CHAPTER XXXVII.

FINAL DEATH-THROES.

The officers and the judges at the poultry-fairs (most of whom are self-constituted), as will be seen, usually carried away all the first prizes. At a late show of the New York _State_ Society, the president thereof received about _one third_ of all the premiums awarded, and yet his fowls were nearly all _second_ and _third_ rate, and not one of them, it was stated, was _bred_ by him. He may have bred a few specimens during last season, but not _one_ on exhibition was bred by him. The people and certain greenhorns were astonished to see the way in which the premiums were awarded to him. One of the judges there seemed determined to award to him every premium that his influence could secure, right or wrong; and, from what was learned from exhibitors, it did look very much like an existing understanding between the parties in regard to the premiums.

For the above statement we have the authority of a huckster in New York, who did _not_ obtain any premiums, and who says of the management of the state show there, that this sort of partiality shown in favor of the wire-pullers "is the rock on which the 'New England Poultry Society' foundered; and our state society is treading in the footsteps of its 'illustrious predecessor.'"

This writer contends that the president of the New York society, who thus received about all the premiums at one of their late shows, was a man of too much discernment not to see that such a _farce_ as some of the judges played would redound to his discredit. They went _too far_--overdid the matter; hence the universal indignation of exhibitors. And then concludes that "poultry-societies generally merge into mere _speculating_ gatherings, a _few_ receiving most of the premiums, while the uninitiated exhibitor is made a tool to swell the income of those who pull the wires. Many breeders exhibit solely for the sake of the _notoriety_ that their fowls will receive,--a sort of _gratuitous_ advertising,"--and it is now got to be "notorious that an order sent to one who receives the _first_ premium for fowls is no more likely, in many cases, to be filled with any better fowls than if sent to one who took no premium at all; as the _prize_ fowls are not often for sale, and very inferior specimens are sent when orders are received."

This information would have answered very well, had it been afforded years ago. Now that the fever has disappeared almost entirely, and now that everybody has been gulled, and gouged, and _gorged_, with the fulsome and glowing accounts of the asserted reality of this thing, from the pen of this very man among the rest, it comes rather late in the day for such an one to "warn the people," and in such a manner!

But, soon after the exhibition above referred to had closed, the president of the society issued a most astounding "card," _declining_ to receive the premiums awarded him, and in which appears the following sentence:

"In connection with the report of the Judges of the late State Poultry Show, allow me to make a statement. As appears from the report, my birds have been unusually successful in the contest for premiums, sixteen out of twenty distinct varieties exhibited being so honored. This was more than I expected, and more than I honestly think they deserved. And I am strongly of opinion that, had they had more time, they would have come to a different conclusion, in two or three cases."

I was prepared for almost anything in the hen-trade, up to this time; but this performance really astonished _me_! The man actually refused to take the premiums awarded him! He even went so far as to show the "judges" who _ought_ to have had the prizes, rather than himself. And he actually sent back to the committee the money they forwarded to him after the exhibition was over!!

Now, if this were not sufficient to astonish "the people," I am very much in error regarding the ordinary strength of their nerves. It was an almost immaculate performance; and the "New York State Poultry Society" should positively insist that this extraordinary man (if he can be proved to be sane) should at once accept from them one of the largest-sized leather medals, to be worn next to his gizzard, for this unexampled disinterestedness, and extraordinary sacrifice of self. O, but _that_ gentleman must be "a brick," indeed!

A journal that alluded to this singular circumstance, at the time, asserted that this procedure on the part of the president "was highly commendable in the author, if his statements were made through _principle_, rather than through fear to encounter _public opinion_. He stands high in the estimation of the public, and we have ever considered him as strictly honorable in all his business transactions; but we cannot help thinking that 'a screw was loose' somewhere in the matter. His statements are not very flattering to the judgment of the judges, and show that some of them, at least, were not competent to discharge their duties properly," etc.; while, in _my_ opinion, than this, a more bare-faced piece of _mush_ was never yet perpetrated, in the details even of the hen-trade.

This was emphatically among the "death-throes" of the _mania_. And cards like the following found their way into the newspapers, about this time, in further proof that the valve of this huge balloon had slipped out. An ambitious Western man says:

"I have long been expecting to hear of the swindling operations of a certain dealer, who makes a great display of _pretending_ to have _every_ breed known or bred in this country; and, to my _certain_ knowledge, buys all, or nearly all, of his fowls, as wanted, and as many on _credit_ as he can, but does not _pay_, nor can the _law reach_ him to make him pay. I believe, also, that the papers that advertise for him are doing it for _nothing_--that is, that they are not, and never will be paid for it.

"Such a course, in my opinion, is no better than highway robbery; and I hereby give said person fair warning to act honestly hereafter, or I will point him out in a way that shall not be misunderstood, as I cannot see such rascality perpetrated, and remain silent.

"A man who deals in high-priced fowls, in receiving pay in _advance_, has his customers completely at his mercy, especially when he is not _responsible_ for a copper; and at the rates that fowls sell for--say, from ten dollars to one hundred dollars a pair--purchasers should receive what is promised them,--good specimens of the _pure_ breeds. So far as _weight_ is concerned, a pair of fowls will fall off _a few pounds_ in a journey of a week or less, in a cramped condition, and perhaps without food for a portion of the time; but in other respects justice should be done to the confiding purchaser."

Beautiful!--poetical!--musical! This advertiser, I have no doubt, keeps only _pure_ stock. I do not know who he is; but, if I wanted to buy (which I don't), I should certainly apply to such an honest and justice-loving person, because I should feel assured, after reading such an advertisement, that _that_ man was a professor of religion; and, even if he had the chance, would never fleece me--_over the left_!

Other fanciers, in their utter desperation (as the fever so positively and now rapidly begun to decline), resorted to the printing of the _pedigrees_ of their stock; and the following advertisements made their appearance late in 1854:

"By the influence of Mr. Ellibeth Watch (editor of the _London Polkem Chronicler_, and uncle to the Turkish Bashaw with three long tails), I have just procured a few of Prince Albert's famous breed of 'Windsor fowls.' In a letter to me of the 32d day of April, Mr. Watch observes:

'I have positively ordered a trio of _Windsor_ Fowls of Prince Albert, for you. It is THE BEST BREED IN ENGLAND, and they are much run after, and cannot be had without giving previous notice; but you are safe to have yours. I have engaged a friend to choose yours for you; and I consider it _a great thing_ to get them direct from the Prince, for you must be aware that persons generally cannot exactly _pick and choose_ FROM THE PRINCE'S OWN STOCK. I shall employ an efficient person to have them shipped, etc.'"

In due time this remarkable stock arrived in America, and their pedigrees were duly published; the advertiser being "thus particular," because (as he asserted) "there had been so much imposition upon the public by irresponsible persons _claiming to have made importations_"!

Now I never entertained the slightest objections to this sort of advertisement,--not _I_, i'faith! On the contrary, I deem all this kind of thing very excellent, in its way, to be sure. The more the merrier. "The people" want it, and let them have it, say I.

But, at the same time, though the "Porte-Monnaie I owe 'ems" declare that their unrivalled stock comes from Prince Albert's yards, I feel very well assured that all this is a mere guy, it being very well known that His Royal Highness is not engaged in the hen-trade particularly, and of course has something else to do besides supplying even the "Porte-Monnaie Company" with his pigs and chickens.

It was a rare undertaking, this importing live stock (with any expectation of selling it) in the fall of 1854! But we shall soon see who were the final victims of the "fever."