The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-11-12
M E N /, w MEN AN D T H IN G $

-'DA"A [ set tO my game anu ueei SUI '' ! I'll stop and give you a hamsandwich, for have just wound up the dayN at the Liv- ingston Hog show, an annual event which
 always creates a great deal of interest
 in Sumter county.
 It is a strictly Sumter county event. Some wished to make it openTto the state, but after discussion it was voted to con- fine it to the limits of the county. There is something to be said on both sides;
 but so far as l can judge l believe the
 local idea is the best.
 I am not saying this from selfish standpoint, but naturally I want the
 Alabama State Fair to be kind of cen tral for the community. county and spe- cial fairs To make state event re- ! quires several things. First and fore most is accessibility, for when you begin
 to express thousand-pound hogs it runs
 into money, and then it takes 8 lot of
 money to draw exhibitors
 Furthermore. having been down in this neck of the woods for about a week, and having ridden hundreds of miles over it, l am about ready to think that Sum- ter county is a state within itself, and covers enough territory for any purpose. I haven't a map at hand, neither have l any geography or pamphlet out of
 which I can get the exact area or even population, but both are considerable.
 
 I think it could easily be shown that as within it's confines one can find every kind of game, so one could easily pick
 out every variety of land. I have seen the gray, the red, the black and the white |soils. Flat woods, swamps,. hill country and prairie. Cotton, peanuts, corn and every kind of grass for cattle make it the farmers paradise. Trucking, particularly in the matter of strawberries, is a big asset.
 But I'll stop expatating on the diver sified crops and industries for this is to be about the Livingston Hog show. I was awakened at the first streak of dawn on Wednesday morning by the chug chug of big truck out in the side yard of the Derby home, and soon heard excited lvoices as Johnny" the Berkshire pig of Carrie, Franks 10-year-old daughter, had gotten out and was being chased, as she was down for the show.
 The afternoon before she had been sub jected to bath and put in clean bed and creased. I suppose she rather re- sented being 50 treated and resolved to
 run away. After an exciting chase she was caught and crated and by 6 a. m. Wednesday morning was en route to the county seat. Here she was put in a pen, and when the judges looked her over they gave her a premium. and Carrie pulled down a ten-doilar bill, and went over and like good little girl deposited it to her credit.
 Frank. Mrs. Derby and Allison came,
 and I followed the truck, leaving an hour after it did, but overriding it at the outskirts of Livingston. Arriving on the square, I found pigs and hogs of all creeds and sizes There was much sauealing and grunting as the different ones were unloaded. Some of them had been exhibited before and knew how to act. but most of them were amateurs and consequentiy failed to play their parts according to the rules. of the hog show.
 saw an immense boar on an ordinary country wagon in a crate. I was puz- zled to know how they were going to
 get him down as no chute had been made. I knew he could not jump without break
 be unweldly in case it was necessary to life him down. But l learned some thing new, fer those in charge of him !, simply took off the rear wheels of the wagon and let the body down, and he calmly walked out like an old performer. trick was turned, said to myself, Well, after ail there are some things which city folks do not know"
 Pens had been built around two sides
 of the courthouse. and each one was
 numbered The exhibits, while not as
 large as last year, showed an improve really most creditable show. There were cute little piggies weighing only a few pounds up to hogs weighing around a thousand pounds. I'm not going to enumerate the breeds, though I will say that the reds or Durocs were in the ma
 iority as they seem to be very popular in Sumter county.
 I was greatly interested in the pigs ex- hibited by the boys and girls. One fam fly, the Wiilinehams q think two boys anG one girB, were awarded s75 Be it known that a cash Nnd of s75o had been raised as premiums Carrie Derby, aged
 ln. won one of $l0, as stated, and Uncle
 Nun Mitchell aged Ss, also came in for several prizes. I cite these two case to show that the hog show is in favor with both old and young in Sumter county,
 I believe however, the thing which gave me the most pleasure was in look ina over the pens l discovered that the Methodist preacher. the Rev. D Y. Reg ister. had sow and nine. pigs. It was comforting to know that one minister was assured of his meat supply this win ter. But what is more 10 the point, he got s5o for having had the judgment to select . good breed, and then shown that ] he was hog expert by getting them in fine condition.