wrecking their happiness. Here's the beginning of our
 flock" said George. coming home the next Saturday with a big Wyandotte ! rooster under his arm.
 He ought to be pretty" said the | husband grimly. "he cost me sl0."
 Ten dollars shrieked Mrs. Sher- win aghast
 .I ch=nced to have the money say f cd and had notion 10 take a little [ fiier-f
 Its all right. Geordie," said Mrs Sherwin quickly. T only thought SlO little bit eNtrSyagant for one roost- 1 CT, but you know best. He's such a handsome fellow, you ought to give him a name"
 I'm going to call him stitch, said the bOokkeeper gravely, withal a twin kle in his eye.
 'Stitchl" cried the mother and the two daughters in concert.
 See here, ma, and you two girls. cant I keep a few fowls and call them by names of my own without you getting mad?" he asked. Wait till buy the hens and name 'em and you won't think Stitch anything. I have my little whims. but if they are going to make you unhappy. TIl-"
 "GoOdnessi Call the birds anything you like" said the women. while stitch" released, flew to the top of the fence and crowed loudly.
 Sherwin's selection of hens was the talk Of the neighborhood and gave painful recurrence to the whispers about his sanity From his savings he bought them one at a time, and the first hen was a brahma christened Twist. A Plymouth Rock followed. labeled Wire" Cochin China called Reaper" brown Leghorn gravely named ''Peebles." apparently after the factory that employed him. Of the flock no two were of the same breed, they came out one at time at in- tervals and the prices the old man claimed to have paid for them were simply outrageous and kept the fam fly short for days afterward. "Stich, the rooster. lorded it over the hetero- geneous flock and the owner sat by the hour and proudly watched them busily picking up their living. If ru- mors of his brain trouble which re- suited in the outlandish names reach ed him he did noc deign to notice them and in short time the whin ceased to attract attention.
 The chicken fad was a fortunate one for the old man. lie was out bright and early working in the hennouse. and never were fowls so tenderly cared for. AS hens will, they recipro- cated the attention layished on them. and laid eggs right royalty; eggs big and eggs little, eggs brown and eggs white, speckled eggs and double yolks the family had eggs to eat and eggs to sell. Sherwin quit his imaginary speculation in stocks and instead opened up a set of books with his hens over which he never tired work ing
 It was quite easy to fall into stock nomenclature in keeping track of the hens and their doings. When Twist or Wire" or Reaper" were laying regularly their market was rising" when they moulted and shortened oni laying the market was "oif," and he 1 was long" or short" on their pro ducts as the case might be. The bookkeeper laid out sheets and grave ! ly set down the names of the flock. i now counting over twenty-five, with another rooster named ''Oilcloth," and ] reduced the fluctuations in hen fruit l to figures on decimal basis. Strange. ly enough. both the roosters figured in the sheets, but presumably their percentages were based on the fights they indulged in. in which, however, the Wyandotte invariably won
 Sherwin made no secret of his foible in the office, where it created much amusement.
 You must be planning to get rich on your roultry yards" laughed the boys; what are you going to do with your surplus?"
 .'Youn see me living on my own place and driving in behind my trot- ter yet" said the bookkeeper. in TO wise moved by the grins. My hens Wire and Twist are worth three times what I paid for them and are declaring good dividends right along. I've got to the point now where l put the profits of my hens into still more hens. and some of these days I'll strike a hen that lays golden eggs, and then-the trotter."
 Fine. fne!" said the office help. sadly tapping their foreheads behind | Sherwin's back.
 It was a pity that the bookkeeper | had not taken to keeping hens years before. He lost his taciturnity and ! actually whistled as he tossed his | ledgers about. and one day he opened | a bank account.
 ~You sec" he explained to the bank | CT. my hens are making money for me and need place to keep 1t safe. Then too, am meditating going inio the hen business wholesale and VIII want to borrow money" =.
 Made up your mind what breeds to plunge on?" asked the amused banker, who knew all about the tWenty-nVe end more varieties.
 Yes" said his customer gravely, I do There will be an elimination in my varieties to two or three soon-t have spotted the best layers by keep ing sheets on them, and the rest can go to the chopping block for all ! ]