Las Vegas optic., 1913-05-27

up and strengthen the system general
ly. Mrs. Henry Babler, Van Dyne,
sorts were reported, or about SO a day.
The total value Of property lost was
of which the police recover
cd more than half or $1,S05,5OO worth.
Altogether the business Of thieving
here, according to these figures, is one
of very small returns.
Chicken off the Bill of Fare
One Of the strangest strikes on rec
ord-a chicken strike-has brought
about a poultry famine here this week.
1t is not the fowls, however, that are
striking, but the jobbers, who ny the
chickens on their arrival here from
the receivers who ship them to the
city in carload lots. The jobbers have
at last come out flat-footed and refuse
to buy any more chickens until the
ubdlciS cease tuC plhNtACC I'll AOASiAo
them to pay for extra useless weight
by stuffing the crops of the fowls with
sand and gravel. AS the retail dealers
OF the whole city rely on the jobbers
for their supply, this means that
chicken, as an article of food, is tenn
porarily at least, absent from the city S
bill Of fare. 1t is estimated that the
profits of the receivers from the extra
weight they obtain by sand and gravei
feeding amount to $2,0OO,OOO or more
every year. 1t used to be the custom
to feed chickens that were received
here from the west all of the corn they
could eat But that method soon be
came obsolete. There wasn't any prof
it in it, the jobbeFs say. So, the. receiv-
ers adopted this scheme. The night
before the chickens were to be unload
ed the man in charge prepared for
them a supper ef thin meal and red
pepper. That course merely whetted
their appetites and made them thirsty
Then a mess of soaked bread and but
termflk mixed with sand and gravel
was prepared. The chickens ate it
ravenously. Often they gained from
fourteen to sixteen ounces in weight
AS there are about 1000 hens to a
carload, it was not unusual for the
weight of the whole carload 10 be in.
creased $500 pounds. In dollars AMI
cents that meant over $500 extra profit
to every car. Dealers throughout the
city claim that all Of their profits have
been eaten up by the shrinkage in
weight of the chickens they bought
from the receivers.
Bridge Has sirthday
With no more ceremony than the
flying Of two flags from its towers,
Brooklyn bridge, the first to span the
East River, is quietly celebrating its
Ithirtieth birthday this month. The
first Of New York's mighty bridges
took thirteen years to complete The
work on it began in 1870 and it was
mot until May, 1883, that it was opened
to traffic. The cost to date is placed
at $22,4O0,O10. AT various times, not
ably some six OF eight years ago. |
has been said that the bridge was Of
: its last legs and that it was only |
{ matter Of luck whether or not it weuli
collapse into the East River in som
2 rush hour. carrying hundred thous
{ and or SO Of human beings with it. L
t spite Of all this the bridge is still il
commission and in first class shape
J, Originally there were accommodation.
J for only teams and foot passengers
with tracks for bridge cars. In lSs
2 arrangements we're made for th
. Brooklyn elevated trains and trolIe
. cars 10 use the bridge on the track
y y which we're laid on the old roadway
i There have been numerous minor acc
= dents on the bridge in the thirty year
u. The single serious accident occurre