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IN THE ROBES OF THE MOST NOBLE ORDER OF THE GARTER. 
 
 .from tiu portrait rn possession of (Sro. ID. Burnfjam; 
 
 PRESENTED TO HIM RT HER MAJESTY. THE QUEEN, IN 1853. 
 [See Letter, page 13IV| 
 
THE HISTOEY 
 
 THE HEN FEVEE. 
 
 GEO. P. BUKNHA1. 
 
 3Jn one UoIumc.5=3JUustratet» 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 JAMES FRENCH AND COMPANY, 
 
 NEW YORK: J. C. DERBY. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: T. B. PETERSON. 
 
SF A 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by 
 
 GEORGE P. BUENHAM, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 HOBART & ROBBINS, 
 
 New England Type and Stereotype Foundery, 
 
 BOSTON. 
 
 GEO. O. RAND, PRINTER, 3 OORNHILL. 
 
$mtmx$ t imam, attir §mto 
 
 O F 
 
 POULTRY, 
 
 THE SUCCESSFUL AND UNFORTUNATE DEALERS, 
 
 THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES ; 
 AN D 
 
 THE VICTIMS OF MISPLACED CONFIDENCE IN 
 
 THE HEN TRADE, GENERALLY, 
 
 I DEDICATE 
 
 2EJ)is Volume. 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 In preparing the following pages, I have had the opportunity 
 to inform myself pretty accurately regarding the ramifications of 
 the subject upon which I have written herein ; and I have 
 endeavored to avoid setting down "aught in malice" in this 
 "History of the Hen Fever" in the United States. 
 
 I have followed this extraordinary mania from its incipient 
 stages to its final death, or its cure, as the reader may elect to 
 term its conclusion. The first symptoms of the fever were 
 exhibited in my own house at Roxbury, Mass., early in the sum- 
 mer of 1849. From that time down to the opening of 1855 (or 
 rather to the winter of 1854), I have been rather intimately con- 
 nected with the movement, if common report speaks correctly ; 
 and I believe I have seen as much of the tricks of this trade as 
 one usually meets with in the course of a single natural life. 
 
 Now that the most serious effects of this (for six years) alarm- 
 ing epidemic have passed away from among us, and when " the 
 people " who have been called upon to pay the cost of its support, 
 
 and for the burial of its victims, can look back upon the scenes 
 1* 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 that have in that period transpired with a disposition cooled by 
 experience, I have thought that a volume like this might prove 
 acceptable to the hundreds and thousands of those who once 
 " took an interest in the hen trade," — who may have been 
 mortally wounded, or haply who have escaped with only a 
 broken wing ; and who will not object to learn how the thing has 
 been done, and " who threw the bricks " ! 
 
 If my readers shall be edified and amused with the perusal of 
 this work as much as I have been in recalling these past scenes 
 while writing it, I am content that I have not thrown the powder 
 away. I have written it in perfect good-nature, with the design 
 to gratify its readers, and to offend no man living. 
 
 And trusting that all will be pleased who may devote an hour 
 to its pages, while at the same time I indulge the hope that none 
 will feel aggrieved by its tone, or its text, I submit this book to 
 the public. Respectfully, 
 
 Geo. P. Burnham. 
 
 Russet House, Melrose, 1855. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter Page 
 
 I. Premonitory Symptoms of the Disease, 9 
 
 II. The "Cochin-Chinas." Bubble Number One, .... 14 
 
 HI. The First Fowl Show in Boston, 21 
 
 TV. How "Poultry-Books " are Made, 26 
 
 V. Threatening Indications, 32 
 
 VI. The Epidemic Spreading, 37 
 
 VII. Alarming Demonstrations, 41 
 
 VIII. The Fever Working, 47 
 
 IX. The Second Poultry Show in Boston, 52 
 
 X. The Mutual Admiration Society's Second Show, ... 58 
 
 XI. Progress of the Malady, 65 
 
 XII. My Correspondence, 70 
 
 XIII. The Other Side of the Question, 85 
 
 XIV. " Bother'em Pootrums." Bubble Number Two, ... 90 
 XV. Advertising Extraordinary, 98 
 
 XVI. Height of the Fever, 104 
 
 XVn. Running it into the Ground, Ill 
 
 XVIH. One of the Final Kicks, 119 
 
 XIX. The Fourth Fowl Show in Boston, 124 
 
 XX. Present to Queen Victoria, 129 
 
 XXI. Experiments of Amateurs, 137 
 
 XXH. True History of "Fanny Fern," .147 
 
VIII CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter Pag S 
 
 XXIEE. Convalescence, 155 
 
 XXTV. An Expensive Business, 160 
 
 XXV. The Great Pagoda Hen, 165 
 
 XXVI. " Policy the Best Honesty," 176 
 
 XXVH. A Genuine Humbug, 182 
 
 XXVIII. Baenum in the Field, 190 
 
 XXIX. First " National " Poultry Show in New York, . . 198 
 
 XXX. Barnum's Innate Diffidence, 204 
 
 XXXI. A Suppressed Speech, 213 
 
 XXXH. A "Confidence" Man, . „ 220 
 
 XXXni. The Essence of Humbug, 224 
 
 XXXIV. A Trump Card, 229 
 
 XXXV. "Hold your Horses," 237 
 
 XXXVI. Tricks of the Trade, 243 
 
 XXXVII. Final Death-Throes, 252 
 
 XXXVIII. The Porte-Monnaie I Owe 'em Company, ... . 259 
 
 XXXIX. A Satisfactory Pedigree, 263 
 
 XL. Doing the Genteel Thing, 273 
 
 XLI. The Fate of the "Model" Shanghaes, 279 
 
 XLII. An Emphatic Clincher, ' 288 
 
 XLIII. "Stand from Under," 294 
 
 XLIV. Bursting of the Bubble, 302 
 
 XLV. The Dead and Wounded, 307 
 
 XL VI. A Mournful Procession 312 
 
 XL VII. My Shanghae Dinner, v . . . . . 318 
 
THE 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PREMONITORY SYMPTOMS OF THE DISEASE. 
 
 I was sitting, one afternoon, in the summer of 1849, in 
 my little parlor, at Roxbury, conversing with a friend, 
 leisurely, when he suddenly rose, and passing to the rear 
 window of the room, remarked to me, with considerable 
 enthusiasm, 
 
 " What a splendid lot of fowls you have, B ! Upon 
 
 my word, those are very fine indeed, — do you know it? " 
 
 I had then been breeding poultry (for my own amuse- 
 ment) many years ; and the specimens I chanced at that 
 time to possess were rather even in color, and of good size ; 
 but were only such as any one might have had — bred from 
 the common stock of the country — who had taken the same 
 pains that I did with mine. 
 
 There were perhaps a dozen birds, at the time, in the 
 
10 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 rear yard, and my friend (then, but who subsequently 
 passed to a competitor, and eventually turned into a sharp 
 but harmless enemy) was greatly delighted with them, as I 
 saw from his enthusiastic conversation, and his laudation of 
 their merits. 
 
 I am not very fast, perhaps, to appreciate the drift of a 
 man's motives in casual conversation, — and then, again, it 
 may be that I am "not so slow " to comprehend certain 
 matters as I might be ! At all events, I have sometimes 
 flattered myself that, on occasions like this, I can " see as 
 far into a millstone as can he who picks it;" and so I 
 listened to my friend, heard all he had to say, and made 
 up my mind accordingly, before he left me. 
 
 "I tell you, B , those are handsome chickens," he 
 
 insisted. " I 've got a fine lot, myself. You keep but one 
 variety, I notice. I 've got 'em all." 
 
 " All what? " I inquired. 
 
 "0, all kinds — all kinds. The Chinese, and the 
 Malays, and the Gypsies, and the Chittaprats, and the 
 Wang Hongs, and the Yankee Games, and Bengallers, and 
 Cropple-crowns, and Creepers, and Top-knots, and Gold 
 Pheasants, and Buff Dorkings, and English Games, and 
 Black Spanish and Bantams, — and I've several new 
 breeds too, I have made myself, by crossing and mixing, in 
 the last year, which beat the world for beauty and size, and 
 excellence of quality." 
 
THE HEN FEVEK. 11 
 
 " Indeed ! " I exclaimed. " So you have made several 
 new breeds during one year's crossing, eh ? That is 
 remarkable, doctor, certainly. I have never been able yet 
 to accomplish so extraordinary a feat, myself," I added. 
 
 "Well, I have," said the doctor, — and probably, as he 
 was a practising physician of several years' experience, he 
 knew how this reversion of nature's law could be accom- 
 plished. I didn't. 
 
 "Yes," he continued; "I have made a breed I call the 
 1 Plymouth Eocks,' — superb birds, and great layers. The 
 — a — ' Yankee Games, ' — regular knock-'em-downs, — 
 rather fight than eat, any time ; and never flinch from the 
 puncture of steel. Indeed, so plucky are these fowls, that 
 I think they rather like to be cut up than otherwise, — 
 alive, I mean. Then, I 've another breed I 've made — the 
 £ Bengal Mountain Games.' These are smashers — never 
 yield, and are magnificent in color. Then I have the 
 ' Fawn-colored Dorkings,' too; and several other fancy 
 breeds, that I 've fixed up ; and fancy poultry is going to 
 sell well in the next three years, you may be sure. Come 
 
 and see my stock, B , won't you ? And I '11 send you 
 
 anything you want from it, with pleasure." 
 
 I was then the editor of a weekly paper in Boston. I 
 accepted my friend's kind invitation, and travelled forty 
 miles and back to examine his poultry. It looked well — 
 very well; the arrangement of his houses, &c, was good, 
 
12 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 and I was gratified with the show of stock, and with his 
 politeness. But he was an enthusiast ; and I saw this at 
 the outset. And though I heard all he had to say, I could 
 not, for the life of me, comprehend how it was that he could 
 have decided upon the astounding merits of all these differ- 
 ent breeds of fowls in so short a space of time — to wit, 
 by the crossings in a single year ! But that was his affair, 
 not mine. He was getting his fancy poultry ready for the 
 market; and he repeated, "It will sell, by and by." 
 
 And I believe it did, too ! The doctor was right in this 
 particular. 
 
 He informed me that he intended to exhibit several 
 specimens of his fowls, shortly, in Boston ; and soon after- 
 wards I met with an advertisement in one of the agricultu- 
 ral weeklies, signed by my friend the doctor, the substance 
 of which was as follows : 
 
 Notice. — I will exhibit, at Quincy Market, Boston, 
 in a few days, sample pairs of my fowls, of the following 
 pure breeds ; namely, Cochin-China, Yellow Shanghae, 
 JBlack Spanish, Fawn-colored Dorkings, Plymouth Rocks, 
 White Dorkings, Wild Indian, Malays, Golden Hamburgs, 
 Black Polands, Games, &c. &c; and I shall be happy to 
 see the stock of other fanciers, at the above place, to compare 
 notes, etc. etc. 
 
 The above was the substance of the "notice" referred 
 to ; and the doctor, coming to Boston shortly after, called 
 upon me. I showed him the impropriety of this movement 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 13 
 
 at once, and suggested that some spot other than Quincy 
 Market should be chosen for the proposed exhibition, — in 
 which I would join, provided an appropriate place should be 
 selected. 
 
 After talking the matter over again, application was 
 made to an agricultural warehouse in Ann-street, or Black- 
 stone-street, I believe ; the keepers of which saw the advan- 
 tages that must accrue to themselves by such a show 
 (which would necessarily draw together a great many 
 strangers, out of whom they might subsequently make cus- 
 tomers) ; but, at my suggestion, this very stupid plan was 
 abandoned — even after the advertisements were circulated 
 that such an exhibition would come off there. 
 
 Upon final consideration, it was determined that the first 
 Exhibition of Fancy Poultry in the United States of 
 America should take place in November, 1849, at the 
 Public Garden, Boston. 
 2 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE "COCHIN-CHINAS." BUBBLE NUMBER ONE. 
 
 A public meeting was soon called at the legislative hall 
 of the Statehouse, in Boston, which had the effect of draw- 
 ing together a very goodly company of savans, honest farm- 
 ers, amateurs, poulterers, doctors, lawyers, flats, fanciers 
 and humbugs of one kind or another. I never attended 
 one of the meetings; and only know, from subsequent 
 public and private "reports," what occurred there. 
 
 On this first occasion, however, after a great deal of 
 bosh and stuff, from the lips of old men and young men, 
 who possessed not the slightest possible shadow of practical 
 knowledge of the subject proposed to be discussed, it was 
 finally resolved that the name for the (now defunct) associa- 
 tion then and there formed, should be " The New England 
 Society for the Improvement of Domestic Poultry'''' ! ! ! 
 
 Now, the only objection I ever raised to this title was 
 that it was not sufficiently lengthy ! When applied to for 
 my own views on the subject, / recommended that it should 
 be called the "Mutual Admiration Society." But, though I 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 15 
 
 was thought a great deal of by its members, — especially 
 when the concern was short of funds, — in this case they 
 thought my proposed title was altogether too applicable ; 
 and the original name, above quoted, was adhered to. 
 
 I was honored with the office of vice-president of the 
 society, for Massachusetts ; to which place I was reelected 
 annually, I believe, until the period of its death. For 
 which honor I was not ungrateful, and in consideration of 
 which, "as in duty bound, I have ever prayed" for the 
 association's prosperity and weal. 
 
 The first name that was placed upon the list of sub- 
 scribers to the constitution of this society was that of His 
 Excellency Geo. N. Briggs, formerly Governor of this 
 commonwealth. He was followed by a long list of 
 "mourners," most of whom probably ascertained, within 
 five years from the hour when they subscribed to this roll, 
 that causing the cock's spur to grow between his eyes was 
 not quite so easy a thing to accomplish as one " experienced 
 poultry-breeder " at this meeting coolly asserted it to be ! 
 How many attempted this experiment (as well as numerous 
 others there suggested as feasible), I am not advised. But 
 I am inclined to think that those who did try it found it to 
 be "all in their eye." 
 
 While these gentlemen were arranging the details of the 
 new "society," and were deciding upon what the duties of 
 the officers and committees should be, I quietly wrote out 
 
16 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 to England for information regarding the somewhat notori- 
 ous "Cochin- China" fowl, then creating considerable stir 
 among fanciers in Great Britain ; and soon learned that I 
 could procure them, in their purity, from a gentleman in 
 Dublin, whose stock had been obtained, through Lord 
 Heytsbury (then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland), direct from 
 Queen Victoria's samples. I ordered six of them, — two 
 cocks and four hens, — and in December, 1849, I received 
 them through Adams & Co.'s Transatlantic Express. 
 
 At this period there was no telegraph established from 
 Boston to Halifax, I believe. Some of the reporters for the 
 daily city papers usually visited the steamers, upon their 
 arrival here, to obtain their foreign files of exchanges ; and 
 here my birds were first seen by those gentlemen who have 
 made or broken the prospects of more than one enterprise 
 of far greater consequence than this "importation of fancy 
 fowls" could seem to be. 
 
 But on the day succeeding the coming of those birds, 
 several very handsome notices of the arrival of these august 
 Chinamen appeared in the Boston papers, and a vast 
 amount of credit was accorded to the " enterprising im- 
 porter" of the outlandish brutes, that were described in 
 almost celestial language ! 
 
 After considerable trouble and swearing (custom-house 
 swearing, I mean), the officers on board permitted my team 
 to take the cage out of the steamer, and it was conveyed to 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 17 
 
 my residence in Roxbury, where it arrived two hours after 
 dark. 
 
 I had long been looking for the coming of these Celestial 
 strangers, and the "fever," which I had originally taken 
 in a very kindly way, had by this time affected me rather 
 seriously. I imagined I had a fortune on board that 
 steamer. I looked forward with excited ideas to beholding 
 something that this part of the world had never yet seen, 
 and which would surely astound "the people," when I 
 could have the opportunity to show up my rare prize, — all 
 the way from the yards or walks of royalty itself! I 
 waited and watched, with anxious solicitude, — and, at last, 
 the box arrived at my house. It was a curiously-built box 
 — the fashion of it was unique, and substantial, and foreign 
 in its exterior. I supposed, naturally, that its contents 
 must be similar in character. That box contained my 
 " Cochin-Chinas," — bred from the Queen's stock, — about 
 which, for many weeks, I had been so seriously disturbed. 
 
 I am noiv well satisfied that the " Cochin-China " variety 
 of fowl is a gross fable. If such a breed exist, in reality, 
 we have never had them in this country. Anything (and 
 everything) has been called by this name among us, in the 
 last five years ; but the engraving on the following page, 
 in my estimation (and I have been there !), is the nearest 
 thing possible to a likeness of this long petted bird ; and 
 will be recognized, I think, by more than one victim, as an 
 2* 
 
PORTRAIT OF THE " COCHIN-CHINA " FOWL? 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 19 
 
 accurate and faithful portrait of this lauded "magnificent " 
 and "superb" bird ! 
 
 I was anxious to examine my celestial friends at once. 
 I caused the box to be taken into a shed, at the rear of the 
 house, and I tore from its front a piece of canvas that con- 
 cealed them from view, to behold a ' — well ! nHm- 
 
 j>orte — they were Cochin- China fowls ! 
 
 But, since God made me, I never beheld six such birds 
 before, or since ! They resembled giraffes much more 
 nearly than they did any other thing, carnivorous, omniv- 
 orous, — fish, flesh, or fowl. I let them out upon the floor, 
 and one of the cocks seized lustily upon my India-rubber 
 over-shoe, and would have swallowed it (and myself), for 
 aught I know, had not a friend who stood by seized him, 
 and absolutely choked him off ! 
 
 This is truth, strange as it may seem ; but I presume 
 they had scarcely been fed at all upon their fortnight's 
 voyage from Dublin, and I never saw any animals so mis- 
 erably low in flesh, in my life, before. What with their 
 long necks, and longer legs, and their wretchedly starved 
 condition, I never wondered that the friendly reporters 
 spoke of their appearance as being "extraordinary, and 
 strikingly peculiar." 
 
 These were the original " Cochin-China " fowls of Amer- 
 ica. And they probably never had the first drop of 
 Chinese blood in their veins, any more than had the man 
 
20 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 who bred them, and who knew this fact much better than I 
 did — who knew it well enough. 
 
 I housed my "prize" forthwith, however, and provided 
 them with everything for their convenience and comfort. 
 The six fowls cost me ninety dollars. They were beauties, 
 to be sure ! When I informed a neighbor of their cost, he 
 ventured upon the expressive rejoinder that I " was a bigger 
 d d fool than he had ever taken me for." 
 
 To which I responded nothing, for I rather agreed with 
 him myself! 
 
 Nine months afterwards, however, I sold him a cock and 
 three pullets, four months old, raised from those very fowls, 
 for sixty-five dollars ; and I did n't retort upon him even 
 then, but took his money. The chickens I sold him were 
 " dog-cheap," at that ! 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE FIRST FOWL-SHOW IN BOSTON. 
 
 Never in the history of modern "bubbles," probably, 
 did any mania exceed in ridiculousness or ludicrousness, 
 or in the number of its victims surpass this inexplicable 
 humbug, the "hen fever." 
 
 Kings and queens and nobility, senators and governors, 
 mayors and councilmen, ministers, doctors and lawyers, 
 merchants and tradesmen, the aristocrat and the humble, 
 farmers and mechanics, gentlemen and commoners, old men 
 and young men, -women and children, rich and poor, white, 
 black and gray, — every body was more or less seriously 
 affected by this curious epidemic. 
 
 The press of the country, far and near, was alive with 
 accounts of "extraordinary pullets," "enormous eggs" 
 (laid on the tables of the editors), "astounding prices" 
 obtained for individual specimens of rare poultry ; and all 
 sorts of people, of every trade and profession and calling in 
 life, were on the qui vive, and joined in the hue-and-cry, 
 regarding the suddenly and newly ascertained fact that 
 
22 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 hens laid eggs sometimes ; or, that somebody's crower 
 
 was heavier, larger, or higher on the legs (and conse- 
 quently higher in value), than somebody else's crower. 
 And the first exhibition of the society with the long name 
 came off duly, at last, as agreed upon by the people, and 
 myself. 
 
 "The people" ! By this term is ordinarily meant the 
 body-politic, the multitude, the citizens, at large, the voters, 
 
 the — the — a — the masses ; the Well, no matter ! 
 
 At the period of which I am now writing, the term signi- 
 fied the " hen-men." This covered the whole ground, at 
 that time. Everybody was included, and thus nobody was 
 left outside ! 
 
 At this first show, the committee " flattered themselves" 
 (and who ever heard of, or from, a committee that did n't 
 do this !) that never, within the memory of the oldest in- 
 habitant, — who, by the way, was then living, but has 
 since departed to that bourn from which even defunct hen- 
 rnen do not return, — never had such a display been wit- 
 nessed ; never had the feathered race before appeared in 
 such pristine beauty ; never had any such exhibition been 
 seen or read of, since the world begun ! And, to say 
 truth, it was n't a very bad sight, — that same first hen- 
 show in Boston. 
 
 Thousands upon thousands visited it, the newspapers 
 appropriated column after column to its laudation, and all 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 23 
 
 sorts of people flocked to the Public Garden to behold the 
 " rare and curious and inexpressibly-beautiful samples " of 
 poultry caged up there, every individual specimen of which 
 had, up to that hour, been straggling and starving in the 
 yards of "the people" about Boston (they and their 
 progeny) for years and years before, unknown, unhonored 
 and unsung. 
 
 Gilded complimentary cards, in beautifully-embossed 
 envelopes, were duly forwarded by the "committee" to all 
 "our first men," who came on foot or in carriages, with 
 their lovely wives and pretty children, to see the extraor- 
 dinary sight. The city fathers, the public functionaries, 
 governors, senators, representatives, all responded to the 
 invitation, and everybody was there. 
 
 The cocks crowed lustily, the hens cackled musically, 
 the ducks quacked sweetly, the geese hissed beautifully, 
 the chickens peeped delightfully, the gentlemen talked 
 gravely, the ladies smiled beneficently, the children laughed 
 joyfully, the uninitiated gaped marvellously, the crowd 
 conversed wisely, the few knowing ones chuckled quietly, 
 — everybody enjoyed the thing immensely, — and sud- 
 denly, prominent among the throng of admirers present, 
 loomed up the stalwart form and noble head of Daniel 
 Webster, who came, like the rest, to see what he had only 
 " read of" for the six months previously. 
 
24 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The committee saw him, and they instantly lighted on 
 him for a speech ; but he declined. 
 
 " Only a few words ! " prayed one of them. 
 
 " One word, one word ! " insisted the chairman. 
 
 " I can't ! " said Daniel. 
 
 But they were importunate and unyielding, that enthu- 
 siastic committee. 
 
 " Gentlemen ! " said the honorable senator, at last, amid 
 the din. "Ladies and gentlemen ! " he continued, as a 
 monster upon feathered stilts, at his elbow, shrieked out an 
 unearthly crow, that drowned the sound of his voice in- 
 stanter, — "Ladies and gentlemen, really — I — would — 
 but the noise and confusion is so great, that I cannot be 
 heard ! " — and a roar followed this capital hit, that 
 drowned, for the moment, at least, even the rattling, crash- 
 ing, bellowing, squeaking music of the feathered bipeds 
 around him. 
 
 The exhibition lasted three days. Unheard-of prices were 
 asked, and readily paid, for all sorts of fowls ; most of those 
 sold being mongrels, however. As high as thirteen dollars 
 was paid by one man (who soon afterwards became an in- 
 mate of a lunatic asylum) for a single pair of domestic 
 fowls. It was monstrous, ridiculous, outrageous, exclaimed 
 every one, when this fact — the absolute paying down of 
 thirteen round dollars, then the price of two barrels of good 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 25 
 
 wheat flour — "was announced as having been squandered 
 for a single pair of chickens. 
 
 I sold some fowls at that show. I didn't buy any there, 
 I believe. 
 
 The receipts at the gates paid the expenses of the exhibi- 
 tion, and left a small surplus in the hands of somebody, — I 
 never knew who, — but who took good care of the money, I 
 have not a doubt ; as most of the officers at that time were, 
 like myself, " poor, but honest." 
 
 By the time this fair closed, the pulse of the ' ; dear 
 people " had come to be rather rapid in its throbs, and the 
 fever was evidently on the increase. Fowls were in de- 
 mand. Not good ones, because nothing was then said by 
 the anxious would-be purchasers about quality. Nobody 
 had got so far as that, then. They -wanted foiols only, — 
 hens and cocks, — to which they themselves gave a name. 
 
 Some fancied one breed, or variety, and some another ; 
 but anything that sported feathers, — from the diminutive 
 Bantam to the stork-shaped Chinaman, — everything was 
 being sought after by " amateurs " and " fanciers " with a 
 zest, and a readiness to pay for, that did honor to the zeal 
 of the youthful buyers, and a world of good to the hearts 
 of the quiet breeders and sellers, who began first to get 
 posted up, and inured to the disease. 
 
 / was an humble and modest member of this latter class* 
 I kept and raised only pure breeds of fowls. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW " POULTRY-BOOKS " ARE MADE. 
 
 Soon after this, I learned that one Asa Rugg, of Penn- 
 sylvania (a nom de guerre), was in the possession of a 
 breed of fowls that challenged all comparison for size and 
 weight. They were called the Chittagong fowl, and were 
 thus described in the poultry-books published in 1850 : 
 
 " The fowl thus alluded to has been imported, within 
 the last two or three years, into Pennsylvania, and ranks 
 at the head of the list, in that region, for all the good qual- 
 ities desirable in a domestic bird. The color is a streaked 
 grey, rather than otherwise, and the portraits below" (my 
 birds) " are fine samples of this great stock. They are 
 designated as the Grey Chittagongs." 
 
 "Asa Rugg," in his letter to me, described this stock as 
 being at the head of the races of poultry, having "the 
 largest blood in them of any variety of fowl with which he 
 was acquainted." The pair he first sent me were light-grey 
 and streaked, and " at less than seven months old weighed 
 over nineteen pounds." 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 27 
 
 He said, in that insinuating and delicate manner so 
 peculiar to the habits of gentlemen who possess what 
 another wishes to buy of them, — "I did not intend, my 
 
 dear Mr. B , to part with these magnificent specimens at 
 
 any figure whatever. I assure you I had much rather 
 retain them ; for they are very fine, as you would say, 
 could you see them. If, however, you are disposed to pay 
 my price, I shall let you have them. I really shall regret 
 their absence from my yard, however. Try and make up 
 your mind to be satisfied with something else — won't you? 
 These fowls I must keep, if possible," &c. &c. 
 
 Now, Asa knew very well, if he had charged me two 
 hundred (instead of twenty) dollars for those grey fowls, I 
 should have taken them from him. Of course I sent for 
 them at once; and, within ten days, they were in my 
 poultry-house, a new wonder for the hundreds who called 
 to see my " superb " and " extraordinary " fowls. 
 
 A competitor turned up, a few months after this, a noto- 
 rious breeder in P , who, though a respectable man, 
 
 otherwise, never knew a hen from a stove-pipe, but who had 
 more money at that time than I had, and who, in the hen- 
 trade, possessed the impudence of the devil, without the 
 accompanying graces to carry out his object. 
 
 This man chanced, while in Pennsylvania, to hear Asa 
 speak of trie, and at once he stepped in to "head me " in 
 that quarter. He bought all the "Grey Chittagongs " that 
 
28 THE HISTOBY OF 
 
 Rugg had left (most of which, when they reached P , 
 
 happened to be dark red and hrowii), and forthwith set up 
 an establishment in opposition to me ; "for what purpose I 
 never knew. I did not know him from a side of sole- 
 leather, I had never spoken to or of him, and I could not 
 comprehend why this person should render himself, as he 
 did, my future "death's head" in the fowl-trade. 
 
 If he went into the traffic for the purpose of making 
 money out of it, he has found, by this time, I have no 
 doubt, that he would have been, at the very least calcula- 
 tion, five thousand dollars better off had he never thrust 
 himself into a business of which he did not know the first 
 rudiments. 
 
 If he embarked in it to interfere with or to injure "me, 
 personally, he has now ascertained, I imagine, that it 
 required a faster horse than he was in the habit of driving 
 to keep in sight of my team. 
 
 If his purpose was the gratification of his own petty spite 
 or ambition only, he has had to pay for the enjoyment of 
 it, — ay, to his dear cost ! — and he is welcome to all he ever 
 made out of his contemptible, niggardly huckstering. 
 
 Soon after the first exhibition, it was announced by 
 the publishers in Boston that Dr. Bennett's new Trea- 
 tise would be immediately issued by them. The doctor 
 had originally applied to the establishment in which I 
 was then a partner, to issue this work ; but I recom- 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 29 
 
 mended him to the others, because our own facilities 
 for getting it out were not so good as I thought were 
 theirs. 
 
 I furnished a considerable amount of the matter for that 
 book, and had already obtained, at my own individual ex- 
 pense, several of the engravings which appear in the work 
 spoken of. After the original cuts were placed in the pub- 
 lishers' hands, they were reduced in size, and injured (for 
 my purposes), as I conceived, when they finally appeared in 
 print. 
 
 The doctor's book on poultry had been announced again 
 and again ; but it did not make its appearance in the mar- 
 ket, in consequence of his tardiness. Week after week, and 
 month after month, passed by, but still no Dr. Bennett's 
 book could be found. I saw some of the proof-sheets finally, 
 observed the fate of the illustrations of my fowls, and made 
 up my mind what I would do. The book was at last 
 announced positively to appear in three weeks. 
 
 I immediately called at a stereotype foundery, and asked 
 how much time it would require to stereotype a work of one 
 hundred and fifty pages for me. I was told that it would 
 occupy three to four weeks to complete it. " Can't it be 
 done in owe week?" I inquired. The proprietor smiled, 
 and said that this was impossible. I replied, " Well, sir, 
 to-day is Tuesday. I have engaged to deliver in New York 
 city, on the morning of a week from next Saturday, three 
 3* 
 
30 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 thousand copies of a book which I am about to write. Is 
 there no way that you can help me out ? " The gentleman 
 looked at me incredulously. 
 
 I added, "Mr. ; I have been in the newspaper busi- 
 ness a good many years, and I have had the message of the 
 President of the United States — a document occupying a 
 dozen columns of solid brevier and minion — set up and 
 put to press within forty-two minutes from the time it 
 reached our office. Anything can be accomplished, now-a- 
 days, if we but will it." 
 
 1 ' But, you say you are about to write it. When will 
 nie ' copy' be ready ? " said the stereotyper. 
 
 " I have thought of this," I replied, " but a few hours. 
 The title, even, is not yet decided upon. I will give you 
 fifty pages of manuscript to-morrow morning, the next day 
 I will add another fifty, and you shall have the whole in 
 hand by Friday morning." 
 
 He kindly undertook to aid me. I engaged three engrav- 
 ers, who worked day and night upon the drawings and 
 transfers of the fowls for my illustrations ; the paper was 
 wet down on Monday and Tuesday ; I read the final revised 
 proof of my work on Wednesday night ; the book went to 
 jpress on Thursday ; the binders were ready for it as it came 
 up, the covers were put on on Friday morning, and I sent 
 to the New York house (who had bespoken them), by 
 Harnden's Express, on Friday evening, three thousand 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 31 
 
 five hundred copies of the " New Enq-land Poultry- 
 Breed ee," illustrated with twenty -Jive correct engrav- 
 ings of my choice, magnificent, superb, unapproachable, 
 pure-bred fowls. 
 
 This book had an extraordinary sale, — far beyond my 
 own calculations, certainly. I got it out for the purpose 
 of "doing justice" to my own stock, and calculated that 
 it would prove a good advertising medium for me, — which it 
 did, by the way. But the demand for the " New England 
 Poultry-Breeder " was immense. And thirteen different 
 editions (varying from three thousand five hundred to one 
 thousand copies each) were issued within as many weeks, 
 and were sold, every copy of them. This is the true his- 
 tory of the "New England Poultry-Breeder." 
 
 By and by Dr. Bennett's book appeared. The market 
 was now glutted with this kind of thing, and this work, 
 though a good one, generally, dragged on the hands of its 
 originators. I doubt if a thousand copies of this book 
 ever found their way into the market, the author being too 
 deeply engrossed with his then thriving trade, to trouble 
 himself about urging the sale of his book, or of thinking 
 about the interests of his publishers. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THREATENING INDICATIONS. 
 
 Another meeting was now called at the Statehouse, 
 which was even more fully attended than the first, and at 
 which much more serious indications of enthusiasm were 
 apparent. 
 
 Old men, and middle-aged farmers, and florists, and agri- 
 culturists, and live-stock breeders, from all parts of this and 
 the neighboring states, congregated together on this event- 
 ful occasion, and entered into the debate with an earnestness 
 worthy of so important and " glorious " a cause. 
 
 Some of the speakers had by this time got to be so elated 
 and so ardent that they rehearsed all they knew, and some 
 of them told of a great deal more than themselves or any- 
 body else had ever dreamed of, bearing upon the subject of 
 poultry-raising. But, really, the subject was an exciting 
 one, and the talkers were excusable ; they could n't help it ! 
 
 Shades of morus multicaulis victims ! Shadows of 
 defunct tulip-growers ! Spirits of departed Merino sheep 
 speculators ! Ghosts of dead Berkshire pig fanciers ! 
 
THE HISTORY OP THE HEN FEVER. 33 
 
 Where were ye all on that eventful night, when six hun- 
 dred sober, "respectable" representatives of "the people" 
 were assembled within the walls of our time-honored state 
 edifice upon Beacon Hill, in serious and animated conclave, 
 to decide the momentous question that "hens icas hens," 
 notwithstanding, nevertheless ! 
 
 "Mr. President," exclaimed one of these gentlemen 
 (whose speech was not publicly reported; I think), "Mr. 
 President, the times is propishus. We 're a-enterin' on a 
 new ery. The -people is a-movin' in this 'ere great, and 
 ■wonderful, and extraordinary — I may say, Mr. President, 
 this 'ere soul-stirrin' and 'lectrefyin — branch of interestin' 
 rural erconomy." (Applause, during which the speaker 
 advanced a step or two nearer to the presiding officer's desk, 
 wiped his nose fiercely upon a fiery-red bandanna handker- 
 chief, and proceeded.) 
 
 " The world, Mr. President," he continued, "is a-growin' 
 wiser ev'ry day, — I may say ev'ry hour, Mr. President ! 
 Ay, sir, ev'ry minute*" (Loud applause, amid which one 
 old gentleman in a bob-wig was particularly vociferous.) 
 
 " I say, Mr. President, the people is a-growin' wiser con- 
 tinu'lly ; and by that expression, sir, I mean to convey the 
 idee that they are a-gettin' to know more, sir ! Who will 
 gainsay this position ? Whar 's the man — whar 's the 
 er — individooal, sir — that '11 stan' up 'ere to-night, in this 
 hallowed hall, under the shadder of this doom above our 
 
34 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 heads, sir, in view of the great American eagle jender, — 
 that ' bird of promise,' sir, — and dispute the assertion that 
 I now make, Mr. President, as an American citizen, with- 
 out fear and without reproach ! " (Deafening shouts of 
 " Nobody ! nobody can dispute it ! ") 
 
 "No, sir! I think not, I wot not, I ventur' not, I 
 cal'k'late not ! I say, Mr. President, it is no use for nun 
 of us to contend agin the mighty ingine of progress ; 'nless 
 we 'd like to get our crowns mashed in for our pains, sir. 
 That 's the way it 'pears to me ; and I 've no doubt that 
 this 'nlitened ordinance now present, sir, will agree with 
 me on this p'int, and admit the truth that present indica- 
 tions, sir, p'int, with strikin' force, to the proberble likeli- 
 hood that the deeds begun here to-night must be forever 
 perpetooated hereafter, and that — a — they will — er — go 
 down, sir, to our children, and our children's children, a 
 posteriori, in the futur, forever!" ("Yes, yes!" and 
 thundering applause.) 
 
 " But, sir, the p'int at issoo seems to me to be clear as 
 the broad-faced sun on a cloudy day. I 'm no speaker, sir. 
 I am not the man, sir, that goes about to proclaim on tops 
 of houses ! I 'm a quiet citizen, and calls myself one o' 
 ' the people,' sir. But w'en the questions comes up of this 
 natur', — w'en it 'pears to me to be so clear and so transpa- 
 rent, — w'en the people goes abroad, sir, in their might, and 
 — er — and can't stay ter home, — w'en such things occurs, 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 35 
 
 sir, then I'm round ! " (Shouts of " Good ! good ! good ! " 
 the respectable old gentleman in the bob- wig creating a 
 cloud of dust about him with his stamping and excited 
 gestures.) 
 
 " Mr. President, I have a' most done — — " (" No, no ! 
 Go on, go on ! " from all parts of the house.) 
 
 "No, sir; as I've said afore, I'm no speaker, an' I 
 make no pretenshuns to oraterry. I 'm a plain man, sir ; 
 but I feel deeply interested in this subject." (Nobody had 
 yet ascertained what the "subject" was, beca,use the gen- 
 tleman had n't alluded to any.) " And, sir, I feel that I 
 should be unjust to myself and to this ordinance ef I did 
 not say what I have, sir. I go in for the poultry -breedin', 
 sir, all over ! Sir, 
 
 I love 'em, I love 'em, — an' who shall dar' 
 To chide me for lovin' and praisin' them 'are ? 
 
 " I love 'em, sir, — chickens or poultry, — dead or alive. 
 My father afore me loved 'em, sir ; and I 'm rejoiced to see 
 the feelin's that 's exhibited here to-night. And, 'less any- 
 body should suspect that I have ventured upon these few 
 remarks with mercenary motives, Mr. President (though 
 perhcqys no such suppersishun would animate no man's 
 bosom), I will state, sir, that I have no fowk to sell, sir, — 
 none whatever. No, sir ! not a fowl ! I 'm a buyer, sir, 
 — I want to buy," shouted the excited man, — and he sat 
 
36 THE HISTORY OP THE HEN FEVEK. 
 
 down amid the deafening plaudits of his associates at this 
 meeting, who fully appreciated his speech and his palpable 
 disinterestedness. 
 
 {Item. — I found this gentleman the next day, and 
 informed him that I had heard of his destitution. I had 
 understood that he had no poultry, but was in search of 
 pure-blooded stock. Before night I had fully supplied 
 him with genuine samples, at thirty dollars a pair, and no 
 "discount for cash.") 
 
 Before this meeting concluded, the prices of fowls, and 
 eggs, and feathers, were duly discussed, the details of which 
 I will defer to the next chapter. 
 
 But all the indications at this convention were really of 
 a threatening character ; and it would have required the 
 strength of several stout men to have held certain of the 
 speakers as they got warmed up, and rattled away, for dear 
 life, upon the advantages that must accrue to the nation, in 
 a thousand ways, from the encouragement of this epidemic, 
 and the certain, inevitable losses that must be sustained by 
 " the people " if they did n't go into this thing with a rush, 
 
 Most of these speakers, however, had fowls for sale ! 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE EPIDEMIC SPREADING. 
 
 While all this was transpiring, my " splendid " Cochin- 
 China fowls had arrived from England, and I had had a 
 nice house arranged, in which to keep and exhibit them to 
 visitors. 
 
 The pullets began to lay in January, 1850, and imme- 
 diately afterwards my trade commenced in earnest, which 
 continued, without interruption, up to the close of the year 
 1854. 
 
 Among the "monstrosities" presented at the second 
 meeting at the Boston Statehouse were several propositions 
 that were suggested by gentlemen-amateurs and farmers in 
 regard to the price that should be fixed on, by members of 
 the Society with the elongated title, for eggs sold for incu- 
 bation. 
 
 One man thought that two dollars a dozen for most of 
 the fancy kinds would pay well. This gentleman (I do 
 not remember who he was) probably calculated to furnish 
 
38 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 fancy eggs as a certain agricultural concern had been doing 
 for some months : that is, by first purchasing them at a 
 shilling a dozen from the eastern packets, or in Quincy Mar- 
 ket. The next man thought that three dollars per dozen 
 would be fair. Another member believed that one dollar 
 was enough for twelve eggs, "but he didn't know much 
 about it," he acknowledged ; which was pretty evident from 
 his remarks. At any rate, he had never fed a " laying 
 hen " long enough on good corn to ascertain how much she 
 would devour while she was furnishing him with the said 
 twelve eggs, I imagine ! One gentleman, more liberally 
 disposed, probably, ventured to express his willingness to 
 pa y Jive dollars a dozen for what he wanted. I understood 
 he got home safely after the meeting, though it was feared 
 he would be mobbed for his temerity in making this ridic- 
 ulous offer ! 
 
 I had already fixed my price for the eggs that were to be 
 dropped by my "extraordinary and superb" Cochin- China 
 fowls, which by this time had got to be " the admiration of 
 the State " (so the newspapers said). I had the best fowls 
 in this world, or in any other ; this being conceded by every 
 one who saw them, there was no necessity of " talking the 
 subject up" to anybody. I charged twelve dollars a dozen 
 for my eggs — and never winked at it ! 
 
 And why shouldn't I have the highest price? Were not 
 my fowls the " choicest specimens " ever seen in America? 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 39 
 
 Did n't everybody so declare ? Did n't the press aad the 
 poultry-books concede this, without an exception? Well, 
 they did ! And so, for months, I obtained one dollar each 
 for my Cochin- China fowls' eggs; and I received order after 
 order, and remittance after remittance, for eggs (at this 
 figure), which I could not begin to supply. 
 
 And I didn't laugh, either ! I had no leisure to laugh. 
 I filled the orders as they came, — "first come, first served," 
 — and for several months I found my list of promises six 
 or eight weeks in advance of my ability to meet them with 
 genuine eggs. 
 
 I was not so well informed, then, as I was afterwards. I 
 think all the eggs that were then wanted might have been 
 had. But, as the boy said, when asked where all the stolen 
 peaches he had eaten were gone, " I donno ! " 
 
 Will it be credited that, during the summer of 1850, I 
 had dozens of full-grown men — gentlemen — but enthusi- 
 astic hen- fanciers (who had contracted the fever suddenly), 
 who came to my residence for Cochin-China eggs, at one 
 dollar each, and who, upon being informed that I had n't one 
 in the house, would quietly sit down in my parlor and wait 
 two, three, or four hours at a time, for the hens to lay 
 them, a feto, that they might take them away with them ? 
 Such is the fact, however it may be doubted. 
 
 I subsequently sold the eggs at ten dollars a dozen ; then 
 at six dollars ; and finally, the third and fourth years, at 
 
40 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 five dollars. This paid me, because I sent off a great 
 many. 
 
 But they didn't hatch well after having been transported 
 away and shaken over in the hands of careless and igno- 
 rant or reckless express agents. Thus the buyers came 
 again. Many of the early fanciers tried this experiment 
 over and over again, but with similar ill-success ; and when 
 they had expended ten, twenty, or thirty dollars, perhaps, for 
 eggs, they would begin at the beginning aright, and pur- 
 chase a few chickens to rear, from which they could finally 
 procure their own eggs, and go forward more successfully. 
 But all this took time to bring it about. 
 
 And meanwhile somebody (I don't say who) was 
 " feathering a certain nest " as rapidly as .a course of high- 
 minded and honorable dealing with his fellow-men would 
 permit. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ALAEMING DEMONSTRATIONS. 
 
 My premises were literally besieged -with visitors, and 
 my family attendants were worn out with answering the 
 door-bell summons, from morning till night. 
 
 " Is Mr. B at home ? Can we see his Cochin-Chinas? 
 
 Can we look at Mr. B 's fowls? Might we take a look at 
 
 the chickens?" were the questions from sun to sun again, 
 almost ; and I was absolutely compelled, in self-defence, 
 to send the fowls away from home, for a while, for the sake 
 of relief from the continual annoyances to which, in conse- 
 quence of having them in my yard, I was subjected. 
 
 Fifteen, twenty, often forty callers in a single day, would 
 come to see my "magnificent" Cochin- China fowls. But 
 I sent them off, and then " the people " cried for them ! 
 
 "Who's dead?" queried a stranger, passing my door 
 one day, and observing the carriages and vehicles standing 
 in a line along the front of my garden -fence. 
 
 "Nobody, I guess," said another; "that's where the 
 Cochin-Chinas are kept." 
 4* 
 
42 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 "The what?" 
 
 " The Cochin-Chinas." 
 
 "What's them?" 
 
 " Don't you know? " 
 
 " No ; never heard of 'em, afore." 
 
 " Never heard of Burnham's Cochin-Chinas? " 
 
 " Never ! What are they ? " 
 
 "Well, I reckon you ha'n't lived in these 'ere parts long, 
 my friend," continued the other; "and you'd better step 
 in and look at 'em." 
 
 In came the stranger, and after examining the fowls he 
 returned. 
 
 "How do you like 'em?" asked the man who had 
 already seen them, and was waiting for his friend outside. 
 
 " They 're vouchers, that 's a fact ! " exclaimed the grat- 
 ified stranger. And this was the universal opinion. 
 
 Nobody had ever seen such fowls {I had seen a good 
 many better ones ! ) — nobody had ever beheld any so large, 
 so heavy, so fine. And every one who came to look at them 
 purchased or engaged either eggs or chickens from these 
 "extraordinary" and " never- to-be-too-much-lauded " royal 
 Cochin-China fowls ! 
 
 For my first broods of chickens (at three and four months 
 old) I readily obtained twenty-five dollars a pair: and 
 every one of them went off " like hot cakes " at this figure. 
 It was too low for them, altogether ; and I had occasion to 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 4d 
 
 regret, subsequently, that I did not charge fifty dollars a 
 pair ; — a price which I might just as easily then have 
 obtained as if I had charged but one dollar a pair, as events 
 proved to my satisfaction. 
 
 But everything connected with this fever could not well 
 be learned at once. I was not a very dull scholar, and I 
 progressed gradually. One year after the receipt of my 
 Cochins, I got my own price for them, ask what I might. 
 I sold a good many pairs at one hundred dollars the couple ; 
 and, oftentimes, I received this sum for a trio of them. 
 
 Things begun to look up with me. I had got a very 
 handsome-looking stock on hand, at last; and when my 
 numerous customers came to see me, they were surprised 
 (and so was J) to meet with such "noble" samples of 
 domestic fowls. "Magnificent!" "Astonishing!" cried 
 everybody. 
 
 A splendid open carriage halted before my door, one day, 
 and there alighted from it a fine, portly-looking man, whom 
 I had never seen before, and whose name I did not then 
 learn ; who, leaving an elegantly-dressed lady behind in the 
 vehicle, called for me. 
 
 I saw and recognized the carriage, however, as one of 
 Niles' ; and I was satisfied that it came from the Tremont 
 House. As soon as the gentleman spoke, I was also satisfied, 
 from his manner of speech, that he was a Southerner. He 
 was polite and frank, apparently. I invited him in, and he 
 
44 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 went to look at my fowls ; that being the object, he said, ot 
 his visit. 
 
 He examined them all, and said, quietly : 
 
 "I'd like to get half a dozen of these, if they didn't 
 come too high ; but I understand you fanciers have got the 
 price up. I used to buy these chickens for a dollar apiece. 
 Now, they say, you're asking five dollars each for them." 
 
 I showed him my stock, — the "jowe-bred" ones, — and 
 informed him at once that I had not sold any of my chick- 
 ens, latterly, at less than forty dollars a pair. 
 
 He was astounded. He did n't want any — much : that 
 is, he wasn't particular. He could buy them for five 
 dollars; shouldn't pay that, nohow; wanted them for his 
 boy ; would come again, and see about it, &c. &c. 
 
 A five-year-old stag mounted the low fence at this 
 moment, and sent forth an electrifying crow, such as would 
 (at that period) have taken a novice "right out of his 
 boots ;" and a beautiful eight-pound pullet showed herself 
 beside him at the same time. The stranger turned round, 
 and said : 
 
 " There ! What is your price for such a pair as that, for 
 instance?" 
 
 " Not for sale, sir." 
 
 " But you will sell them, I s'pose ? " 
 
 " No, sir. I have younger ones to dispose of; but that 
 pair are my models. I can't sell them." 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 45 
 
 The gentleman's eye was exactly filled with this pair of 
 chickens. 
 
 " What will you take for those two fowls ?" 
 
 " One hundred dollars, sir," I replied. 
 
 " I guess you will — when you can get it," he added. — 
 " Name your lowest price, now, for those two. I want 
 good ones, if any." 
 
 " I prefer to keep them, rather than to part with them at 
 any price," I insisted. " If, however, a gentleman like 
 yourself, who evidently knows what good fowls are, 
 desires to procure the choicest specimens in the country, 
 why, I confess to you that those are the persons into whose 
 hands I prefer that my best stock should fall. But I will 
 show you some at a lower figure," I continued, driving this 
 pair from the fence. 
 
 " Don't you ! Don't drive 'em away ! " said the gentle- 
 man ; — " let 's see. That 's the cock ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "And this is the hen?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " One hundred dollars ! You don't mean this, of 
 course," he persisted. 
 
 " No, I mean that I would rather keep them, sir." 
 
 "Well — I'll— take them" said the stranger. 
 
 " It 's cruel. But, I '11 take them;" and he paid me five 
 twenty-dollar gold pieces down on the spot, for two ten- 
 
46 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN EEVER. 
 
 months-old chickens, from my " splendid " Royal Cochin- 
 China fowls. 
 
 He had a tender spot someivhere, that I had hit, during 
 the conversation, I presume. He took the two chickens 
 into his carriage, and I have never seen or heard from him 
 from that day to this. I trust, however, if ' ' these few 
 lines" should ever meet his eye, that his poultry turned 
 out well, and that he himself is in good health and spirits ! 
 
 I called this gallant young cock " Frank Pierce," in 
 honor of my valiant friend now of the White House, at 
 Washington. It will be seen that I thus sold Frank for 
 fifty dollars ; a sum which the majority of the people of 
 this country have since most emphatically determined was 
 a good deal more than he ever was worth ! 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE FEVER WORKING. 
 
 About this time an ex-member of Congress, formerly from 
 Pennsylvania, was invited to deliver the address before one 
 of the county agricultural societies of that state (where the 
 fever had now begun to spread with alarming rapidity) , who, 
 in the course of his speech on that occasion, delivered him- 
 self of the following pointed and forcible remark. 
 
 Speaking of poultry and the rare qualities of certain 
 domestic fowls, he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, next to a 
 beautiful woman, and an honest farmer, I deem a Shanghae 
 cock the noblest work of God ! " 
 
 Now, this expression might be looked upon, by some 
 persons, as savoring of demagogism, or, at the least, as an 
 approach to " running this thing into the ground " (or into 
 the air) ; but the honorable gentleman no doubt felt just 
 what he said. I have seen many sensible men who felt 
 worse than this — a good deal — on this self-same subject ; 
 and who expressed themselves mucj). more warmly in regard 
 to the characteristics and beauties of domestic poultry ; but, 
 
48 THE HISTORY OE 
 
 to be sure, it was after they had " gone through tfee mill," 
 and had come out at the small end of the funnel. 
 
 In New England, especially, prior to the second show of 
 poultry in Boston, the fever had got well up to " concert 
 pitch ;" and in New York State " the people " were getting 
 to be very comfortably interested in the subject — where 
 my stock, by this time, had come to be pretty extensively 
 known. 
 
 The expenses attendant upon this part of the business, to 
 wit, the process of furnishing the requisite amount of informa- 
 tion for " the people " (on a subject of such manifestly great 
 importance), the quantum sufficit in the way of drawings, 
 pictures, advertisements, puffings, etc., through the medium 
 of the press, can be imagined, not described. 
 
 The cost of the drawings and engravings which I had 
 executed for the press, from time to time, during the years 
 1850, '51, '52, and '53, exceeded over eight hundred dol- 
 lars; but this, with the descriptions of my "rare" stock 
 (which I usually furnished the papers, accompanying the 
 cuts), was my chosen mode of advertising. And I take 
 this method publicly to acknowledge my indebtedness to the 
 press for the kindness with which I was almost uniformly 
 treated, while I was thus seriously affected by the epidemic 
 which destroyed so many older and graver men than myself; 
 though few who survived the attack "suffered" more 
 seriously than I did, during the course of the fever. For 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 49 
 
 instance, the large picture of the fowls which I had the 
 pleasure of sending to Her Majesty Queen Victoria (in 
 1852), and which appeared in Gleasorfs Pictorial, the New 
 York Spirit of the Times, New England Cultivator, &c, 
 cost me, for the original drawing, engraving, electrotyping, 
 and duplicating, eighty-three dollars. 
 
 All these expenses were cheerfully paid, however, because 
 I found my reward in the consciousness that I performed 
 the duty I owed to my fellow-men, by thus aiding (in my 
 humble way) in disseminating the information which " the 
 people " were at that time so ravenously in search of, name- 
 ly, as to the person of whom they could obtain (without 
 regard to price) the best fowls in the country. 
 
 This was what " the people" wanted; and thus the mal- 
 ady extended far and wide, and when the fall of 1850 
 arrived, buyers had got to be as plenty as blackberries in 
 August, whilst sellers " of reputation " were, like the visits 
 of angels, few and far between. I was, by this time, con- 
 sidered " one of 'em." I strove, however, to carry my 
 honors with Christian meekness and forbearance, and with 
 that becoming consideration for the wants and the wishes of 
 my fellow-men that rendered myself and my " purely-bred 
 stock " so universally popular. . 
 
 Ah ! when I look back on the past, — when I reflect upon 
 the noble generosity and disinterestedness that characterized 
 all my transactions at that flush period. — when I think of 
 5 
 
50 THE HISTOEY OF 
 
 what I did for " the cause," and how liberally I was 
 rewarded for my candor, my honesty of purpose, and my 
 disingenuousness, — tears of gratitude and wonder rush to 
 my eyes, and my overcharged heart only finds its solace by 
 turning to my ledger and reading over, again and again, the 
 list of prices that were then paid me by " the people," week 
 after week, and month after month, for my " magnificent 
 samples" of "pure-bred" Cochin-China chickens, the 
 original of which I had imported, and which were said to 
 have been bred from the stock of the Queen of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 But, the Mutual Admiration 1 mean, the " Soci- 
 ety " whose name was like 
 
 " Lengthened sweetness, long drawn out," 
 was about to hold its second annual exhibition ; and, as the 
 number of its members had largely increased, and as each 
 and all of those who pulled the wires of this concern (while 
 at the same time they were pulling the wool over the eyes 
 of "the people") had plans of their own in reference to 
 details, I made up my mind, although I felt big enough to 
 stand up even in this huge hornet's nest of competition, to 
 have things to suit my " notions." 
 
 I now had fowls to sell ! I had raised a large quantity 
 of chickens ; winter was approaching, corn was high, they 
 required shelter, the roup had destroyed scores of fowls for 
 my neighbors, and I did n't care to winter over three or 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 51 
 
 four hundred of these " splendid " and " mammoth " speci- 
 mens of ornithology, each one of which could very cleverly 
 dispose of more grain, in the same number of months, than 
 would serve to keep one of my heifers in tolerable trim. 
 
 Such restrictions were proposed by the officers of the 
 Society with the lengthened cognomen, that my naturally 
 democratic disposition revolted against the arbitrary meas- 
 ures talked of, and I resolved to get up an exhibition of my 
 own, where this matter could be talked over at leisure, and 
 which I did not doubt would " turn an honest penny " into 
 my own pocket ; where, though I had done well thus far, 
 there was still room, as there was in hungry Oliver Twist's 
 belly, for "more." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE SECOND POULTRY-SHOW IN BOSTON. 
 
 On the 2d, 3d, and 4th days of October, in the year of 
 our Lord 1850, the "grand exhibition" (so the Report 
 termed it), for that year, came off at the large hall over the 
 Fitchburg Railroad Depot, in Boston, ''which proved a 
 most extensive and inviting one" (so # continued the Re- 
 port), " far exceeding, both in numbers and in the quality 
 of specimens offered, anything of its kind ever got up in 
 America. 
 
 " The birds looked remarkably fine in every respect, 
 and the undertaking was very successful. A magnificent 
 show of the feathered tribe greeted the thousands of visitors 
 who called at the hall, and all parties expressed their satis- 
 faction at the proceedings. 
 
 " The Committee awarded to George P. Burnham, of 
 Melrose, the first premiums for fowls and chickens. The 
 prize birds were the l Royal Cochin- Chinas ' and their 
 progeny, which have been bred with care from his imported 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 53 
 
 stock ; and which were generally acknowledged at the head 
 of the list of specimens." 
 
 The prices obtained at this exhibition ranged very high, 
 and " full houses " were constantly in attendance, day and 
 evening, to examine and select and purchase from the 
 "pure-bred" stock there. "Mr. Burnham, of Melrose " 
 (continued the Report), " declined an offer of $120 for his 
 twelve premium Cochin-China chickens, and subsequently 
 refused $20 for the choice of the pullets." 
 
 " The show was much larger than the first one, and the 
 character of the birds exhibited was altogether finer, though 
 the old fowls were, for the most part, moulting. A deep 
 interest was manifested in this enterprise, and it went off 
 with satisfaction to all concerned," added the Report. 
 
 In order that the details of this experiment (which i" 
 projected and carried through, myself) may be appreciated 
 and understood, I extract from the "official" Report the 
 following items regarding this show, the expenses, the 
 prize-takers, &c. 
 
 The " Committee of Judges," consisting of myself, G. 
 P. Burnham, Esq., and a gentleman of Melrose, made the 
 following statements and "observations," in the Report 
 above referred to : 
 
 " The Exhibition was visited by full ten thousand per- 
 sons, during the three days mentioned. The amount of 
 money received for tickets was four hundred and seventy- 
 5* 
 
54 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 three dollars and thirty-eight cents ; and the following 
 disbursements were made : 
 
 Cash paid for rent of hall, . $175.00 
 
 " " amount of premiums and gratuities, 135.00 
 
 17.60 
 70.40 
 18.21 
 27.50 
 15.00 
 25.56 
 7.37 
 
 for lumber and use of tables, 
 for lighting hall, advertising, etc., 
 
 tickets, cards and handbills, . . 
 
 carpenters and attendants, . . 
 
 police and door-keepers, . . . 
 
 grain, seed, buckets, pans, etc., . 
 coops, cartage and sundries, . 
 
 Total expenses, 
 
 Amount received, as stated, 
 
 Deficit, 
 
 #491.64 
 
 473.38 
 
 $18.26" 
 
 When the state of the funds was subsequently more par- 
 ticularly inquired into, however, it was found that the 
 amount of money actually received at the door was a little 
 rising nine hundred and seventy dollars, instead of "four 
 hundred and seventy- three. " as above quoted. But this 
 was a trifling matter; since the " Committee of Judges" 
 spoken of above accounted for this sum, duly, in the final 
 settlement. 
 
 The " Committee" aforesaid awarded the following pre- 
 miums at this show, after attending to the examination con- 
 fided to them — namely : 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 55 
 
 " First premium, for the best six fowls contributed, to 
 George P. Burnham, of Melrose, Mass., $10. 
 
 " For the three best Cochin-China Fowls (Royal), to 
 George P. Burnham, Melrose, Mass., $5. 
 
 For the twelve best chickens, of this year's growth 
 (Royal Cochin-China), to George P. Burnham, Melrose, 
 $5." 
 
 And there were some other premiums awarded, I 
 believe, there, but by which I was not particularly bene- 
 fited ; and so I pass by this matter without further remark, 
 entertaining no doubt whatever that all the gentlemen who 
 were awarded premiums (and who obtained the amount of 
 the awards) exhibited at the Fitchburg Hall Show pure- 
 bred fowls. 
 
 After making these awards, the " Committee of Judges " 
 (consisting, as aforesaid, of myself, Mr. Burnham, and a 
 fancier from Melrose) state that "they find great pleas- 
 ure" — (mark this !) — "they find great pleasure in alluding 
 again to the splendid contributions " of some of the gentle- 
 men who had fowls in this show, — and then the Report 
 continues as follows : 
 
 " The magnificent samples of Cochin-China fowls, con- 
 tributed by G. P. Burnham, of Melrose, were the theme of 
 much comment and deserved praise. These birds include 
 his imported fowls and their progeny — of which he exhib- 
 ited nineteen splendid specimens. To this stock the Com- 
 
56 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 mittee unanimously awarded the Jirst premiums for fowls 
 and chickens; and finer samples of domestic birds will 
 rarely be found in this country. They are bred from the 
 Queen's variety, obtained by Mr. Burnham last winter, at 
 heavy cost, through J. Joseph Nolan, Esq., of Dublin, and 
 are unquestionably, at this time, the finest thorough-bred 
 Cochin-Chinas in America." 
 
 My early hen-friend the "Doctor" — alluded to in the 
 opening chapter of this book — exhibited a fowl which the 
 " Committee " thus described in their report : 
 
 " The rare and beautiful imported Wild India Game 
 hen, contributed by Mr. B. F. Griggs, Columbus, Geo., was 
 a curiosity much admired. This fowl (lately sold by Dr. 
 J. C. Bennett, of Plymouth, to Mr. Griggs, for $120) is 
 thorough game, without doubt ; and her progeny, exhibited 
 by Dr. Bennett, were very beautiful specimens. To this 
 bird, and the ' Yankee Gaines ' of Dr. Bennett, the Com- 
 mittee awarded a gratuity of $5." 
 
 So miserable a hum as this was, I never met with, in all 
 my long Shanghae experience. It out-bothered the Doc- 
 tor's famous " Bother' ems," and really out- Cochined even 
 my noted Cochin-Chinas ! But I was content, i" was one 
 of the " Committee of Judges." I had forgot ! 
 
 This Committee's Beport was thus closed : 
 
 " It has been the aim of the Committee to do justice to 
 all who have taken an interest in the late Fowl Exhibition, 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 57 
 
 and they congratulate the gentlemen who have sustained 
 this enterprise upon its success." 
 
 They did ample justice to this Wild Bengal Injun Hen, 
 that is certain. The Cochin-China trade received an 
 impulse (after this show concluded) that astonished even me, 
 and I am not easily disturbed in this traffic. And I have no 
 doubt that the people who paid their money to witness 
 this never-to-he-forgotten (by me) exhibition, were also 
 satisfied. 
 
 The experiment was perfectly successful, however, 
 throughout. I forwarded to all my patrons and friends 
 copies of this Report, beautifully illustrated ; and the orders 
 for "pwre-bred chickens from the premium stock " rushed 
 in upon me 5 for the next four or five months, with renewed 
 vigor and spirit. 
 
 This first exhibition at the Fitchhurg Depot Hall proved 
 to me a satisfactorily profitable advertisement, as I carried 
 away all the premiums there that were of any value to any- 
 body. But then it will be observed that the " Committee 
 of Judges" of this show were my "friends." And, at 
 that time, the competition had got to be such that all the 
 dealers acted upon the general democratic principle of going 
 "for the greatest good of the greatest number." In my 
 case, I considered the " greatest number " Number One ! 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY'S SECOND SHOW. 
 
 In the month following, to wit, on the 12th, 13th and 
 14th of November, 1850, the second annual exhibition of 
 the Simon Pure Society with the extended title was held 
 at the Public Garden, in Boston. 
 
 No premiums were offered by the society this year, and 
 there was n't much to labor for. I was a contributor, and I 
 believe I was elected a member of the Committee of Judges 
 that year. How, I did not know. At any rate, I wrote 
 the published Report upon the exhibition. A Mr. Sanford 
 Howard was chairman of this committee, if I remember 
 rightly ; and though undoubtedly a very respectable and 
 well-meaning man (if he had not been so, he would n't have 
 been placed on a Committee of Judges with me, I imagine), 
 this Mr. Howard knew positively nothing whatever in 
 regard to the merits or faults of poultry generally. He 
 had acquired some vague notions about what he was pleased 
 to term "crested" fowls, and five- toed, white-legged, white- 
 plumed, white-billed, white-bellied Dorkings, — of which 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVEK. 59 
 
 he conversed technically and learnedly ; but as to his 
 knowledge of the different varieties and breeds of domestic 
 poultry then current, and their characteristics, it "was evi- 
 dently warped and very limited. 
 
 But Mr. Howard had been connected for some months 
 with a small monthly publication in New York State, and, 
 like myself, I presume, among the board (God knows who 
 they were, but I don't, and never did!) who originally 
 chose this " Committee," he had "a friend at court," and 
 was made chairman of the committee too, — koia, I never 
 knew, either. 
 
 In their Report, the Committee observe, again, that 
 " never in this country, if in the world, was there collected 
 together so large a number of domestic fowls and birds as 
 were sent to this exhibition, probably ; and, though the 
 most liberal arrangements were made in advance, it was 
 found that the accommodations, calculated for ten thousand 
 specimens, were entirely insufficient. The Committee 
 merely allude to this fact to show the actual extent of this 
 enterprise, and the importance which the undertaking 
 has assumed, in a single year from the birth of the 
 Association. 
 
 "According to the records of the Secretary, there were 
 contributed to the Society's exhibition of 1850 some four 
 hundred and eighty coops and cages. There were in all 
 over three hundred and fifty contributors ; in addition to 
 
60 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 which about forty coops, containing some six hundred fowls, 
 were sent to the Garden and received on exhibition upon 
 the two last days of the Show; and which could not be 
 recorded agreeably with the regulations made originally. 
 
 " The palpable improvement in the appearance of the 
 fowls exhibited in 1850, as compared with the samples 
 shown in 1849, offers ample encouragement to breeders for 
 further and more extended efforts ; and your Committee 
 would urge it upon those who have already shown them- 
 selves competent to do so much, to go on and effect still 
 greater jirogress in the improvement of the poultry of New 
 England." 
 
 This Report (the second of the series) did my stock ample 
 justice, I have not a doubt. I wrote it myself, and in- 
 tended that it should do so. The text was in nowise 
 changed when printed, and a reference to the document 
 (for that year) will convince the skeptical— if any exist — 
 whether I was or was not acquainted with adjectives in the 
 superlative degree ! 
 
 A very singular occurrence took place about this time, 
 the basis of which I did not then, and have never since, 
 been able to comprehend, upon any principles of philoso- 
 phy, economy, business, benevolence, or even of sanity. But 
 I am not very clear-headed. 
 
 In the addenda to my Report (above named) there ap- 
 peared the anexed statement, by somebody : 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 61 
 
 "The Trustees refer to the following with mixed pride 
 and pleasure ; the munificence and motive of the gift are 
 most creditable. A voluntary kindness such as that of 
 Mr. Smith is a very gratifying proof that the labors of the 
 Society are not regarded bj enlightened men as vain : 
 
 " Boston, 12th February, 1851. 
 
 "G. W. Smith, Esq. 
 
 " Sir: A meeting of the Trustees of the ' New England 
 Society for the Improvement of Domestic Poultry ' was held 
 last evening, Col. Samuel Jaques, President of the Society, 
 in the chair, and a full quorum being present, when the 
 Treasurer announced the receipt of your very handsome 
 donation of one hundred and, fifty dollars in aid of the 
 Society's funds ; whereupon it was moved, and unanimously 
 agreed, that the most grateful thanks of the Society were 
 justly due to you for such a munificent testimony of your 
 desire for its prosperity ; that the Secretary communicate to 
 you the assurance of the high appreciation with which the 
 donation was received; and that its receipt, and also a 
 thankful expression of gratitude towards you, should be 
 placed on the records of the Society. 
 
 " I can only reiterate the sentiments Contained in my in- 
 structions, in which I fully and gratefully concur; and, 
 with best wishes for your long-continued welfare, 
 " I am, sir, very truly yours, 
 
 " John C. Moore, Rec. Secretary." 
 
 Now, it will be observed that this was not John Smith 
 who presented this sum, but another gentleman, and a dif- 
 ferent sort of individual altogether. He gave it (one hun- 
 dred and fifty dollars in hard cash) the full value of a nice 
 6 
 
62 THE HISTORY OF THE HE^ FEVER. 
 
 pair of niy best "pure-bred" Cochin-Chinas, without 
 flinching, without any fuss, outright, freely, u in aid of the 
 Society's funds." 
 
 Liberal, generous, benevolent, charitable, kindly Mr. 
 Smith ! You did yourself honor ! You were one of the 
 kind of men that I should very much liked to have had for 
 a customer, about those days. But, after due inquiry, I as- 
 certained that you did not keep, N or breed, poultry. You were 
 only a " friend " to the Society with the elongated name, — 
 the only friend, by the way, it ever had ! Heaven will 
 reward you, Mr. Smith, sooner or later, for your disinter- 
 estedness, but the Society never can. Be patient, however, 
 and console yourself with the reflection that he who giveth 
 to, the poor, lendeth, &c. &c. The Society with the long- 
 winded title was poor enough, and you cannot have forgot- 
 ,ten that he who casteth his bread (or money) upon the 
 waters will find it, after many days. You will find yours 
 again, I have no doubt ; but it will be emphatically " after 
 .many days." 
 
 The second show closed, the expenses of which reached 
 ;the sum of one thousand and twenty -seven dollars eighteen 
 rsents, and the receipts at which amounted to one thousand 
 : and seventy -nine dollars eighty-four cents, exclusive of the 
 .above-named donation. The Society had now a balance of 
 two hundred and two dollars sixty -six cents in hand, and it 
 went on its way rejoicing. 
 
§■ 
 
 s \wM 
 
 >s 
 
 
 THE SHANGHAE REFERRED TO IN LETTER NO. 17. (See page 80.) 
 
64 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE HEI!^ FEVER. 
 
 Col. Jaques (the first President) now " resigned his 
 commission," and Moses Kimball, Esq., was chosen in his 
 stead. I found myself once more among the Vice Presi- 
 dents, John C. Moore was elected Secretary, Dr. Eben 
 Wight was made Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and 
 H. L. Devereux became Treasurer for the succeeding year. 
 
 These officers were all " honorable men," who were thus 
 placed in position to watch each other I The delightful 
 consequences can readily be fancied. What my own duties 
 were (as Vice-President) I never knew. I supposed, how- 
 ever, that, as " one of 'em" thus elevated in official rank, 
 I was expected to do my uttermost to keep the bubble float- 
 ing, and to aid, in my humble way, to maintain the infla- 
 tion. And I acted accordingly; performing my duty " as 
 I understood it " ! 
 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE MALADY. 
 
 Immediately after this second exhibition, the sales of 
 poultry largely increased. Everybody had now got fairly 
 under "weigh in the hen-trade : and in every town, at every 
 corner, the pedestrian tumbled over either a fowl-raiser or 
 some huge specimen of unnameable monster in chicken 
 shape. 
 
 I had been busy, and had added largely to my " supe- 
 rior " stock of " pure-blooded " birds, by importations from 
 Calcutta, Hong-Kong, Canton and Shanghae, direct. In 
 two instances I sent out for them expressly, and in two 
 or three other instances I had obtained them directly from 
 on shipboard, as vessels arrived into Boston and New York 
 harbors. 
 
 I was then an officer in the Boston Custom-house, — a 
 democrat under a whig collector, — otherwise, alive skinned 
 eel in a hot frying-pan. But I found that my business had 
 got to be such that I could not fulfil my duty to Uncle 
 Sam and attend appropriately to what had now got to be 
 6* 
 
66 THE HISTORY Off 
 
 of very much greater importance to me ; and so I resigned 
 my situation as Permit Clerk at the public stores, very 
 much to the regret of everybody in and out of the Custom- 
 house, and especially those who were applicants for my 
 place ! 
 
 I had purchased a pretty estate in Melrose, and now I 
 enlarged my premises, added to my stock, and raised (dur- 
 ing the summer and fall of 1851) over a thousand fowls, 
 upon my premises. This did not begin to supply the de- 
 mands of my customers, however, or even approach it. 
 And, to give an idea of my trade at that period, I will 
 here quote a letter from one of my new patrons. It came 
 from the interior of Louisiana, in the fall of 1851. 
 
 " Geo. P. Burnham, Esq., Boston. 
 
 "lam about to embark in the raising of poultry, and 
 I hear of yourself as an extensive breeder in this line. Do 
 me the favor to inform me, by return mail, what you can 
 send me one hundred pairs of Chinese fowls for, of the 
 yellow, red, white, brown and black varieties ; the cocks to 
 be not less than eight to ten months old, and pullets ready 
 to lay ; say twenty pairs of each color. And also state how 
 I shall remit you, in case your price suits me, &c.' 
 
 I informed this gentleman that I had just what he 
 wanted (of course), and that if he would remit me a draft 
 by mail for fifteen hundred dollars — though this price was 
 really too low for them — I would forward him one hun- 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 67 
 
 dred pairs of fowls " that would astonish him. and his neigh- 
 bors." Within three weeks from the date of my reply to 
 him, I received a sight draft from the Bank of Louisiana 
 upon the Merchants' Bank, Boston, for fifteen hundred 
 dollars. I sent him such an invoice of fowls as pleased 
 him, and I have no doubt he was (as he seemed to be) per- 
 fectly satisfied that he had thus made the best trade he ever 
 consummated in the whole course of his life. 
 
 During the next spring I bred largely again, and sup- 
 plied all the best fanciers in New England and New York 
 State with stock, from which they bred continually during 
 that and the succeeding year. 
 
 In the spring of 1852 the Mutual Admiration Society 
 of hen-men got up their third show, at the Fitchburg 
 Depot (in May, I think), where a goodly exhibition came 
 off", and where there were now fowls for sale of every con- 
 ceivable color and description, good, bad, and indiiferent. I 
 contributed as usual, and, as usual, carried away the palm 
 for the best samples shown. And here was evinced some 
 of 4he shifts to which certain hucksters resorted, to make 
 "the people" believe that white was black, that they 
 originally brought this subject before the public eye, and 
 that they only possessed the pure stock then in the country. 
 
 Reverends, and doctors, and deacons, and laymen, — all 
 were there, in force. Every man cried down every other 
 man's fowls, while he as strenuously cried up his own. Upon 
 
68 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 one cage appeared a card vouching for the fact that a cer- 
 tain original Shanghae crower within it, all the way from 
 the land of the Celestials, weighed fourteen pounds and three 
 ounces, and that a hen, with him, drew nine pounds six 
 ounces (almost twenty-four pounds). When the birds were 
 weighed, the first drew ten and a half pounds, and the 
 other eight and a quarter only. This memorandum ap- 
 peared upon the box of a clergyman contributor, who had 
 understood that size and great weight only were to be the 
 criterion of merit and value thenceforward. Another con- 
 tributor boldly declared himself to be the original holder of 
 the only good stock in America. A third claimed to be the 
 father of the current movement, and had a gilded vane upon 
 his boxes which he asserted he had had upon his poultry- 
 house for five years previously. Another stated that all 
 my fowls (there shown) were bred from his stock. And 
 still another proclaimed that the identical birds which I con- 
 tributed were purchased directly of him ; he knew every 
 one of them. Finally, one competitor impudently hinted 
 that my birds actually then belonged to him, and had only 
 been loaned to me (for a consideration) for exhibition on 
 this occasion ! 
 
 When the fair closed, however, the matter was all set 
 right, as may be gathered from the following extract from 
 the official Report of the third show, of the Committee of 
 Judges, of which I was not a member : 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 69 
 
 "At this third Boston Show," says the Committee, "the 
 best and most faultless descriptions of Red and Buff Shang- 
 haes were shown by G. P. Burnham, Esq., and others. 
 And of the Cochin- Chinas, the specimens of Geo. P. Burn- 
 ham, etc., were each and all notable, and worthy of public 
 appreciation." 
 
 This was satisfactory to me, and I made the most of this 
 " werry fav'rable opinion" of the august Committee, — who 
 added the following, in their Report, in reference to the 
 action of Southern purchasers : 
 
 "It seems, from reliable information received by mem- 
 bers of the Committee, that fowls raised in New England, 
 and exported South, attain to a much larger size, and are 
 vastly more prolific, than in our colder climate. This is 
 specially so in reference to the produce of stocks recently im- 
 ported from the East, namely, the Shanghaes, Cochin-China 
 fowls, and others of larger varieties. So sensible have 
 some of the most eminent Southern breeders become that 
 such is the case, that they are annually in the habit of 
 buying their young stock from the Northern States, and 
 they find the system -profitable. In this way, New Eng- 
 land bids fair to become the supply-market, in a great 
 measure, for the South and West." 
 
 This was beautiful ! " Annually in the habit." I liked 
 that portion of it. And Southern buyers seemed to like it, 
 too, judging from the manner in which orders poured in 
 upon us, after this gentle hint from such authority ! I 
 believe that the Chinese fowls really did better in the South 
 than they did with us, this way. At least, \hope they did ! 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MY CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 By this time my correspondence with gentlemen in all 
 parts of America and Great Britain had got to be rather 
 extended. I took from the post-office from ten to twenty- five 
 or thirty letters, daily ; and amongst them were some curi- 
 ous samples of orthography, etymology, syntax, and prosody. 
 I offer the annexed specimens — of course without names or 
 dates — merely to show how the young aspirants for fame 
 (in the poultry-trade) felt, about those days ; and, also, to 
 give some idea of the progress of the fever among us, as 
 time passed by, etc. etc. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 Sm — Mr. Burnham ; 
 
 i red in Nu england poultry breeder that yu kep 
 fouls an aigs for sail, i want one duzen aigs if tha doant 
 cum tu tu mutch, ime a poor maim an carnt pa a gret 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 71 
 
 pris. wot can yu cend me a cluzen of yure best aigs for. 
 ansur by male and direck yure leter tu me tu mi dress. 
 
 Yr Respec'y, &c. 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 I am a poor clergyman, and I have some leisure, 
 which. I can devote to raising a few good fowls. If your 
 price is not too high for the rather limited contents of my 
 purse, please inform me, by return of mail, what you can 
 furnish me with pure Cochin- China eggs for. I am desirous 
 to procure a few ; and I prefer that you would select for 
 me, — in a half-dozen, say two male and four female eggs. 
 I suggest this, because I am informed that your long expe- 
 rience in this interesting branch of rural economy has 
 enabled you to decide (upon examining them) whether eggs 
 will produce cocks or pullets. Your early answer will con- 
 fer a favor on, Sir, yours, truly, 
 
 No. 3. 
 Mr. Burman : 
 
 I close you ten dolls. Cend me a doz. of your 
 Cotchen Chiny eggs rite away — cause I hav a -hen thats 
 been a setting on some stones I put under her now most a 
 week. You rote me that you would hav them about this 
 
72 THE HISTOEY Of 
 
 time, you know. Cend them by 's Express, and tell 
 
 the man who fetches them not to turn the box over, at all. 
 I want half and half — that is to say, half cock eggs, and 
 half hen eggs. You know what I mean by this. Them 
 that has the sharp ends on to one side — them 's the cocks, 
 and them that 's round and smooth at both ends — them 's 
 the hens. Forwud immediately, and mark with care 
 glass this side up — don't shake this with speed. 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 G. P. Burnham, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir : I saw your beautiful Cochin- China fowls 
 last week, in the paper, and am desirous to obtain a few 
 eggs from them, if possible. 
 
 Will they hatch under our common hens ? Or, must we 
 have the pure bloods to sit upon them ? I am a novice, 
 somewhat, in this business. I enclose you twelve dollars 
 (the price for a dozen, I believe), which please forward, at 
 your early convenience, by express, and oblige 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Friend Burnham: 
 
 Enclosed please find ten dollars for another dozen of 
 your pure Cochin-China eggs. The first ones you sent 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 73 
 
 me (from some cause) did not hatch. I have kept a hen 
 (a very good sitter, too) upon that first lot, constantly, for 
 four weeks, now — and I don't believe I shall get a chick, 
 you see ! So, please forward these now, right aicay — 
 because my hen will get tired of waiting, you know, if I 
 don't keep her right along, steady. The $10 you will 
 find within. Yours, resp'y, 
 
 P. S. Can you inform me what is good for lice on fowls ? 
 I find that my hen is covered with a million of them, now. 
 Don't forget this, please.^ 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 Sur — wen i cum to boston nex weak i want to see yure 
 poltry i am a ole hand at the bizness myself an I like to 
 see good kinds of poltry every ware, i see yurn in the 
 paper an i like them verry much can yu sel a hen without a 
 cock, i have sevral cocks now of the black dawJcin pure 
 bred and fine an i would change one of them with yu for a 
 cochon chiner hen if yu say so. answer by fust male. 
 
 Yure in haist 
 
 Mr. P. G. Barnum, } 
 
 boston. J 
 
 * After a hen had set over four weeks on her nest, I should suppose she 
 might have been thus affected ! 
 
 7 
 
74 THE HISTORY OF v 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 Dear Sir : Yours duly received. I did not suppose 
 that the price of the " Cochins " was so high — hut I must 
 have a trio of them, at any figure. I enclose you fifty 
 dollars for them, agreeably with your proposal, relying 
 upon your known good taste in selections, and upon your 
 proverbial reputation as regards the keeping only of pure 
 stock. Send them by Adams & Co.'s Express, in a roomy 
 cage. If they are prime, my neighbors will very shortly 
 order from you, I am sure. 
 
 Yours, resp'y, 
 
 No. 8. 
 Mr. Barnam : 
 
 Them two fowls I bought of you, by seeing the pictur 
 in the newspaper, and which I paid you $35 cash down 
 on the nail for, aint what they 're cracked up to be — 
 not by a long short, sir. Now, what I want you to do is 
 to sen me back my munney, or I '11 prosecute you and put 
 you in prizon for cheating people by false pertences. I was 
 so mad when I took them out of the box that I'd a good 
 mine to kill an eat em both on the spot.* I aint no hen- 
 man, I 'd have you to understan, an you can't come none 
 of this kine of nonsense over me. Sen me back my mun- 
 ney, or I '11 complain of you in tu days before a Justis of 
 
 * 0, the cannibal ! 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 75 
 
 the Peas — a friend of mine, that '11 give you Jits if you 
 air a big man. I don't keer for that. I want my munney. 
 The fowls is both sick, too. Answer this tu once, or els 
 sen me back my munney.* 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 Gr. P. BURNHAM, ESQ. : 
 
 ' I saw a cage of superb Cochin- China fowls from your 
 yard, yesterday, en route to Mobile. Can you duplicate 
 them ? If so, at what price ? I had understood that a 
 
 Mr. kept choice fowls. I visited his place, but saw 
 
 none there that seemed worth the taking away. If you can 
 send me such a trio as I saw at Adams & Co.'s, let me 
 know it immediately, and your price for them. How shall 
 I remit you ? Yours, &c. 
 
 No. 10. 
 
 Mr. Burnham : 
 
 I enclose you one hundred dollars, by check on Shoe 
 and Leather Dealers' Bank, Boston (No. 417), to your 
 order, for the fine fowls you describe in yours received this 
 day. They should be good ones, as I have no doubt they 
 are. Forward, at once, 
 
 And believe me, 
 
 Yours, 
 
 * I never heard from this customer again, and should now be glad to 
 know if he ever got his " munney " ' 
 
76 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 No. 11. 
 
 G. B. Burnham, Boston. 
 
 Sir : When I paid you $25 (twenty-five dolls.) for 
 a pair of Cochin- China chickens, according to your own 
 terms, I did not suppose you would dare to send to me 
 (whom you must know to be a judge of all kinds of poul- 
 try) a pair of Shanc/haes, instead of those I ordered ! * I 
 want none but /mre-bred fowls in my collection, nor will I 
 have them there, either. I have now a plenty of the 
 Shanghaes, and I ordered a pair of Cochin- Chinas of you. 
 Now, I want to know what you will do in this matter. 
 Will you send me a pair of Cochins, or not ? That is all 
 I want to know at present. From 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 P. S. I am a lawyer by profession ; and I submit to no 
 imposition of this sort, you may be sure. 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 g. p. burnham. 
 My Dear Sir : 
 
 The magnificent " Cochin- China " birds you for- 
 warded me last are the admiration of every one who be- 
 holds them ; and I am greatly your debtor for this superb 
 
 lot of fowls. My neighbor, Hon. Mr. M , desires me 
 
 to request you to forward him four as nearly like mine as 
 
 * Here was a " lawyer," who knew the difference between a Cochin- 
 China and a Shanghae ! 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 77 
 
 possible, and your draft on me, at sight, for the cost, will 
 be duly honored. He can afford (and is willing) to pay 
 liberally for them.* Charge him accordingly; but be care- 
 ful that you do not send him finer samples than mine are, 
 — which, by the way, I do not think possible. I enclose 
 you draft for $120, on Merchants' Bank, Boston, for your 
 bill. And am Yours, truly, . 
 
 No. 13. 
 Sir — I hav alwas heerd yu was a scamp, and now I 
 know yu are.f Them egs yu sent me was smasht all up, 
 an they was runnin' down the sides of the box. What am 
 I to do with them, sir — do yu think? Do yu spose I 've 
 gut money so plenty as to throw it way in this manner ? 
 Yu didnt put in harf meal anuf, and the hole of them was 
 spilte, besides being roten I hav no manner of dout. Now 
 if yu send me back the six dolls, that the postmaster see me 
 put into my fust letter to yu, all 's well an good. And ef 
 yu don't, see if I don't publis yu and yure caracter tu 
 the hole wurld yu infermus cheet yu. Yu'd aughter be 
 ashamed tu send a man egs that wa, anny how. So no 
 more at present tell I heer from yu. . 
 
 No. 14. 
 
 Friend Burnham : 
 
 I have heard creditable accounts of thy poultry (of 
 
 * This was the kind of gentleman I loved to fall in with, 
 t Some persons would consider this personal ! 
 
 7* 
 
78 THE HISTORY OF* 
 
 the Cochin-China variety), and I am induced from common 
 rumor to believe thee a man who dealeth justly and honor- 
 ably. I desire to procure a few of these choice fowls, if not 
 too expensive ; and will thank thee to inform me what thy 
 price is for such, at ages varying from four to eight months 
 old. Thy early reply will oblige thy friend and well- 
 wisher, 
 
 No. 15. 
 G. P. Burnham, Esq. - — Dear Sir : Send me ten trios 
 more of the Cochin- China chickens, immediately. If you 
 can put them down to $35 the trio, now, it will leave 
 me a better margin. All the others are sold, at $60 the 
 trio. Enclosed is draft on Bank of Commerce, Boston, for 
 $400. In haste, yours, 
 
 No. 16. 
 
 Sir — 
 
 I want tu get sum coshin chiney aggs, them as will 
 hatch out chickns with fethers onto the leggs an no mistaik. 
 if you got them kind yu can cend me wun dusen an i will 
 cen yu bak the munny wen the chickns is hached with feth- 
 ers onto there leggs not otherwise. If yu dont like tu cend 
 them on this turms yu can keepe 'em yureself. I bort too 
 duzsen eg in bostun an their wasnt none of em had no 
 fethers on the leg, i mene the chick' ns, wen tha was hached. 
 an I dont expek i shall be fuled no mor by no such humbugg 
 
THE HEN FEVER. • 79 
 
 by a good dele, i pade my munny for genwine aigs and I 
 donte see no reesun wy peeple isn't onnest. How could i 
 tell wether their was chickns in the egs or not ? of course 
 i cou'dn't. and i doant consider sech bissiness no bettern than 
 cheetin rite out. i bort em twict this wa, an i sharnt be 
 fuled agin arter waitin as I did both times over three 
 weeks, ef yu will plese to sen me the pure aigs abuv 
 menciond and wate tell tha hach fether leggs chickns, well 
 an good, ive no dout yu air a onnest man, cos all the 
 noospapers pufs yu. But sum of the hen traiders aint no 
 better than thaid oughter be — that's my pinion.* 
 
 Yours &c. etc. . 
 
 No. 17. 
 Mr. P. B. Burnum ; Sur, 
 
 If you hav enny of them big Cokin Shiney fowl, that 
 eat off tops of flour barils, I want sum. I gut a big 
 nufoulan dogg that ways hard onto 140 pouns, and I want 
 tu cell him, an git sum of them Cokin Shinys. This dogg 
 is a gucl dogg and dont eat much. I feed him on fish and 
 hoggs hasslits and it dont cost much to keep him. He bitt 
 a pedler's arm most off yisterday, but he woudnt be much 
 trubble to you, if you kep him chaind all the time sose he 
 couldnt bite nobody. If you will rite me what you ask for 
 yure fowls, I will inform you what I ask for my dog. I 
 dont want none nless thay can eat off tops of flour barrils, 
 
 * I would liked to have seen the dealer that could " fule " this customer 
 more than " twict." 
 
80 THE HISTOKY OF 
 
 of course. Them's the kind forme.* Anser by return 
 mail. Yours Resp'y, 
 
 No. 18. 
 
 G. P. Burnham, Esq. : 
 
 I have got a Shanghae cock weighing 15| pounds, 
 and I want a few hens to match him. Can you supply 
 me ? My crower stands three feet four inches high, and 
 his middle toe measures 7| inches in length. What do you 
 think of that ? I want six twelve-pound hens. Dr. Ben- 
 nett can supply me, I presume ; but I want pure-bred 
 stock. I have no doubt my crower will weigh eighteen or 
 nineteen pounds, at two years old ; he is now only eight 
 months old ! Let me hear from you. 
 
 Resp'y, . 
 
 No. 19. 
 Mr. Burnham: 
 
 I always took you to be a man of honor, and I sup- 
 posed you knew (if anybody did) what a Cochin- China fowl 
 was, because you imported your stock. Now, those you 
 sent me, and for which I willingly paid you $40 for the 
 three, are feathered on the legs ; this should not be, of 
 course. How is this ? They are fine, but I am certain 
 they can be nothing but mere Shanghae fowls. Let me 
 know about this, will you? Yours, &c. 
 
 * I informed this purchaser that I could send him a pair which, if they 
 " could n't eat off the tops " of his flour-barrels, I 'd warrant would eat 
 up the contents of one as quickly as he could desire ! 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 81 
 
 No. 20. 
 
 My Dear Sir : 
 
 I hardly know what to write you about the stock I 
 had of you, six months ago, for "Cochin-Chinas." That 
 they are not Cochins I feel positive, however; for one 
 half the chickens came smooth-legged, and the rest are 
 heavily-feathered on the legs ! ! I consider them only 
 Shanghaes, and now I want to know if you can send me a 
 trio of pure bloods, that you knoxo to be Cochins. If so, 
 I care nothing about price. I want blood. " Blood tells," 
 you know. Let me hear from you, and state your own 
 views in this matter. I will be governed by your advice. 
 Enclosed is ten dollars for a dozen of your " Cochin " eggs 
 — pure, you know. In haste, 
 
 Yours truly, . 
 
 No. 21. 
 Mr. Burnham. 
 
 Sir : Do you call yourself a man of honor ? I bought 
 
 one doz. Cochin-China eggs of you, for which I paid 
 
 you six dollars, cash. I set them, and I got but ten. 
 
 chickens out of them (two eggs I found rotten, in the nest). 
 
 Every one of these chicks are cocks, sir — cocks ! Now, 
 
 what the devil can / do, do you imagine, with ten cocks ? 
 
 I want to breed fowls. That is what I bought the eggs 
 
 for ; to begin right. You must have known better than 
 
 this. Anybody could have seen that these were all male 
 
82 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 eggs, /saw it, at once (I remember), but I hoped I was 
 mistaken. What do you propose to do about this ? Let 
 me know, at o?ice, without fail. In haste, 
 
 No. 22. 
 
 Sir : You may think well of the Cochin-China fowls, — I 
 donH. Those you sent me are long-legged, and there are 
 no feathers on their legs, or feet, as there ought to be. i" 
 know what a Cochin-China fowl is, too well to be deceived 
 in this way. I will keep them. You are a humbug. 
 You are welcome to the thirty dollars I paid you. I don't 
 ask you to return it. I don't want it. I can get along 
 very well without it. You need it. Keep it. Much good 
 may it do you ! In haste, 
 
 P. S. Don't you wish you may get another $30 out of 
 me, that way ? 0, yes — I guess you will — ha ! ha ! 
 
 No. 23. 
 
 Mr. Barman. Dear Sir : I see in the Poultry Books 
 that the Cotchin-China fowls lays two eggs every day,* 
 
 * " This gigantic bird," says Richai'dson, a noted English "writer, "is 
 Yery prolific, frequently laying two, and occasionally three eggs on the 
 same day!" And, in support of this monstrous assertion, he subse- 
 quently refers, as his authority for this statement (which was called in 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 83 
 
 and sometimes three a-day. I have hens that lays two 
 eggs a-day, frequenly, but I want to get the breed that 
 will lay three eggs a-day, reglar. If you have got anny 
 of the Cotchins that you know lays three eggs a-day, I 
 would like to get a few, at a fair price. I don't pay no 
 fancy prices for 'em, though. The hen fever won't larst 
 forever, I don't believe ; and then when its busted up, 
 what 's the fowls good for, even if they do lay three eggs 
 a-day? Let me hear from you, — but don't send any fowls 
 unless you are sure they lay three eggs every day ! 
 
 Yours, &c., 
 
 No. 24. 
 Mr. Burnham. — Sir : lama gentleman, and I have 
 no disposition to be fractious. I sent you twelve dollars, in 
 a letter, for a dozen "Cqtchin" eggs, and I set them. 
 After waiting twenty-three days, I found two grizzled-col- 
 ored chickens in the nest yesterday, both of them with huge 
 top-knots on their polls ! What does this mean ? Am I 
 to be swindled out of my money thus ? By return of mail 
 if you do not refund my money, if I live I will prosecute 
 
 question), to the " Rt. Hon. Mr. Shaw, Recorder of Dublin, to Mr. Wal- 
 ters, Her Majesty's poultry-keeper, and to J. Joseph Nolan, Esq., of 
 Dublin." This was, in my opinion, one of the hums of the time, and I 
 never had occasion to change that opinion. I do not believe the hen that 
 really laid two eggs in one day ever lived to do it a second time ! I have 
 heard of this thing, however. But I never knew of the instance, myself. 
 
84 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 you, if it costs me a thousand dollars. You may rely on 
 this. I am not a man to be trifled with, and I refer you to 
 
 Messrs. & , who know me ; you evidently do 
 
 not ! In haste, 
 
 [I did not reply to this spicy favor, because, if the gen- 
 tleman really was not a "fractious" man, I imagined he 
 would like his pure-bred chickens better as they grew up ; 
 and, besides, I could afford to wait for "a gentleman" to 
 cool off. I never heard from him, afterwards; and con- 
 cluded that he did n't live to carry out his laudable inten- 
 tion of expending a thousand dollars in prosecuting me ! I 
 trust that, before he departed, he became hopefully pious. 
 Peace to his manes !] 
 
 No. 25. 
 Sir : Them fouls you sent me, got the sore-hed. I gin 
 em tuppentyn and unyuns and brandy, but it want no use. 
 The poletry books sed so, and I follered the direction, and 
 it killed 'em both deader 1 n thunder, in one night ! Now 
 you 've gut my mony, and I haint narry fowls. What '11 1 
 do? Don't you think this a pooty impersition? Send me 
 another pear, to once — if you don't want Jits. 
 
 In haist, 
 
 [I sent this man " another pear" — only I did n't !] 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE OTHER SIDE OF THE QUESTION. 
 
 The foregoing are only a very few samples of hundreds 
 upon hundreds of similar letters I constantly received, for 
 nearly five years. 
 
 All the blame occasioned by careless express-men, of 
 false blood imposed upon me originally, of tardy hens, of 
 the hatching or non-hatching of eggs transported hundreds 
 of miles, of feathered legs upon chickens, or the absence 
 of them, of every species of mishap that could by any pos- 
 sibility befall the fancier and amateur, through his own 
 ignorance or errors, — every kind of mistake was charged to 
 me ! But, with a Christian meekness, I bore it all. 
 
 I was threatened with civil prosecutions, with the House 
 of Correction, the State Prison, the Penitentiary, and all 
 sorts of other punishments, for my remissness ; but I sub- 
 mitted with a quiet resignation, because " the people " were 
 so deeply engaged in this pursuit, and everybody now had 
 the fever so shockingly, that I sympathized with all man- 
 kind, and attributed these trifling ebullitions of ill-will, or 
 
86 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 raving, to the spasms caused by the prevalence and the 
 severity of the epidemic. 
 
 On the other hand, I was so often cheered on in my 
 labors of love by the kind consideration of a very different 
 sort of patrons, that I did not sink under the persecution 
 of those who would gladly have floored me, could the thing 
 have been readily accomplished. I pocketed the money of 
 my customers, however, bred good fowls, followed up the 
 trade sharply, and found myself sailing easily along, in 
 spite of the contemptible and small-fry opposition of which 
 I was continually the object. As an agreeable offset to the 
 complaints and murmurings in certain quarters, the follow- 
 ing few letters will tell their own story : 
 
 From Hon. Henry Ciay. 
 
 Ashland, 1851. 
 
 Geo. P. Burnham, Esq., Boston. 
 
 My dear Sir : I duly received your obliging letter, 
 informing me that you had sent by the Express of Messrs. 
 Adams & Co. a cage containing four fowls for me, and I 
 postponed acknowledging it until the fate of the fowls 
 should be ascertained. I have now the satisfaction to advise 
 you that they all reached here safely. 
 
 They have been greatly admired, not only for their enor- 
 mous size, but for their fine proportions and beautiful 
 plumage. I thank you, my dear sir, most cordially, for this 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 87 
 
 very acceptable present. It has been my aim, for many 
 years, to collect at this place the best improved breeds of 
 the horse, the cow, the sheep, swine and the ass — though 
 the last, not the least valuable, in this mule-raising state. 
 
 To my stock on hand your splendid Cochin-China fowls 
 will be a congenial and valuable addition ; and, if we suc- 
 ceed with them, I will take care not to monopolize the 
 benefit of them. I am greatly obliged to you, and. 
 With high respect, I am 
 
 Your obd't servant, 
 
 H. Clay. 
 
 From Gov. Geo. N e Briggs. 
 
 Pittsfield, 1851. 
 
 My Dear Sir : 
 
 The cage of Cochin-China chickens you were kind 
 enough to send, reached me in safety ; and I am much 
 obliged to you for this favor. 
 
 They are, beyond comparison, the finest domestic fowls I 
 have ever seen, and I shall breed them with such care that 
 I hope to be able to give you a good account of them in the 
 future. 
 
 They are very much liked by all who have seen them, 
 and you will please accept my thanks for your attention. 
 I am, resp'y, yours, 
 
 Geo. N. Briggs. 
 
50 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 From Hon. Daniel Webster. 
 
 Marshfield, 1851. 
 
 G. P. Burnham, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir : The coop of chickens arrived safely, and 
 are noble specimens of the Chinese fowl. You will rarely 
 meet with samples apparently so well bred, and they will 
 do any one credit. I thank you for the consignment, and 
 consider them a most valuable addition to my stock of poul- 
 try. Accept my best wishes, and believe me, dear sir, 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 Daniel Webster. 
 
 From Hon. Col. Phipps, H. B. M. Secretary. 
 
 Windsor Castle, Eng., 1853. 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 The cage of Grey Shanghae fowls intended as a present 
 from you to Her Majesty the Queen has this day been 
 received from Mr. Mitchell, of the Zoological Gardens, and 
 they have been highly admired by Her Majesty. 
 
 I have received Her Majesty's commands to assure Mr. 
 Burnham of her high appreciation of his attention ; and to 
 add that it affords another addition to the many marks of 
 good will from the citizens of the United States which the 
 Queen has received, and to which Her Majesty attaches so 
 high a value. I have the honor to be 
 
 Your ob't and humble ser't, 
 
 C. B. Phipps. 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 89 
 
 Similar documents were often received by me, from 
 friends and customers who knew how to appreciate good 
 stock ; and I have now hundreds of letters on file, of the 
 most flattering character, — from every State in the Union, 
 from England, Ireland, France, Bavaria, etc., where my 
 stock was sent, and was roundly paid for, — all of which 
 letters (with their enclosures, from time to time) served 
 amply to "balance accounts" against the few received of 
 an opposite character, and aided materially, also, to keep 
 " the subscriber " from caving in ! 
 
 Among the most friendly customers I ever had, and those 
 who bought the most liberally, — while they were the most 
 kindly in all their intercourse with me, — I must mention 
 my patrons of the South generally, but especially the buy- 
 ers in New Orleans and its vicinity. I never met with a 
 trickster amongst them, and they paid me thousands upon 
 thousands of dollars, without a word of cavil or complaint, 
 from first to last. These fanciers had long purses, and 
 are live men, with hearts "as big as a barn," so far as 
 my experience goes. 
 
CHAPTEK XIV. 
 
 "bother'em pootrums." bubble number two. 
 
 There was something tangible, and real, in the " Cochin- 
 China " fowl, — something that could be seen and realized 
 (precious little, to be sure !), but still there was something. 
 The Cochin-China hens would lay egg3 (occasionally), and 
 when they did n't breed their chickens with feathers upon 
 the legs, they came without them. If the legs were not 
 black or green skinned, they were either yellow or some 
 other color. Their plumage was either spotted and speckled, 
 or it was n't. And thus the true article, the ^we-bred 
 Cochins, could always be designated and identified, — by 
 the knowing ones, — I -presume. I studied them pretty 
 carefully, however, for five year3 ; but I never knew what 
 a u Cochin-China" fowl really was, yet ! 
 
 But when, in 1850 and '51, the " Bother 'ems ■ " begun 
 to be brought into notice, I saw at once that, although this 
 was bubble number two, it ought to have been number one, 
 decidedly. 
 
 Never was a grosser hum promulgated than this was, 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 91 
 
 from beginning to end, even in the notorious hum of the 
 hen-trade. There was absolutely nothing whatever in it, 
 about it, or connected with it, that possessed the first shade 
 of substance to recommend it, saving its name. And this 
 could not have saved it, but from the fact that nobody (not 
 even the originator of the unpronounceable cognomen him- 
 self) was ever able to write or spell it twice in the same 
 manner. 
 
 The variety of fowl itself was the Grey Chittagong, to 
 which allusion has already been made, and the first samples 
 of which I obtained from "Asa Rugg" (Dr. Kerr), of 
 Philadelphia, in 1850. Of this no one now entertains a 
 doubt. They were the identical fowl, all over, — size, 
 plumage and characteristics. 
 
 But my friend the Doctor wanted to put forth something 
 that would take better than his " Plymouth Rocks ; " and 
 so he consulted me as to a name for a brace of grey fowls 
 I saw in his yard. I always objected to the multiplying of 
 titles ; but he insisted, and finally entered them at our 
 Fitchburg Depot Show as u BurrampootersJ' all the way 
 from India. 
 
 These three fowls were bred from Asa Rugg's Grey Chit- 
 tagong cock, with a yellow Shanghae hen, in Plymouth, 
 Mass. They were an evident cross, all three of them hav- 
 ing a top-knot! But, nHmporte. They were then " Bur- 
 rampooters." 
 
92 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Subsequently, these fowls came to be called " Buram- 
 pootras," " Burram Putras," " Brama-pooters, " " Brah- 
 mas," "Brama Puters," " Brama Poutras," and at last 
 " Brahma Pootras." In the mean time, they were adver- 
 tised to be exhibited at various fairs in diiferent parts of 
 the country under the above changes of title, varied in cer- 
 tain instances as follows : " Burma Porters," " Bahama 
 Paduas," " Bohemia Prudas," " Bahama Pudras." And, 
 for these three last named, prizes were actually offered at a 
 Maryland fair, in 1851 ! 
 
 The following capital sketch (which appeared originally 
 in the Boston Carpet-Bag) is from the pen of the 
 late Secretary of the Mutual Admiration Society, — a gen- 
 tleman, and a very happy writer in his way. It gives a 
 faithful and accurate description of what many of these 
 monsters really were, and will be read with gusto by all 
 who have now come to be " posted up " in the secrets of the 
 hen-trade. 
 
 The editor of the above-named journal remarks that " as 
 our Carpet-Bag contains something connected with every- 
 thing under the sun, we have abstracted therefrom a chap- 
 ter on chicken-craft, which embraces a very important 
 detail of that most abstruse science. When our readers 
 scan the beautiful proportions of the stately fowl that roosts 
 at the head of this article, they will acknowledge that we 
 have some right to cackle because of the good fortune we 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 93 
 
 have had in securing such an une^sceptionable picture, 
 exhibiting the very perfection of cockadoodledom. Isn't 
 he a beauty, this Bother'em Pootrum? 
 
 /Wll' A 
 
 " Examine his altitude ! Observe the bold courage that 
 stands forth in his every lineament ! There is no dunghill 
 bravery there ! See what symmetry floats round every 
 detail of his noble proportions ! What kingly grace asso- 
 ciates with the comb that adorns his head as it were a crown ! 
 What fire there is in his eye ! With what proud bearing 
 
94 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 does he not wear his abbreviated posterior appendage ! 
 Looking at the latter, we, and every one knowing in hen- 
 craft, will readily exclaim, ' Gerenau de Montbeillard ! you 
 must have been a most unmitigated muff to designate that 
 beautiful fowl the gallus ecaudatus, or tailless rooster.' 
 For ourselves, our indignity teaches us to say, £ Mons. M. ! 
 your Essai sur Historie Nat. des Gallinacas Fran. torn, ii., 
 pp. 550 et 656, is a humbug ! ' We know that the univer- 
 sal world will sympathize in our sentiment on this point." 
 
 Peter Snooks, Esq. (a correspondent of this journal), it 
 appears, had the honor to be the fortunate possessor of this 
 invaluable variety of fancy poultry, in its unadulterated 
 purity of blood. He furnished from his own yard samples 
 of this rare and desirable stock for His Royal Highness 
 Prince Albert, and also sent samples to several other noted 
 potentates, whose taste was acknowledged to be unquestion- 
 able, including the King of Roratonga, the Rajah of Gabble- 
 squash, His Majesty of the Cannibal Islands, and the Mos- 
 quito King. Peter supplies the annexed description of the 
 superior properties of this variety of fowls : 
 
 " The Bother' em Pootrums are generally hatched from 
 eggs. The original pair were not ; they were sent from 
 India, by way of Nantucket, in a whale-ship. 
 
 " They are a singularly pictur-squee fowl from the very 
 shell. Imagine a crate-full of lean, plucked chickens, 
 taking leg-bail for their liberty, and persevering around 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 95 
 
 Faneuil Hall at the rate of five miles an hour, and you 
 have an idea of their extremely ornamental appearance. 
 
 " They are remarkable for producing bone, and as re- 
 markable for producing offal. I have had one analyzed 
 lately by a celebrated chemist, with the following result : 
 
 Feathers and offal, 
 
 . 39.00 
 
 Bony substances, 
 
 50.00 
 
 Very tough muscle and sinew, 
 
 . 09.00 
 
 Miscellaneous residuum, 
 
 02.00 
 
 100.00" 
 
 A peculiarly well-developed faculty in this extraordinary 
 fine breed of domestic fowls is that of eating. " A toler- 
 ably well-fed Bother' em will dispose of as much corn as a 
 
 common horse," insists Mr. S . This goes beyond me; 
 
 for I have found that they could be kept on the allowance, 
 ordinarily, that I appropriated daily to the same number of 
 good-sized store hogs. As to affording them all they would 
 eat, I never did that. O, no ! I am pretty well off, pecu- 
 niarily, but not rich enough to attempt any such fool-hardy 
 experiment as that ! 
 
 But Snooks is correct about one thing. They are not 
 fastidious or "particular about what they eat." Whatever 
 is portable to them is adapted to their taste for devouring. 
 Old hats, India-rubbers, boots and shoes, or stray socks, are 
 
96 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 not out-of-the-way fare with them. They are amazingly 
 fond of corn, especially a good deal of it. They will eat 
 wheaten bread, rather than want. 
 
 They are very inquisitive in their nature. Their habit 
 of stalking around the dwelling-house, and popping their 
 heads into the garret- windows, is evidence of this peculiar 
 trait. 
 
 Their flesh is firm and compact, and requires a great deal 
 of eating to do it justice. Like Barney Bradley's leather 
 " O-no-we-never-mention-'ems," when cut up and stewed 
 for tripe, " a fellow could eat a whole bushel of potatoes to 
 the plateful." It is of the color of a stale red herring, and 
 very much like that edible in taste. Its scarcity constitutes 
 its value. 
 
 This rara avis in terris grows to a height somewhere 
 between .00 feet .16 inches and 25 feet. Its weight 
 somewhat between .06 pounds and 1 cwt. It never 
 lays, except when it rolls itself in the sand. The female 
 fowls sometimes do that duty, though amazingly sel- 
 dom. 
 
 Mr. Snooks says he will back his Bother' em, for a chicken- 
 feast, to outcrow any three asthmatical steam-whistles that 
 any railroad company can scare up; and adds, "I am 
 ashamed of the prejudice which makes my fellow-men 
 unjust. The Fowl Society — the New England organiza- 
 tion, I mean — repudiate the special merits of my Bother' em 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 97 
 
 Pootrums, and tell me that their ideas of improvement go 
 entirely contrary to the propriety of tolerating my noble 
 breed of fowls. Disgustibus non disputandtim, as Shaks- 
 peare, or somebody for him, emphatically says, — which 
 means, ' Every one to his taste, as the old lady said when 
 she kissed the cow.' One thing it will not be hard to 
 prove, I think ; that is, simply the probability of some- 
 thing like envy operating among the members of the Hen 
 Society, on account of the exclusive attention paid my 
 Bother' ems at the late Fowl Fairs in Boston," — where the 
 'squire's contributions did rather " astonish the boys " who 
 were not thoroughly acquainted with the excellent qualities 
 of these birds. Verily, Snooks' " Bother' ems " did bother 
 'em exceedingly ! 
 9 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ADVERTISING EXTRAORDINARY. 
 
 From the outset of ray experience in the final attack of 
 the hen fever, I took advantage of every possible opportu- 
 nity to disseminate the now world-wide known fact that 
 nobody else but myself possessed any " pure-bred " poul- 
 try ! I could have proved this hy the affidavits of more 
 than a thousand "disinterested witnesses," at any time 
 after April and May, 1851, had I been called upon so to 
 do. But as no one doubted this, there was then no con- 
 troversy. 
 
 But, as time wore' along, competition became rife, and 
 the foremost chicken-raisers began to look about them for 
 the readiest means obtainable with which to cut each other's 
 throats ; not " with a feather," by any means, because that 
 would have ''smelt of the shop ; " but whenever, wherever, 
 or however, their neighbors could be traduced, maligned, 
 vilified, or injured (in this pursuit), they embraced the 
 opportunity, and followed .it up, without stint, especially 
 towards my humble self, until most of them, fortunately, 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVES. 99 
 
 broke their own backs, and were compelled to retire from 
 the field , while " the people " grinned, and comforted them 
 with the friendly assurance that it " sarved 'em right." 
 
 At the Fitchburg Depot Show, in 1850, my original 
 " Grey • Chittagongs " (already described) were in the pos- 
 session of G. W. George, Esq., of Haverhill, to whom they 
 had been sold bj the party to whom I had previously sold 
 them. Nobody thought well of them ; but they took a 
 first prize there, and the " Chittagongs " (so entered at the 
 same time) of Mr. Hatch, of Connecticut, also took a prize. 
 My friend the Doctor then insisted that these were also 
 " Burrampooters ; " but, as nobody but himself could pro- 
 nounce this jaw-cracking name, it was taken little notice of 
 at that time. 
 
 Mr. Hatch had a large quantity of the Greys at this 
 show, which sold readily at $12 to $20 the pair; and 
 immediately after this exhibition the demand for " Grey 
 Chittagongs " was very active. I watched the current of 
 the stream, and I beheld with earnest sympathy the now 
 alarming symptoms of the fever. " The people " had suf- 
 fered a relapse in the disease, and the ravages now promised 
 to become frightful — for a time ! 
 
 An ambitious sea-captain arrived at New York from 
 Shanghae, bringing with him about a hundred China fowls, 
 of all colors, grades, and proportions. Out of this lot I 
 selected a few grey birds, that were very large, and (con- 
 
100 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 sequently) " very fine," of course. I bred these, with other 
 grey stock I had, at once, and soon had a fine lot of birds 
 to dispose of — to which I gave what I have always deemed 
 their only true and appropriate title (as they came from 
 Shanghae), to wit, Grey Shanghaes. 
 
 In 1851 and '52 I had a most excellent "run of luck" 
 with these birds. I distributed them all over the country, 
 and obtained very fair prices for .them ; and, finally, the 
 idea occurred to me that a present of a few of the choicest 
 of these birds to the Queen of England would n't prove a 
 very bad advertisement for me in this line. I had already 
 reaped the full benefit accruing from this sort of " disinter- 
 ested generosity " on my part, toward certain American 
 notables (whose letters have already been read in these 
 pages), and I put my newly-conceived plan into execution 
 forthwith. 
 
 I then had on hand a fine lot of fowls, bred from my 
 "imported" stock, which had been so much admired, and 
 I selected from my best "Grey Shanghae" chickens nine 
 beautiful birds. They were placed in a very handsome 
 black-walnut-framed cage, and after having been duly 
 lauded by several first-rate notices in the Boston and New 
 York papers, they were duly shipped, through Edwards, 
 Sanford & Co.'s Transatlantic Express, across the big pond, 
 addressed in purple and gold as follows : 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 101 
 
 TO H. M. G. MAJESTY, 
 
 \ QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 I To be Delivered at Zoological Gardens, 
 
 i LONDON, ENG. 
 
 | FROM GEO. P. BURNHAM, BOSTON, MASS., U. S. A. 
 
 The fowls left me in December, 1852. The London 
 Illustrated News of January 22d, 1853, contained the fol- 
 lowing article in reference to this consignment : 
 
 ' ' By the last steamer from the United States, a cage of 
 very choice domestic fowls was brought to Her Majesty 
 Queen Victoria, a present from George P. Burnham, Esq., 
 of Boston, Mass. The consignment embraced nine beauti- 
 ful birds — two males and seven pullets, bred from stock 
 imported by Mr. Burnhamtdirect from China. The fowls 
 are seven and eight months old, but are of mammoth pro- 
 portions and exquisite plumage — light silvery-grey bodies, 
 approaching white, delicately traced and pencilled with 
 black upon the neck-hackles and tips of the wings and 
 tails. The parent stock of these extraordinary fowls weigh 
 at maturity upwards of twenty-three pounds per pair; 
 while their form, notwithstanding this great weight, is 
 unexceptionable. They possess all the rotundity and 
 beauty of the Dorking fowl ; and, at the same age, nearly 
 double the weight of the latter. They are denominated 
 Grey Shanghaes (in contradistinction to the Red or Yellow 
 Shanghaes), and are considered in America the finest of 
 all the great Chinese varieties. That they are a distinct 
 race, is evident from the accuracy with which they 
 9* 
 
102 THE HISTORY OE 
 
 breed, and the very close similarity that is shown 
 amongst them ; the whole of these birds being almost 
 precisely alike, in form, plumage and general charac- 
 teristics. They are said to be the most prolific of all the 
 Chinese fowls. At the time of their shipment, these birds 
 weighed about twenty pounds the pair." 
 
 This was a very good beginning. In another place (see 
 page 88) I have given a copy of the letter from Hon. Col. 
 Phipps, her Majesty's Secretary of the Privy Purse, 
 acknowledging the receipt of this present. A few weeks 
 afterward, the London News contained a spirited original 
 picture of seven of the nine Grey Shanghae fowls which I 
 had the honor to forward to Queen Victoria. The draw- 
 ing was made by permission of the Queen, at the royal 
 poultry-house, from life, by the celebrated Weir, and the 
 engraving was admirably executed by Smythe, of London. 
 The effect in the picture was capital, and the likenesses 
 very truthful. In reference to these birds, the News has 
 the following : 
 
 "Grey Shanghae Fowls for Her Majesty. — In the 
 London Illustrated News for January 22d, we described a 
 cage of very choice domestic fowls, bred from stock imported 
 by Mr. George P. Burnham, of Boston, Mass., direct from 
 China, and presented by him to Her Majesty. "We now 
 engrave, by permission, these beautiful birds. They very 
 closely resemble the breed of Cochin- Chinas already 
 introduced into this country, the head and neck being the 
 same ; the legs are yellow and feathered ; the carriage very 
 similar, but the tail being more upright than in the gener- 
 
THE HEN FEVEK. 103 
 
 ality of Cochins. The color is creamy white, slightly 
 splashed with light straw-color, with the exception of the 
 tail, which is black, and the hackles, which are pencilled 
 with black. The egg is the same color and form as that of 
 the Cochins hitherto naturalized in this country. These 
 fowls are very good layers, and have been supplying the 
 royal table since their reception at the poultry-house, at 
 Windsor." 
 
 All this "helped the cause along" amazingly. It 
 proved a most excellent mode of advertising my " superb," 
 "magnificent," "splendid," "unsurpassable," "inap- 
 proachable" Gkey Shanghaes. 
 
 The above articles found their way (somehow or other) 
 into the papers of this country immediately ; and, within 
 sixty days afterwards, the price of "Bother' ems" went 
 up from $12 and $15 to $50, $75, $100, and $150, the 
 pair ! ! 
 
 " Cochin-Chinas " were now wowhar ! But I" was so as 
 to be about yet. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HEIGHT OF THE FEVER. 
 
 While this cage of Grey Shanghaes stood for an hour 
 or two in the express-office of Adams & Co., in Boston, a 
 servant came from the Revere House to inform me that " a 
 gentleman desired to see me there, about some poultry." 
 
 As I never had had occasion to run round much after my 
 customers, and, moreover, as I felt that the dignity of the 
 business — (the dignity of the hen-trade !) — might possi- 
 bly be compromised by my responding in person to this 
 summons, I directed the servant to "say to the gentleman, 
 if he wished to see me, that I should be at my office, No. 
 26 "Washington-street, for a couple of hours, — after that, 
 at my residence in Melrose." 
 
 The man retired, and half an hour afterwards a car- 
 riage stopped before my office-door. The gentleman was 
 inside. He invited me to ride with him — (I could afford 
 to ride with him) — to Adams & Co.'s office. He had seen 
 the " Grey Shanghaes " intended for the Queen there. 
 
 " I want that cage of fowls," he said. 
 
THE HISTORY OP THE HEN FEVER. 105 
 
 " My dear sir," I replied, " they are going to England." 
 
 " I want them. What will you take for them ? " 
 
 " I can't sell them, sir." 
 
 " You can send others, you know." 
 
 " No, sir. I can't dispose of these, surely." 
 
 " Can you duplicate this lot ? " 
 
 " Pretty nearly — perhaps not quite." 
 
 " I see," he continued. " I will give you two hundred 
 dollars for them." 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " Three hundred — come ! " 
 
 " I can't sell them." 
 
 " Will you take four hundred dollars for the nine chick- 
 ens, sir ? " he asked, drawing his pocket-book in presence 
 of a dozen witnesses. 
 
 I declined, of course. 1 couldn't sell these identical 
 fowls ; for I had an object in view, in sending them abroad, 
 which appeared to me of more consequence than the amount 
 offered — a good deal. 
 
 "Will you name a price for them?" insisted the 
 stranger. 
 
 I said, "No, sir — excuse me. I would not take a 
 thousand dollars for these birds, I assure you. Their 
 equals in quality and number do not live, I think, to-day, 
 in America ! " 
 
 " I won't give a — a — thousand dollars, for them," he 
 
106 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 said, slowly. " No, I won't give that f " and we parted. 
 Yet, I have no doubt, had I encouraged him with a prospect 
 of his obtaining them at all, he would have given me a 
 thousand dollars for that very cage of fowls ! To this 
 extent did the hen fever rage at that moment. 
 
 I subsequently sent this gentleman two trios of my grey 
 chickens, for which he paid me $200. 
 
 And now the Grey Shanghae trade commenced in ear- 
 nest. Immediately after the announcements were made 
 (which I have quoted) orders poured in upon me furiously 
 from all quarters of this country, and from Great Britain. 
 Not a steamer left America for England, for months and 
 months, on board of which I did not send more or less of 
 the "Grey Shanghaes." From every State in the Union, 
 my orders were large and numerous ; and letters like the 
 following were received by me almost every day, for months : 
 
 " G. P. Buenham. 
 
 " Sir : I have just seen the pair of superb Grey Shang- 
 hae fowls which you sent to Mr. , of this city, 
 
 and I want a pair like them. If you can send me better 
 ones, I am willing to pay higher for them. He informs me 
 that your price per pair is forty dollars. I enclose you 
 fifty dollars ; do the best you can for me, but forward 
 them at once, — don't delay. Yours, &c, 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 107 
 
 t 
 
 I almost always had " better ones." That was the kind 
 I always kept behind, or for my own use. I rarely sent 
 away these better ones until they cried for 'em ! I 
 always had a great many of the " best " ones, too ; which 
 were even better than those "better" ones for which the 
 demand had come to be so great ! 
 
 Strange to say, everybody got to want better ones, at 
 last ; and, finally, I had none upon my premises but this 
 very class of birds — to wit, the "better ones." To be 
 sure, I reserved a very feio pairs of the best ones, which 
 could be obtained at a fair price ; but these were the ones 
 that would "take down" the fanciers, occasionally, who 
 wanted to beat me w T ith them at the first show that came 
 off. But I did n't sleep much over this business. I always 
 had one cock and three or four hens that the boys did n't 
 see — until we got upon the show-g*round. Ha, ha ! 
 
 A stranger called at my house, one Sunday morning, 
 just as I was ready with my family for church. He 
 apologized for coming on that day, but could n't get away 
 during the week. He had never seen the Grey Shang- 
 haes — did n't know what a Chinese fowl was — had no 
 idea about them at all. He wanted a few eggs — heard 
 I had them — wouldn't stop but a moment — saw that 
 I was just going out, &c. &c. He sat down — was sorry 
 to trouble me — wouldn't do so again — would like just 
 to take a peep at the fowls — when, suddenly, as he 
 
108 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 
 I DON'T WANT ANY EGGS NO!" (See page 100.) 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 109 
 
 sat with his back close to the open window, my old crower 
 sent forth one of those thundering, unearthly, rolling, gut- 
 tural shrieks, that, once heard, can never be forgotten ! 
 
 The stranger leaped from his chair, and sprang over his 
 hat, as he yelled, 
 
 "Good God! what's^?" 
 
 His face was as white as his shirt-bosom. 
 
 " That 's one of the Grey Shanghaes, crowing," I replied. 
 
 " Crow ! I beg your pardon," he said; " I don't want 
 any eggs — no ! I '11 leave it to another time. I — a — I 
 could n't take 'em now ; won't detain you — good-morning, 
 sir," he continued; and, rushing out of my front door, he 
 disappeared on "a dead run," as fast as his legs could carry 
 him. And I don't know but he is running yet. He was 
 desperately alarmed, surely ! 
 
 I was so amused at this incident, that I was in a precious 
 poor mood to attend church that morning. And when my 
 friend the minister arose at length, and announced for his 
 text that "the wicked flee when no man pursueth," those 
 words capped the climax for me. 
 
 I jammed my handkerchief into my mouth, until I was 
 nearly suffocated, as I thought of that wicked fellow who 
 had just been so frightened while in the act of attempting 
 to bargain for fancy hen's eggs on the Sabbath ! 
 
 A Western paper, in alluding to the fever, about this 
 period, observed that "this modern epidemic has shown 
 10 
 
110 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 itself in our vicinity within a short time, and is characterized 
 by all the peculiarities which have marked its ravages else- 
 where. Some of our most valuable citizens are now suffer- 
 ing from its attacks, and there is no little anxiety felt for 
 their recovery. The morning slumbers of our neighbors 
 are interrupted by the sonorous and deep-toned notes of our 
 Shanghae Chanticleer, and various have been the inquiries 
 as to how he took ' cold' and what we gave him for it. 
 ' Chittagongs ' and ' Burma Porters ' are now as learnedly 
 discussed as ' Fancy Stocks ' on change. 
 
 The N. Y. Scientific American stated, at this time, that 
 the " Cochin-China fowl fever was then as strong in Eng- 
 land as in some parts of New England, — in fact, stronger. 
 One pair exhibited there was valued at $700. What a 
 sum for a hen and rooster ! The common price of a pair 
 is $100," added this journal ; and still the trade continued 
 excellent with me. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 RUNNING IT INTO THE GROUND. 
 
 There now seemed to be no limit whatever to the prices 
 that fanciers would pay for what were deemed the best sam- 
 ples of fowls. For my own part, from the very commence- 
 ment I had been considerate and merciful in my charges. 
 True, I had been taken down handsomely by a Briton (in 
 my original purchase of Cochin-Chinas), but I did not 
 retaliate. I was content with a fair remuneration ; my 
 object, principally, was to disseminate good stock among 
 " the people," for I was a democrat, and loved the dear 
 people. 
 
 So I charged lightly for my "magnificent" samples, 
 while other persons were selling second and third rate stock 
 for five or even six and eight dollars a pair. The "Grey 
 Shanghaes" had got to be. a "fixed fact" in England, as 
 well as in this country, and still I was Hooded with orders 
 continually. 
 
 I obtained $25, $50, $100 a pair, for mine ; and one 
 gentleman, who ordered four greys, soon after the Queen's 
 
112 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 stock reached England, paid rne sixty guineas for them — 
 $150 a pair. But these were of the better class of birds to 
 which I have alluded. 
 
 In 1852 a Boston agricultural journal stated that 
 "within three months extra samples of two-year-old fowls, 
 of the large Chinese varieties, have been sold in Massachu- 
 setts at $100 the pair. Several pairs, within our own 
 knowledge, have commanded $50 a pair, within the past 
 six months. Last week we saw a trio of White Shanghaes 
 sold in Boston for $45. And the best specimens of Shang- 
 haes and Cochin-China fowls now bring $20 to $25 a pair, 
 readily, to purchasers at the South and West." 
 
 Now, these prices may be looked upon by the uninitiated 
 as extraordinary. So they were for this country. But at 
 a Birmingham (Eng.) show, in the fall of 1852, a single 
 pair of " Seabright Bantams," very small and finely 
 plumed, sold for $125; a fine "Cochin-China" cock and 
 two hens, for $75: and a brace of "White Dorkings." at 
 $40. An English breeder went to London, from over a 
 hundred miles distant, for the sole purpose of procuring a 
 setting of Black Spanish eggs, and paid one dollar for each 
 egg. Another farmer there sent a long distance for the 
 best Cochin-China eggs, and paid one dollar and fifty cents 
 each for them, at this time ! 
 
 This was keeping up the rates with a vengeance, and 
 beat us Yankees, out and out. But later accounts from 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 113 
 
 across the water showed that this was only a beginning, 
 even. In the winter of 1852 the Cottage Gardener 
 stated that "within the last few weeks a gentleman near 
 London sold a pair of Cochin-China fowls for 30 guineas 
 ($150), and another pair for 32 guineas ($160). He has 
 been offered <£20 for a single hen ; has sold numerous 
 eggs at 1 guinea ($5) each, and has been paid down for 
 chickens just hatched 12 guineas ($60) the half-dozen, to 
 be delivered at a month old. One amateur alone had paid 
 upwards of X100 for stock birds." 
 
 To this paragraph in the Gardener the Bury and 
 Norwich Post added the following : "In our own neigh- 
 borhood, during the past week, we happen to know that a 
 cock and two hens (Cochin-Chinas) have been sold for 32 
 guineas, or $160. The fact is, choice birds, well bred, of 
 good size and handsome plumage, are now bringing very 
 high prices, everywhere ; and the demand (in our own 
 experience) has never been so great as at the present 
 time." 
 
 In this way the fever raved and raged for a long year 
 or more. Shows were being held all over this country, as 
 well as in every principal city and town in England. 
 Everybody bought fowls, and everybody had to pay for 
 them, too, in 1852 and 1853 ! 
 
 In a notice of one of the English shows in that year 
 (1853), a paper says : " There is a pen of three geese 
 10* 
 
114 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 weighing forty-eight pounds ; and among the Cochin-China 
 birds are to be found hens which, in the period that forms 
 the usual boundary of chicken life, have attained a weight 
 of seven or eight pounds. Of the value of these birds it is 
 difficult to speak without calling forth expressions of incre- 
 dulity. It is evident that there is a desperate mania in 
 bird-fancying, as in other things. Thus, for example, there 
 is a single fowl to which is affixed the enormous money 
 value of 80 guineas ; two Cochin-China birds are estimated 
 at 25 guineas ; and four other birds, of the same breed, a 
 cock and three hens, are rated in the aggregate at 60 guin- 
 eas, — a price which the owner confidently expects them to 
 realize at the auction-sale on Thursday. A further illus- 
 tration of this ornithological enthusiasm is to be found in 
 the fact that, at a sale on Wednesday last, one hundred and 
 two* lots, comprising one hundred and ten Cochin-China 
 birds, all belonging to one lady, realized <£869. 4s. 6d. ; the 
 highest price realized for a single one being 20 guineas." 
 
 Another British journal stated, a short time previously, 
 that "a circumstance occurred which proves that the Co- 
 chin-China mania has by no means diminished in intensity. 
 The last annual sale of the stock of Mr. Sturgeon, of Greys, 
 has taken place at the Baker-street Bazaar. The two hun- 
 dred birds there disposed of could not have realized a less 
 sum than nearly .£700 (or $3500), some of the single 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 115 
 
 specimens being knocked down at more than ,£12, and very 
 many producing £4, £5, and £6 each." 
 
 The attention, at this sale, devoted to the pedigree of the 
 birds, was amusing to a mere observer ; one fowl would be 
 described as a cockerel by Patriarch, another as a pullet 
 by Jerri/, whilst a third was recommended as being the off- 
 spring of Sam. Had the sale been one of horses, more care 
 could hardly have been taken in describing their pedigrees 
 or their qualifications. Many were praised by the auction- 
 eer as being particularly clever birds, although in what 
 their cleverness consisted did not appear. The fancy had 
 evidently extended to all ranks in society. The peerage 
 sent its representatives, who bought what they wanted, re- 
 gardless of price. Nor was the lower house without its 
 delegates ; a well-known metropolitan ex-member seems to 
 have changed his constituency of voters for one of Cochins ; 
 and we can only hope that it may not be his duty to hold 
 an inquest on any that perish by a violent or unnatural 
 death. The sums obtained for these birds depended on 
 their being in strict accordance with the then taste of the 
 fancy. They were magnificent in size, docile in behavior, 
 intelligent in expression, and most of them were very finely 
 bred. 
 
 And while the hen fever was thus at its height, almost, in 
 England, we were following close upon the footsteps of 
 John Bull in the United States. At the Boston Fowl 
 
116 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Show in 1852, three Cochin-Chinas were sold at $100 ; 
 a pair of Grey Chittagongs, at $ 50 ; two Canton Chinese 
 fowls, at $80 ; three Grey Shanghae chicks, at $75 ; 
 three White Shanghaes, at $65 ; six White Shanghae 
 chickens, $40 to $45, etc. ; and these prices, for similar 
 samples, could have been obtained again and again. 
 
 At this time there was found an ambitious individual, 
 occasionally, who got "ahead of his time," and whose laud- 
 able efforts to oustrip his neighbors were only checked by 
 the natural results of his own superior "progressive" 
 notions. A case in point : 
 
 "Way down in Lou'siana," for instance, a correspondent 
 of mine stated that there lived one of these go-ahead fellows, 
 who had been afflicted with a serious attack of hen fever, 
 and who was not content with the ordinary speed and pro- 
 lificness in breeding of the noted Shanghae fowls. He 
 desired to possess himself of the biggest kind of a pile of 
 chickens for the rapidly augmenting trade ; and so he had 
 constructed an Incubator, of moderate dimensions, into 
 which he carefully stowed only three hundred nice fresh 
 eggs, from his fancy fowls. 
 
 The secret of his plan to "astonish the boys" was lim- 
 ited to the knowledge of only two or three friends ; and — 
 thermometer in hand — he commenced operations. With 
 close assiduity and Job-like patience, our amateur applied 
 himself to his three weeks' task, by day and night, and at 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 117 
 
 the end of fifteen days, one egg was broken, and Mr. 
 Shanghae was thar, — alive and kicking, but as yet imma- 
 ture. 
 
 The neighborhood was in the greatest excitement at this 
 prospect of success. Our friend commenced to crow 
 (slightly), and, to hasten matters, put on a leetle more 
 steam at a venture. The twenty-second day arrived, and 
 the "boys" assembled to witness the entree of three hun- 
 dred steam-hatched Shanghaes into this breathing world. 
 Our amateur was full of expectation and "fever.'' One 
 egg was broken ; another, and then another ; when, upon 
 inspection, the entire mass was found to have been thor- 
 oughly boiled ! 
 
 A desperate guffaw was heard as our amateur friend dis- 
 appeared, and his only query since has been to ascertain 
 what actual time is required to boil a certain quantity of 
 eggs at a given heat, and the smallest probable cost there- 
 of ! As far as heard from, the reply has been, say six gal- 
 lons of good alcohol, at one dollar per gallon, for three 
 hundred eggs ; time (night and clay), twenty- two days and 
 seven hours ; and the product it is generally thought would 
 make capital fodder for young turkeys, — provided said eggs 
 are not boiled too hard ! 
 
 On the subject of the diseases of poultry many learned 
 and sapient dissertations appeared about these days. In one 
 agricultural journal we remember to have met with the fol- 
 
118 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 lowing scientific prescription. The learned writer is talking 
 about roup in fowls, and says : 
 
 " This is probably a chronic condition,, the result of fre- 
 quent colds. Give the following medicines : Aconite, if 
 there is fever, hepar-suliphuris third trituration, or mer- 
 cury, third trituration, for a day or two, once in three or 
 four hours ; then jpidsatilla tincture for the eyes ; antinio- 
 nium, third trituration or arsenic, or mix vomica, for the 
 crop." 
 
 Is n't this clear, reader ? How many poultry- raisers in 
 the United States are there who ayouM be likely to compre- 
 hend one line of this stuff? We advise this writer to try 
 again ; the above is an " elegant extract," verily ! 
 
 We now come down to the fourth and last exhibition in 
 Boston of the Mutual Admiration Society, alias the Asso- 
 ciation with the long-winded cognomen, which took place in 
 September, 1852. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ONE OF THE FINAL KICKS. 
 
 I was chosen by somebody (who will here permit me to 
 present them my thanks for the honor) as one of the judges 
 to decide upon the merits of the birds then to be exhibited : 
 and my colleagues on this Committee were Dr. J. C. Ben- 
 nett, and Messrs. Andrews, Balch and Fussell. 
 
 On the morning of the opening of this show the names 
 of the judges were first announced to the contributors. 
 Immediately there followed a "hullabaloo" that would 
 have done credit to any bedlam, ancient or modern, ever 
 heard or dreamed of. The lead in this burst of rebellion 
 amongst the hitherto " faithful " was taken by one promi- 
 nent member, who announced publicly, then and there, that 
 the selection of the judges was an infamous imposition. 
 They were incompetent, dishonest, prejudiced, calculating, 
 speculative, ambitious competitors. Moreover, that it had 
 all been "contrived by that damned Burnham, who would 
 rob a church-yard, or steal the cents off the eyes of his dead 
 uncle, any time, for the price of a hen." 
 
120 THE HISTORY 0¥ 
 
 These were the gentleman's own expressive words. He 
 added that he could stand anything in the hen-trade but 
 this. This, however, he would not submit to. Burnham 
 should be kicked out of that Committee, or he would kick 
 himself out of his boots, and the Society's traces also; — a 
 threat which did not seem to alarm or disturb anybody, " as 
 I knows on," except this same tall, stout, athletic, brave, 
 honorable, honest, truthful, smart, gentlemanly member of 
 this Mutual Admiration Society ! 
 
 Now, it was very well known, at this time, that the Com- 
 mittee of Judges had been chosen entirely without their own 
 knowledge. So far as I was myself concerned, I should 
 greatly have preferred at that time to have remained an out- 
 sider, because it would have then been quite as well for me 
 to have contributed to the exhibition, where, with the 
 " splendid specimens " I then possessed of the Cochin- China 
 and Shanghae varieties of fowl, I could have knocked all 
 the others " higher than a fence " in that show, as I had 
 done in all the previous exhibitions where I had ever com- 
 peted with the boys. 
 
 But the same power which had formed the Committee of 
 Judges also provided that they must not be competitors. 
 Thus, three or four of those persons who had at the pre- 
 vious exhibitions of this Society been the most extensive 
 contributors, — men who had bred by far the largest assort- 
 ments and quantities of good fowls up to this period, and 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 121 
 
 who had till now paid ten or twenty dollars for one 
 (compared with any other of the members) toward the 
 good of the association, and in the furtherance of its 
 objects, — these men were made the judges, and were cut 
 off as contributors. I was satisfied, however, because I 
 saw that the framing of the Report of this show would 
 fall to my lot again ; and I had no doubt that, under 
 these circumstances, I could afford to be " persecuted " for 
 the time being. 
 
 It is not in my nature to harm anybody ; and those 
 who are personally acquainted with me, know that I am 
 constitutionally of a calm, retiring, meek, religious turn 
 of mind. My aim in life is to " do unto others as I 
 would have others do unto me." I " love my neighbor " 
 (if he does n't permit his hens to get into my garden) 
 "as myself." And, "if a man smite me upon one 
 cheek, I turn to him the other also," immediately, if not 
 sooner. I never retaliate upon an enemy or an opponent 
 — until I make sure that I have him where the hair is 
 short. 
 
 I once knew of an extraordinary instance of patience 
 that taught me a powerful lesson in submissiveness. It 
 occurred in a "Western court, where the judge (a most ex- 
 emplary man, I remember) sat for two mortal days quietly 
 listening to the arguments of a couple of contending law- 
 yers in reference to the construction they desired him to 
 11 
 
# 
 
 122 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 assume in regard to a certain act of the Legislature of that 
 State. When the two legal gentlemen had u thrown them- 
 selves," in this long and wearying debate, for forty-eight 
 hours, his Honor cut off the controversy by remarking, very 
 quietly, 
 
 " Gentlemen, this law that you have been speaking of 
 has been repealed /" 
 
 I thought of this circumstance, and I permitted the hen- 
 men to gas, to their hearts' content. When they got through 
 with their anathemas, their spleen, and their stupidity, I 
 informed them that the " Committee " had unanimously left 
 to my charge the writing of the Report of that Exhibi- 
 tion. 
 
 From that moment, up to the hour when the Report was 
 published, I never suspected (before) that I had so many 
 friends in this world ! 
 
 The fear that seemed to pervade every mind present was, 
 that I should probably do precisely what they would have 
 done under similar circumstances, — to wit, take care of 
 myself. 
 
 I had no fowls in this exhibition ; but there were present 
 numerous specimens bred from my stock, that were very 
 choice (so every one said), and which commanded the 
 highest prices during the show. 
 
 There were several {Southern gentlemen present, who 
 bought (and paid roundly for them, too) some of the best 
 
• THE HEN FEVER. 123 
 
 fancy-birds on sale. It was astonishing how much some of 
 those buyers did know about the different breeds of Chinese 
 fowls there ! Yes, it certainly was astounding ! I think I 
 never saw before so much real, downright bona fide knowl- 
 edge of henology displayed as was shown by one or two 
 Southern gentlemen, then and there ; — never, in the whole 
 course of my experience ! 
 
 By reference to the next chapter, it will be seen how 
 shamefully I neglected my own interests, and how self-sacri- 
 ficing I was in the report of the Society's last kick, which, 
 as I have already hinted, the Committee left to my charge 
 to prepare. 
 
 I had no disposition (in the preparation of this document) 
 to underrate the stock of any one else, provided it did not 
 interfere with me ! And, after carefully noting down what- 
 ever seemed of importance to my well-being there, I sat 
 myself down to oblige the Committee by writing the " Re- 
 port" Of this show, which an ill-natured competitor subse- 
 quently declared was " only in favor of Burnham and his 
 stock, all over, underneath, in the middle, outside, overhead, 
 on top, on all sides, and at both ends ! " 
 
 And I believe he was right ! 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE FOURTH FOWL-SHOW IN BOSTON. 
 
 This show (in September, 1852) was the fifth exhibi- 
 tion held in Boston, but the fourth only of the Society with 
 the long name. 
 
 The Report commences with a congratulation (as usual) 
 that the association still lives, and has a being ; and, after 
 alluding to the general state of the affairs of the concern, — 
 without touching upon its financial condition, — it thus 
 proceeds : 
 
 "Your Committee would call your attention to the fact 
 that among the numerous fowls exhibited this season, — as 
 upon former occasions, — a very unnecessary practice seems 
 to have obtained, in the mis-naming of varieties. Cross- 
 bred fowls have been called by original cognomens, unknown 
 to practical breeders ; and a host of birds Well known to the 
 Committee, as well as to poulterers generally, have been 
 denominated by any other than their real and universally 
 conceded ornithological titles. This savors of bad taste ; it 
 leads to ridicule among strangers who visit our shows from 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 125 ■ 
 
 abroad ; and should not be sanctioned by your Society. 
 Errors may creep in among your transactions, in this par- 
 ticular, and many honest, careful breeders may be deceived ; 
 but the multiplying of unpronounceable and meaningless 
 names for domestic foAvls is entirely uncalled for ; and 
 your committee recommend a close adherence, hereafter, to 
 recognized titles only. 
 
 " In this connection, it may be proper to allude to a case 
 in point. The largest and unquestionably one of the finest 
 varieties of domestic fowls ever shown among us was en- 
 tered by the breeders of this variety as the ' Chittagong ; ' 
 other coops of the same stock were labelled ' Grey Chitta- 
 gongs ; ' others were called ' Bramah Pootras ; ' and others, 
 ' Grey Shanghae ' and ' Malays.' 
 
 " Tour Committee are divided in opinion as to what these 
 birds ought, rightfully, to be called, — though the majority 
 of the Committee have no idea that ' Bramah Pootra ' is 
 their correct title. That they are not 'Malays' is also 
 quite as clear. Several of the specimens are positively 
 known to have come direct from Shanghae ; and none are 
 known to have come originally from anywhere else. 
 Nevertheless, it has been thought proper to leave this 
 question open, for the present ; and the Committee, believ- 
 ing that this fowl originates in and hails directly from the 
 East, are content to accept for them the title of ' Grey 
 Shanghae,' 'Chittagong,' or 'Bramah Pootra,' as different 
 11* 
 
126 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 breeders may elect, — admitting, at the same time, that they 
 are really a very superior bird, and believing that if care- 
 fully bred they may be found decidedly the most valuable 
 among all the large Chinese breeds, of which they are 
 clearly a good variety." 
 
 ****** 
 
 a A large sum of money was expended at this exhibition, 
 by visitors, amateurs and breeders, — one gentleman invest- 
 ing upwards of $700 in choice fowls ; another, from the 
 South, purchasing to the amount of $350 for extra sam- 
 ples ; another bought $200 worth, etc. The highest figures 
 ever yet paid on this side of the Atlantic (for individual 
 purchases) were realized at this show. 
 
 " Samples of the China stock originally imported from 
 Shanghae were very plentiful on this occasion, and the high 
 reputation of this blood was fully sustained in the specimens 
 exhibited. Very superior fowls, bred from G. P. Burn- 
 ham's importations of Cochin-Chinas, were also numerous, 
 and were sold, in four or five instances, at the very highest 
 prices paid for any samples that were disposed of." 
 
 Among the premiums awarded to the Chinese fowls by 
 this "Committee," were the following: 
 
 " China Fowls. — To H. H. Williams, best cock and 
 two hens (of iBurnham's Canton importation), $5. To C. 
 Sampson, West Roxbury, best cock and single hen (Burn- 
 ham's Canton importation), $3. To H. H. Williams, 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 127 
 
 third prize, for same stock, $2. To C. C. Plaisted, Great 
 Falls, N. H., the Committee awarded ajirst prize, $5, for 
 ■what he called ' Hong-Kong ' fowls ; these were of Burn- 
 ham's Canton stock, also. To A. White, E. Randolph, for 
 six best chickens (Burnham's importation), $2. 
 
 " Cochin-China. — To H. H. Williams, West Roxbury, 
 best cock and two hens (splendid samples, of extraordinary 
 size and beauty), first prize, $5. To A. White, E. Ran- 
 dolph, best cock and single hen (of Burnham's importa- 
 tion), $3. To A. White, for six best chickens (Burnham's 
 
 importation), $2." 
 
 ****** 
 
 The Committee then allude to the prices which were paid 
 there for fowls, " not because they advocate the propriety 
 of keeping them up" (0, no !), "but rather to show that 
 the welfare of the Association is by no means derogating. 
 
 "The three prize Cochin- China fowls were sold for 
 $100. The two prize Grey Shanghaes, or ' Bramah Poo- 
 tras,' were sold for $50. Three chickens of the same, at 
 $50. A pair of Burnham's importation of Cochins, at $80 ; 
 another pair, at $40 ; another trio (chickens), at $40. Six 
 Black Spanish chickens (Child's), at $50. Six White 
 Shanghae chickens (Wight's), at $45. Three hens, of 
 same stock, at $50 — and several pairs and trios of other 
 varieties, at from $25 each, to $25 and $30 to $40 the 
 
 lot." 
 
 ****** 
 
128 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 At a subsequent meeting of the Trustees, Mr. George P. 
 Burnharn, on the part of the Judges at the Late exhibition 
 of the Society, presented their Report, whereupon it was 
 
 "Voted, That the Report of the Judges on the recent 
 show of poultry in the Public Garden be accepted." 
 
 And this was the end of that ball of worsted ! I rather 
 have the impression, now, — as nearly as I can recollect 
 (though my memory is somewhat treacherous in these 
 matters), but I think I sold a few fowls, just after that 
 fair. " I may be mistaken, — but that is my opinion ! " 
 
 The Heport was duly accepted, in form, and I had the 
 satisfaction of seeing my " extraordinary " and " superb " 
 stock again lauded to the very echo, at the expense of the 
 old-fogyism of the "Mutual Admiration Society." 
 
 The consequence was a renewed activity in my sales, 
 which continued delightfully lively and correspondingly 
 remunerative for several months after this exhibition, also, 
 where I did not enter the first fowl ! 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 PRESENT TO QUEEN VICTORIA. 
 
 I have already alluded to the fine Grey Shanghaes 
 •which I forwarded to Her Majesty the Queen. In relation 
 to this circumstance the Boston papers contained the fol- 
 lowing announcement, in the month of April, 1853 ; a cir- 
 cumstance which did not greatly retard the prospects of my 
 business either on this or on the other side of the water ! 
 The compliment thus paid me by Eoyalty was duly appre- 
 ciated, and its delicacy will be apparent to the reader. This 
 pictufe is the only one of its kind ever sent to an American 
 citizen. 
 
 "A Compliment from Victoria. — Some weeks ago, 
 Mr. George P. Burnham, of Boston, forwarded to Her 
 Majesty Queen Victoria a present of some Grey Shang- 
 hae fowls, which have been greatly admired in England. 
 By the last steamer Mr. Burnham received the following 
 letter from Her Majesty's Secretary of the Privy Purse, 
 accompanying a fine portrait of the Queen, sent over to 
 Mr. B. : 
 
130 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The Queen's Letter. 
 
 ( §4aAX 15, 1^53. . 
 
 " ^SDeoi.'o cTiA, : Q) acute tecem-ec) tae commcuvcK> op OXDe,% fewateitij 
 live 4s£>U/eeaj to a/i-5nAe wou/ of- «7\Bet ©'(ifccue.&tu, 6 ruaa afvh/leciationi 
 LoV toe kina naotm-e6 iwucli kilo-mjiteo iiow to to-Uu-aAo pet act aecekt- 
 cuiee trie ivuxq atuceat ' ^/Veu, Orumqaae toii>L6 u>ai.ca Ficuie been 
 ixj ntuicii oujiwko at CMSeV GylilDcue&tu/ 6 cuiujAU/ ctt ^Ia^ ww6o-V. 
 
 " CJvSeV E'l'Waxe.iiii/ aa,i accekteo, u>itlv qAeat hleci/6-uAe, ittca a 
 tTLO/Vk oj- tei-k-cci ana ^eaaAo, UVom. co citisea ot tlie. UbaLteo <L7tate6. 
 
 " q) actufij [ki, CMSe^, i3'(j(Pcu*6lu/ 6 commanfl, mUijteo in. tae 
 ' ^2-eotqe HcaVL, to iioui. ctacne6-S 5 a caJe coatcumaa/ a. k-oitA-cut o£ 
 CMSe^ 6^'Upcue6iu , " ou u>Juca tae ^^ueea- ii-oi aiAecteo ine to\teecuie&t 
 ueu/V accehtctace. 
 
 " Q) acu>-e the ko-ao4 to [>e, 
 
 " Utt, iioiii^ ol> t cuu) luunu-Le Aeitwmi, 
 
 "So <f eo. ^P. 'S8«A«£«n, J gty, 
 
 * See Frontispiece. 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 131 
 
 I caused a copy to be taken from this portrait of the 
 Queen, and have had it engraved for this book ; it appears 
 as the frontispiece. 
 
 Immediately after this paragraph appeared, a new zest 
 appeared to have been given to the Grey Shanghae trade. 
 Orders came from Canada and from Nova Scotia to a very 
 considerable amount ; and during this season my sales were 
 again very large. During the year 1853, I started and 
 raised over sixteen hundred chickens of all kinds ; but this 
 did not supply my orders. I bought largely, and paid high 
 prices, too, generally. But few persons were now doing 
 any business in the fowl-trade, except myself, however. 
 
 The N. Y. Spirit of the Times published portraits of 
 the birds sent to the Queen, and remarked that " the en- 
 graving represented six of the nine beautiful Grey Shang- 
 hae fowls lately presented to Her Majesty Victoria, Queen 
 of Great Britain, by George P. Burnham, Esq., of Bos- 
 ton, Mass. 
 
 " These birds were forwarded by one of the last month's 
 Collins steamers, in charge of Adams & Co.'s Express, 
 and passed through this city on the 24th ult. Their extraor- 
 dinary size and fine plumage were the admiration of all 
 who examined them. The picture is from life, engraved by 
 Brown, and is a faithful representation of the birds, which 
 are very closely bred. 
 
 " The color of this variety of the China fowl is a light 
 
132 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 silver-grey, approximating to white ; the body is a light 
 downy white, sparsely spotted and pencilled with metallic 
 black in the tail and wing tips ; the legs are feathered to 
 the toes, and the form is unexceptionable for a large fowl ; 
 this variety having proved the biggest of all the ' Shang- 
 haes ' yet imported into this State. 
 
 " The two cocks above delineated weighed between ten 
 and eleven pounds each at six months old ; the pullets drew 
 seven and a half to nine pounds each at seven to eight 
 months old; the original imported pair of old ones now 
 weigh upwards of twenty-three pounds, together. In the 
 existing rage for weighty birds, this variety will naturally 
 satisfy the ambition of those who go for the ' biggest kind ' 
 of fowls ! 
 
 " The group represents this variety with accuracy, and 
 are, without doubt, for their kind, rare specimens of the 
 genuine gallus giganteus of modern ornithologists. As 
 Her Majesty has long been known among the foremost 
 patrons of that agreeable branch of rural pursuits, poul- 
 try-raising, we do not doubt but that this splendid present 
 from Mr. Burnham will prove highly gratifying to her 
 tastes in this particular." 
 
 Portraits of these fowls appeared in Gleason : s Pictorial 
 for January, 1853, and the editor spoke as follows of them : 
 
 " The Grey Shanghae Fowls lately presented to Her 
 Majesty Queen Victoria, of Great Britain, by George P. 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 188 
 
 Burnham, Esq., of Boston, were extraordinary specimens 
 of domestic poultry, and were bred the past season by Mr. 
 Burnham from stock imported by him direct from China. 
 They were universally admitted, by the thousands who saw 
 them before they left, to be the largest and choicest-bred lot 
 of chickens ever seen together in this vicinity. These fowls 
 were from the same broods as those lately sent to Northby, 
 of -Aldborough, by Mr. Burnham, who is, perhaps, the 
 most successful poultry-raiser in America ; and while these 
 beautiful birds are creditable to him as a breeder, they are 
 a present really 'fit for a queen.' " 
 
 The New York journals alluded to them in flattering 
 terms, during their transit through that city on the way to 
 their destination ; and the numerous orders that crowded in 
 upon me was the best evidence of the estimation in which 
 this variety of domestic fowls was then held, as well as of 
 the determined disposition of {i the people " to be supplied 
 from my li pure-hred stock." 
 
 By one of the British steamers, in the summer of 1853, 
 the express of Edwards, Sanford & Co., took out to Europe 
 from my stock, for Messrs. Bakers, of Chelsea, Baily, of 
 London. Floyd, of HuddersSeld, Beming, of Brighton, 
 Simons, of Birmingham, and Miss Watts, Hampstead, six 
 cages of these "extraordinary" birds. The best of the 
 hens weighed nine to nine and a half pounds each, and 
 three of the cocks drew over twelve pounds each ! There 
 12 
 
134 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 were forty-two birds in all, which, together, could not be 
 equalled, probably, at that time, in America or England, 
 for size, beauty and uniformity of color. The sum paid me 
 for this lot of Greys was eight hundred and seventy dol- 
 lars, 
 
 Of the three fowls sent to Mr. John Baily (above men- 
 tioned), and which he exhibited in the fall of that year in 
 England, the following account reached me, subsequently : 
 ,. "Mr. Geo. P. Burnham, of Melrose, sent out to Eng- 
 land, last fall, to Mr. John Baily, of London, a cage of his 
 fine l Grey Shanghaes,' which were exhibited at the late 
 Birmingham Show. The London Field of Dec. 24th 
 says that ' one pair of these fowls, from Mr. Burnham, of 
 the United States, the property of Mr. Baily, of Mount- 
 street, were shown among the extra stock, and were pur- 
 chased from him, during the exhibition, by Mr. Taylor, of 
 Shepherd's Bush, at one hundred guineas' ($500) ! " 
 
 This was the biggest figure ever paid for two fowls, I 
 imagine ! Mr. Baily paid me twenty pounds sterling for 
 the trio, and I thought that fair pay, I remember. The 
 following brief account of my trade for the year of our 
 Lord 1853, I published on the last day of December of that 
 year, for the gratification of my numerous friends, and for 
 the information of ' : the people " who felt an interest in 
 this still exciting and (to me) very agreeable subject : 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 185 
 
 "Eds. Boston Daily Times: In a late number of 
 your journal you were pleased to allude to the sales of 
 live-stock made by me latterly. At the close of the pres- 
 ent year, I find upon my books the following aggregate of 
 sales for 1853, which — to show how much has been done 
 by one dealer — may be interesting to some of your readers 
 who ' love pigs and chickens.' 
 
 V I have sent into the Southern and Western States, 
 through Adams & Co.'s Express alone, from Jan. 1st to 
 Dec. 27th, 1853, a little rising $17,000 worth of Chinese 
 fowls and fancy pigs. By Edwards, Sanford & Co.'s Trans- 
 atlantic Express, in the same period, I have sent to Eng- 
 land and the continent about $2000 worth of my ' Grey 
 Shanghaes.' By Thompson and Co. and the American 
 Western Express Co., I have sent west and south-west, in 
 the same time, over $1200 worth ; and my minor cash sales 
 (directly at my yards in Melrose) have been over $1000; 
 making the entire sales from my establishment for the past 
 year nearly or quite twenty-tioo thousand dollars in value. 
 Of this amount, $7300 worth has been sold since the 10th 
 of Sept. last. 
 
 ' ' By the first steamer that leaves New York in January, 
 '54, I shall send to New Orleans (to a single customer) 
 between five and six hundred dollars' worth, ordered a few 
 days since. I have also now in hand three large orders to 
 fill for Liverpool and London, immediately ; and the present 
 
186 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 prospect is that the poultry-trade will be considerably better 
 next year than we have ever yet known it in New England. 
 Wishing you and my competitors in the trade a " Happy 
 New Year,' I am theirs and yours, truly, 
 
 " Geo. P. Burnham. 
 
 " Melrose, Bee. 80, 1853." 
 
 I have offered these statistics and facts to give some idea 
 of the amount of trade that must have been current, in the 
 aggregate^ when these isolated instances are considered, 
 and for the purpose of affording the reader an opportunity 
 to judge measurably to what an extent this fever really 
 raged. 
 
 Thousands and tens of thousands of " the people" were 
 now (or had been) engaged in this extraordinary excite- 
 ment, who were continuously humbugging themselves and 
 each other, at round cost. And when these thousands are 
 multiplied by the fives or tens, twenties or fifties, one hun- 
 dreds or five hundreds of dollars, that they invested in this 
 mania, the "prime cost" of this hum can be fancied, 
 though it can never be known with accuracy. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 EXPERIMENTS OF AMATEURS. 
 
 The newspapers of the day were now occupied with 
 speculative and actual statistics, of various kinds, relating 
 to the utility and value of poultry and its produce, and 
 every one seemed to join, in his or her way, to magnify the 
 vastness of this enterprise ; and statements like the follow- 
 ing, in respectable public journals, had the effect to increase 
 and keep up to fever-heat the state of the hen malady : 
 
 " By reference to the agricultural statistics of the United 
 States, published from reliable sources in 1850, it may be 
 seen that the actual value of poultry, in New York State 
 alone, was two millions three hundred and seventy-three 
 thousand and twenty-nine dollars ! Which was more than 
 the value of all the swine in the same state ; nearly equal 
 to one half the value of its sheep, the entire value of its 
 neat cattle, and nearly five times the value of its horses 
 and mules I " 
 
 The amount of sales of live and dead poultry in Quincy 
 Market, Boston, for the year 1848, said another paper, was 
 12* 
 
138 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 six hundred seventy-four thousand four hundred and 
 twenty-three dollars : the average sales of one dealer alone 
 amounting to twelve hundred dollars per week for the 
 whole year. The amount of sales for the whole city of 
 Boston, for the same year, was over one million of dollars. 
 The amount of sales of eggs in and around the Quincy 
 Market for 1848 was one million one hundred and twenty- 
 nine thousand seven hundred and thirty-five dozen, which, 
 at eighteen cents per dozen, makes the amount paid for eggs 
 to be two hundred three thousand three hundred and fifty- 
 two dollars and thirty cents ; while the amount of sales of 
 eggs for the whole city of Boston, for the same year, was a 
 fraction short of one million of dollars ; the daily consump- 
 tion of eggs at one of its hotels being seventy-five dozen 
 daily, and on Saturday one hundred and fifty dozen. 
 
 At this time, a single dealer in the egg -trade, at Phila- 
 delphia, sent to the New York market, daily, one hundred 
 barrels of eggs ; while the value of eggs shipped from Dub- 
 lin to Liverpool and London was more than five millions 
 of dollars for the year 1848. 
 
 In addition to these facts, frequent allusions were made to 
 the enormous quantities required for other markets, in the 
 interior, to supply which the number of laying hens must be 
 kept good, and increased, as the demand for the eggs was 
 constantly augmenting, and the business, " if skilfully and 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 189 
 
 judiciously managed " (said the agricultural papers), must 
 prove immensely profitable to those who engage in it. 
 
 If " skilfully and judiciously managed " i This was good 
 advice. But no one could inform " the people " how this 
 management was to be effected. In the mean time, every 
 sort of experiment was resorted to. by amateurs and fan- 
 ciers and humbugs (who had been humbugged), to u im- 
 prove " the breeds of poultry, and to produce new fowls 
 that would lay two or three or four eggs for one, as com- 
 pared with the old-fashioned birds. 
 
 We knew one beginner who had purchased a pretty little 
 place a few miles from the city, who contracted the fever, 
 and " suffered" badly, but who was cured by the following 
 curious result of his early experiments. Eggs were scarce 
 (genuine ones), and, after considerable searching, he finally 
 procured of some one in Boston a clutch of " fancy " eggs, 
 for which he paid big figures, but which did not turn out 
 exactly what he anticipated ; and so he concluded, after a 
 time, that the hen fever was a rascally hum. (He did n't 
 procure these eggs of me, be it understood, /never had 
 any but genuine ones !) 
 
 He purchased what he was assured were pure ' ' Cochin- 
 China" eggs. (Perhaps they were — who knows?) And 
 after waiting patiently for six long weeks for the " curious " 
 eggs to hatch, he found six young ducks in his coop, one 
 morning ! — So much for his knowledge of eggs ! 
 
140 THE HISTOKY OF 
 
 But this was not so bad as was the case of one of his 
 neighbors, however, who paid a round price for half a dozen 
 choice eggs, queer-looking speckled eggs — small, round, 
 "outlandish " eggs — which he felt certain would produce 
 rare chicks, and which he was very cautious in setting 
 under his very best hen. 
 
 At the end of a few days he was startled, at the break- 
 fast-table, to hear his favorite hen screaming ' ! bloody mur- 
 der " from within the coop ! He rushed to the rescue, 
 raised -the box-lid, and found her still on the nest, but in a 
 frightful perturbation — struggling, yelling and cackling, 
 most vociferously. 
 
 He spoke to her kindly and softly ; he would fain 
 appease and quiet her ; for there Avas great danger lest, in 
 her excitement and struggles, she would destroy the favorite 
 eggs — those rare eggs, which had cost him so much money 
 and trouble. But soft words were vain. His "best" 
 hen continued to scream lustily, and he raised her from the 
 nest to look into the cause of the trouble more critically. 
 His astonishment was instantaneous, but immense ; and his 
 surprise found vent in the brief but expressive exclamation, 
 " Turkles — by thunder ! " 
 
 Such was the fact. This poor, innocent poultry- 
 " fancier " was the victim of misplaced confidence. The 
 party who sold him them eggs had sold the buyer shock- 
 ingly ! And instead of a brood of pure Cochin-Chinas, 
 
THE HEN FEVEK. 141 
 
 he found that his favorite hen had hatched half a dozen pure 
 mud-turtles, all of ■which, upon breaking from the shells, 
 seized upon the flesh of the poor fowl, and had well-nigh 
 taken her life before they could be " choked off." He 
 has given up the chicken-trade, and has since gone into the 
 dwarf-pear business. Poor devil ! 
 
 A youthful lawyer of my acquaintance, away Down East, 
 who was proverbial for his "sharp practice " at the bar, 
 met with a young doctor, who was a great bird-fancier, 
 and with whom he subsequently formed an intimate 
 acquaintance. Our medicinal friend owned a pretty little 
 
 estate, distant a few miles from the city of P , where 
 
 he kept up a very neat establishment, which was thoroughly 
 appointed. Among his out-of-door appurtenances, he 
 maintained a modern bee-house, a choice dove-cot, and a 
 well-selected aviary ; in the latter he had some choice poul- 
 try, and into this the doctor invited his legal associate, one 
 day, to examine his specimens of cacklers and crowers. 
 
 There was a super-excellent "Bother'em" fowl among 
 this collection, — a rare hen, the many good qualities of 
 which the doctor dilated on (as he always did before hi3 
 visitors), and the lawyer took a fancy to the beauty, instan- 
 ter; but this fowl was a great favorite, and the doctor 
 would neither sell, lend, or give her away ; and then the 
 visitor begged some of her eggs, as a last favor. But the 
 doctor was selfish in regard to this particular bird — he 
 
142 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 wanted the breed exclusively to himself. It was of no 
 avail, however, and his friend promised to embrace the first 
 opportunity to steal the hen, and all the eggs he could find, 
 if his request were not complied with ; whereupon the doc- 
 tor at length reluctantly promised to send him a dozen 
 within a week, provided he said nothing about it. He 
 would do it for him, as a particular favor — and so he 
 was as good as his word. 
 
 The young lawyer had his poultry-yard, also ; and, select- 
 ing a fine hen, he quickly set her upon the choice Bother' em 
 eggs, resolved to have as good a show as his neighbor. But 
 three weeks passed — four, and upwards — but no chickens 
 appeared ! He broke up the nest, at last, and then called 
 upon the doctor at once. 
 
 "What luck, Tom?" 
 
 " Not a chick ! " 
 
 "No!" 
 
 " Not a one. The eggs were n't good." 
 
 "No? That is queer," continued the doctor, "when I 
 took so much extra pains with 'em." 
 
 " Extra pains — how ? " 
 
 "Why, I boiled every one of 'em, the last thing before 
 I sent 'em down to you ! " 
 
 And so he did. Tom grinned, squirmed, and went home, 
 — but that was n't the last of this joke. 
 
 Six months afterwards, the keen-witted doctor visited the 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 143 
 
 lawyer's little place, where lie saw a magnificent large 
 Bucks County rooster stalking about in the latter' s yard. 
 
 " By Jove, Tom! That 's a rouser," exclaimed the doc- 
 tor, enthusiastically, " 'pon my word ! Where d' you get 
 him? " 
 
 "Pennsylvania — Buxton's; a fine fellow that. Only 
 eight months old." 
 
 " Will you sell him? " 
 
 " Yes — no ; I reckon not, on the whole." 
 
 " I '11 give you an X for him." 
 
 "Well, take him. He 's worth twenty dollars; but you 
 shall have him for ten dollars, being an old friend." 
 
 The doctor placed the huge crower in his gig immedi- 
 ately, went home, killed off two of the finest Dorking 
 roosters in the county, and put the new comer into his nice 
 poultry -house ; congratulating himself upon having at last 
 secured a "tip-top breeder," and nothing else. 
 
 At the end of the season, however, he complained to his 
 friend the lawyer that he had had but very few eggs lat- 
 terly ; he could raise no chickens from them — not a one ; 
 and he did n't think much of the ten-dollar bird he pur- 
 chased of him, any way. 
 
 "He's a rouser, Bill, surely," said the lawyer, with a 
 knowing smirk, repeating the doctor's exclamation on first 
 beholding the roosfer. 
 
 "Well, yes — large, large — but — " 
 
144 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 "And a finer capon I never sold to anybody in my 
 life ! " 
 
 " A what ! " screamed the doctor, springing towards his 
 horse, -which stood near hj. 
 
 "What's the price of Viled, eggs, Bill?" roared the 
 lawyer, in reply. 
 
 "Ten dollars a dozen, hj thunder ! " was the answer, as 
 the doctor drove his rowels into the sides of his nag, and 
 dashed away from his friend's gate a wiser if not a better 
 man. 
 
 Many amateur poultry-raisers resorted to the most 
 ridiculous and injurious shifts for remedies against the ills 
 that hen-flesh is heir to. I have known certain friends who 
 passed two or three hours every morning in running about 
 their fowl-premises with pill-box and pepper-cup in hand, 
 zealously dosing their drooping chickens, to their certain 
 destruction. And some of the " doctors" went into jalap, 
 in cases of colds, fevers, &c, in their fowls. We should as 
 soon think of using arsenic, or any other poison, under such 
 circumstances. The internal formation of a hen is scarcely 
 believed to resemble that of a human being, surely ; and 
 why such medicinal applications, pray? This reminds us 
 of a private joke, by the way, that was "let out" by a 
 young fancier (out West) a little while ago. 
 
 He had a bad cold himself, and had mixed "summat 
 hot" to swallow, one evening. His servant informed him 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 145 
 
 that his favorite Cochin-China crower had been ill for a 
 day or two ; and he ordered twenty grains of jalap to be pre- 
 pared for his fine bird. By some mistake his toddy was 
 given to the crower, and he swallowed the hen-medicine 
 himself, and retired to bed. 
 
 He slept soundly for a time, but was visited with shock- 
 ing dreams. He fancied himself to be a huge rooster — one 
 of the biggest kind ; that he had taken all the premiums at 
 all the shows, and that he had finally been set to hatch 
 over a bushel of Shanghae eggs. It was the twentieth day, 
 at last, and the chickens commenced to come forth from 
 their shells beneath him. He dare not move, — his fowl- 
 cure was at work, — and his critical position, for the time 
 being, can be better imagined than portrayed. With a des- 
 perate effort, and a shrieking crow, he at length sprang from 
 his couch, dashed out of doors, and, since the day after- 
 wards, has resolved to eschew the use of jalap among his 
 poultry, — a determination which, in all candor, we recom- 
 mend earnestly to the hen-Galens who imagine that a hen 
 is " a human." 
 
 It had now become an every-day occurrence to hear of 
 black chickens emerging from what were "warranted" 
 pure white fowls' eggs ; top-knot birds peeped forth from 
 the eggs of pure-bred anti-crested hens ; and all colors and 
 shapes and varieties of chickens, except those that they 
 13 
 
146 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 were purchased for, made their appearance about the time 
 of hatching the eggs so bought. 
 
 All the old-fashioned fowls were utterly discarded. Co- 
 chin-Chinaism, Shanghaeism, Bother'em Pootrumism, was 
 rampant. The fancy egg-trade had begun to fall off sen- 
 sibly. " The people " had had enough of this part of the 
 enterprise, which was destined to prove so " immensely 
 profitable," if "judiciously and skilfully managed;" and 
 the price was reduced to the miserable sum of three to five 
 dollars a dozen, only, as customers chanced to turn up. 
 
 From the commencement of the trade, in 1849, down to 
 the month of August, 1853, I had a continued and certain 
 sale, however, for every egg deposited upon my premises, 
 at my price. 
 
 Eut this, though an exception, was not to be wondered 
 at. / kept and raised only the " genuine " article. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 TRUE HISTORY OF "FANNY FERN." 
 
 I was riding through Brookline, Mass., one fine after- 
 noon, on my round-about way home from a fowl-hunting 
 excursion in Norfolk County, when my attention was sud- 
 denly attracted by the appearance and carriage of the most 
 extraordinary-looking bird I ever met with in the whole 
 course of my poultry experience. 
 
 I drew up my horse, and watched this curiosity for a few 
 minutes, with a fowl-admirer's wonder. It was evidently a 
 hen, though the variety was new to me, and its deportment 
 was very remarkable. Her plumage was a shiny coal- 
 black, and she loitered upon a bright-green bank in the 
 sunshine, at the southerly side of a pretty house that stood 
 a few yards back from the road. She was rather long- 
 legged, and " spindle-shanked," but she moved about skip- 
 pingly and briskly, as if she were treading upon thin egg- 
 shells. Her feet were very delicate and very narrow, and 
 her body was thin and trim ; but her plumage — that glossy, 
 jet-black, brilliant feathery habit — was " too much " for my 
 
148 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 then excited " fancy " for beautiful birds ; and I thought I 
 had never seen a tip-top fowl before. 
 
 As I gazed and wondered, this bird observed me coquet- 
 tishly, and, raising herself slightly a tip-toe, she flapped her 
 bright wings ludicrously, opened her pretty mouth, and sent 
 forth a crow so clear and sharp, and so utterly defiant and 
 plucky, that I laughed outright in her face. I did. I 
 couldn't help it. 
 
 She noticed my merriment, and instantly flap went those 
 glittering wings again, and another shout — a -very shriek 
 of a crow, a termagant yell of a crow — rang forth pierc- 
 ingly from the lungs of my sable but beautiful inamorata. 
 
 This second crow was full of fire, and daring, and chal- 
 lenge, and percussion. It seemed to say, as plainly as words 
 could have uttered it, ' ' Who are you ? What you after ? 
 Would n't you like to cage me up — s-a-y ? " 
 
 I laughed again, wondered more, stared, and shouted 
 " Bravo ! Milady, you are a rum 'un, to be sure ! " And 
 again she hopped up and crowed bravely, sharply, mali- 
 ciously, wildly, marvellously. 
 
 I was puzzled. I had heard of such animals before. I 
 had read in the newspapers about Woman's Eights con- 
 ventions. I had seen it stated that hens occasionally were 
 found that "crowed like a cock." But I had never seen 
 one before. This was an extraordinary bird, evidently. 
 
 There it went again ! That same shrill, crashing, chal- 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 149 
 
 lenging crow, from the gullet of the ebon beauty before 
 me. 0, what a crow was that, my countrymen ! I re- 
 solved to possess this bird, at any cost. And I was soon in 
 communication with the gentleman who then had her. 
 
 " Is this your hen, sir ? " I inquired. And I think the 
 gentleman suspected me, instanter. 
 
 " Yes," he answered. " That is, I support her," 
 
 " Will you sell her ? " 
 
 " No — no, sir." 
 
 " I will give you ten dollars for her." 
 
 Crack ! Crash ! Whew ! went that crow, again. I 
 was electrified. 
 
 " I '11 give you fifteen " 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 "Twenty dollars, then." 
 
 "No." 
 
 " What will you take for her ? " 
 
 " Hark ! " he replied. " Is n't that music ? Is n't that 
 heavenly? " 
 
 " What is that? " I asked, eagerly. 
 
 " My hen." 
 
 " What is she doing? " 
 
 " Singing," said the gentleman. 
 
 " Beautiful ! ' ; I responded. "I will give you forty dol- 
 lars for her." 
 
 " Take her." replied her keeper. " She is yours." 
 13* 
 
150 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 " What breed is it?" I inquired. 
 
 "Spanker," said the gentleman, "but rare. It is one 
 of Ellett's importation — genuine." 
 
 " Remarkable pullet ! " I ventured. 
 
 "Hen, sir, hen" insisted the stranger. 
 
 I paid him forty dollars down, and seized my prize, 
 though she proved hard to catch. 
 
 " She 's much like the Frenchman's flea, sir," said her 
 previous possessor. "Put your finger on her, and she's 
 never there. Feed her well, however, keep her in good 
 quarters, let her do as she pleases, and she '11 always crow 
 — always, sir. Hear that ? You can't stop her, unless 
 you stop her breath. She always crows and sings. There 
 it is again ! Isn't that a crow, for a hen — eh ? " 
 
 It was, indeed. 
 
 " Good-day," said the Brookline gentleman, quietly 
 pocketing his money. " Fanny will please you, I've no 
 doubt." 
 
 "Fanny?" I queried. 
 
 " Yes ; I call her ' Fanny Fern," 1 " said the stranger to 
 me, as I entered my wagon ; and, half an hour afterwards, 
 my forty-dollar cock-hen, "Fanny Fern," was crowing 
 again furiously, lustily, magnificently, on the bright-green 
 lawn beneath my own parlor-windows. 
 
 " Fanny " proved a thorough trump. Bantams, Games, 
 Cochins, Dorkings, Shanghaes, Bother' ems, were nowhere 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 151 
 
 ■when " Fanny " was round. She could outcrow the lustiest 
 feathered orchestra ever collected together in Christendom. 
 She was a wonder, that redoubtable but frisky, flashy, 
 sprightly, sputtery, spunky " Fanny Fern." 
 
 And didn't the boys run after her? Well, they did ! 
 And did n't they want to buy her ? Did n't they bid high 
 for her, at last ? Did n't everybody flock to see her, and to 
 hear " Fanny " crow ? And did lit she continue to crow, 
 too ? Ah ! it was heaven, indeed (and sometimes the other 
 thing), to listen to " Fanny's " voice. 
 
 When " Fanny " opened her mouth, everybody held their 
 breath and listened. "Fanny" crowed to some purpose, 
 verily! She crowed lustily against oppression, and vice, 
 and wrong, and injustice; and she crowed aloud (with her best 
 strength) in behalf of injured innocence, and virtue, and 
 merit, exalted or humble. 
 
 And, finally, "Fanny" hatched a brace of chickens; 
 and didn't she crow for and over them? She now cackled 
 and scratched, and crowed harder and louder and shriller 
 than ever. The people stopped in the street to listen to her ; 
 old men heard her ; young men sought after her ; all the 
 women began to " swear " by her; the children thronged to 
 see her ; the newspapers all talked about her ; and thou- 
 sands of books were printed about my charming, astonishing, 
 remarkable, crowing " Fanny Fern." 
 
 I sent her to the fowl-shows, where she " took 'em all 
 
152 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 clown" clean, and invariably carried away the first pre- 
 mium in her class. Never was such a hen seen, before or 
 since. I was offered a hundred, two hundred, five hundred 
 dollars for her. I was poor ; but did n't I own this hen 
 "Fanny." — the extraordinary, wonderful, magnificent, coal- 
 black, blustering, but inapproachable and world-defying 
 "Fanny"? 
 
 " I will give you eight hundred dollars for her," said a 
 publisher to me, one day. "I want to put her in a book. 
 She 's a wonder ! a star of the first magnitude ! a diamond 
 without blemish ! a God-send to the world in 1854 ! " 
 
 At this moment "Fanny" crowed. 
 
 "Will you take eight hundred?" screamed the pub- 
 lisher, jumping nearly to the ceiling. 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 "A thousand?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 "Two thousand?" 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 " Five thousand?" 
 
 "No! I will keep her." 
 
 And I did. What was five thousand dollars to me ? Bah ! 
 I had the hen-cock " Fanny Fern." I did n't want money. 
 My pocket-book was full to bursting, and so was my head 
 with the excitement of the hen fever. And "Fanny" 
 crowed again. Ah ! what a crow was Fanny's ! " 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 153 
 
 "Fanny" couldn't be bought, and so my competitors 
 clanned together to destroy her. The old fogies did n't like 
 this breed, and they resolved to annihilate all chance of its 
 perpetuation. I placed her in better quarters, where she 
 would be more secure from intrusion or surprise. I told 
 her of my fears, — and didnH she crow ? She flapped her 
 bright black wings, and crowed all over. ■ ' Cock-a-doodle- 
 doo — oo — oo I" shouted "Fanny," while her sharp 
 eyes twinkled, her fair throat trembled, and the exhilarating 
 tone of defiance seemed to reach to the very tips of her 
 shining toe-nails. " Cock-a-too — roo — oo! " she shrieked; 
 " let 'em come, too ! See what they '11 do — oo ! I '11 take 
 care of you — oo I Don' t get in a stoo — oo I Pooh — pooh 
 — poo — poo ! " 
 
 Maybe "Fanny" didn't crow! And / learned to 
 crow. It was beautiful ! She crowed, and I crowed. We 
 crowed together. She in her way, — I in mine. The duet 
 was mellifluous, cheering, soul-stirring, life-invigorating, 
 profitable. 
 
 ' " Fanny" went into New York State, crowing when she 
 left, crowing as she went, and continuing to crow until she 
 crowed the community there clear through the next fourth 
 o' July, out into the fabled millenium. She crowed Messrs. 
 Derby & Miller into a handsome fortune, and Mason & 
 Brothers into ditto. She crowed one Hyacinth into the 
 shreds of a cocked hat and battered knee-buckles. She 
 
154 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 crowed the Hall breed of old hens so far out of sight that 
 the " search for Sir John Franklin " would be a fool to the 
 journey requisite to overtake that family. And still she 
 croioed. 
 
 The more they bade her stop, the more she would n't. 
 ' ' Cock-a- tootle — too ! " " I-know-what- /-shall — doo ! ' ' 
 ' ' What-do-I-care-for — yoo ?" " This-world-is-all — foo- 
 foo" " Leave-me-and-I '11-leave — you." "If-not-I'll- 
 lamm — you — too — oo !" 
 
 And " Fanny " crowed herself at last into the good graces 
 of two long brothers in Gotham, where she is now crowing 
 with all her might and main. Let her crow ! 
 
 She was a remarkable " bird," that rollicking, joyous, 
 inexplicable, flirting, funny, furious " Fanny Fern." I hear 
 her now again ! 
 
 " Cock-a-doodle — doo — oo !" " Young 'Un, — 
 you- will-do ! ! " " Et — tu — Brute — o-o-o ! ! ! " 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 CONVALESCENCE. 
 
 One striking feature that exhibited itself in the midst 
 of this mania, "was the fact that prominent among the lead- 
 ing dealers in fancy poultry, constantly appeared the names 
 of clergymen, doctors, and other "liberally-educated" gen- 
 tlemen. 
 
 In Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and most of the East- 
 ern States, this circumstance was especially noticeable ; and 
 more particularly in England. Whether this class of the 
 community had the most money to throw away, or whether 
 their leisure afforded them the better opportunity to indulge 
 in this fancy, I cannot say ; but one thing is certain, — 
 among my own patrons and correspondents, for the past 
 five or six years, I find the names of this class of " the 
 people " by far the most conspicuous and frequent. 
 
 There came into my office, one morning late in 1853, 
 a Boston physician (whom I had never seen before), 
 who introduced himself civilly, and invited me to ride a 
 short distance with him up town. I was busy; but he 
 
156 THE HISTOBY OF 
 
 insisted, and his manner was peculiarly urgent and deter- 
 mined. 
 
 "My carriage is at the door," he said; "and I -will 
 bring you back here in twenty minutes. I have some pure- 
 blood stock I desire to dispose of." 
 
 " What is it, doctor ?" I asked. 
 
 " Chickens, chickens!" replied the doctor, briefly. 
 
 I assured the gentleman that I had near a thousand fowls 
 on hand at this time, and had no possible wish to increase 
 the number. 
 
 " They are pure-bred — cost me high," he continued; 
 " are very fine, but I must part with them — come ! " 
 
 I joined him, and we rode a mile or more, when he halted 
 before a fine, large house ; his servant in waiting took his 
 horse, and he ushered me into his well-appointed poultry- 
 house, at the rear of his dwelling. 
 
 The buildings were glazed in front and upon the roofs ; 
 the yards were spacious and cleanly, and appropriately 
 divided; the laying and hatching rooms were roomy and 
 convenient ; the roosting-house was airy and pleasant, and 
 everything was, seemingly, in excellent order, and arranged 
 with good taste throughout. 
 
 "That cock cost me twenty dollars," said the doctor, 
 calmly. " Those two hens I paid eighteen dollars for. 
 That bird, yonder, twelve dollars. These five pullets stand 
 me in about forty-five dollars. I have never yet been able 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 157 
 
 to hatch but one brood of chickens. The rats carried them 
 off by the third morning after they came into this world. 
 The hens sometimes lay, I believe ; at least, my man says so. 
 I have never seen any eggs from them myself, however. I 
 hate no doubt this species of fowls (these Changays) do lay 
 eggs, though. There are twenty-two of them. Buy them, 
 Mr. B ," continued the doctor, urgently. 
 
 I said no ; I really did not want them. , 
 
 " I had nigh forty of them," continued the doctor, " two 
 months ago. But they have disappeared. Disease, roup, 
 vermin, night-thieves, sir. Will you buy them? John 
 drive them out ! " 
 
 The fowls were driven into the main yard. There were 
 but sixteen in all. 
 
 "Where are the rest, John?" inquired the doctor, 
 anxiously. " There were twenty-two here yesterday." 
 
 " I dunno, sir," said John. 
 
 " Drive 'em back, and box them up, John. Mr.B , 
 
 will you make an offer for the remainder ? To-morrow I 
 shall probably have none to sell ! Will you give anything 
 for them?" 
 
 I declined to buy. 
 
 " Will you permit me to send them to you as a present, 
 sir ? " he continued. 
 
 I did not want them, any way. I had a full supply. 
 
 " What will you charge me, Mr. B , to allow them 
 
 14 
 
158 THE HISTOKY Off 
 
 to be sent to you? " continued the fancier, desperately, and 
 resolutely, at last. 
 
 I saw tie was determined, and I took his fowls (fifteen of 
 them), and gave him ten dollars. 
 
 He smiled. 
 
 "I have had the hen fever," he added, " badly — but I 
 am better of it. I am convalescent, now," said the doctor. 
 " You see what I have here for houses ; cost me over seven 
 hundred dollars ; my birds over four hundred more; grain 
 and care for a year, a hundred more. I am satisfied! 
 Your money, here, is the first dollar I ever received in return 
 for my investment. You see what I have left out of my 
 venture of twelve or thirteen hundred dollars ; the manure, 
 and — and — the lice ! " 
 
 Such were the exact facts ! His stock was selected from 
 the Marsh and Forbes importations, and the birds were good ; 
 b'iit, by the time he got ready to believe that it was n't all 
 gold that glittered, the sale of this variety of fowl had 
 passed by. A chance purchaser happened to come along 
 soon after, however, who "hadn't read the papers" so 
 attentively as some of us had, and who wanted these very 
 fowls. I sold them to him, " cheap as a broom," because 
 the fever for this kind of bird was rapidly declining. He 
 paid me only $150 for this lot ; which was a bargain, of a 
 truth. The buyer was satisfied, however, and so was I. 
 
 These were but isolated instances. Scores and hundreds 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 159 
 
 of gentlemen and amateur fanciers found themselves in a 
 similar predicament, at the end of one or two or three years. 
 Without possessing a single particle of knowledge requisite 
 to the successful accomplishment of their purpose, — utterly 
 ignorant of the first rudiments of the business, — they 
 jumped into it, without reason, forgetting the wholesome 
 advice contained in the musty adage, "look before you leap." 
 And, after sinking tens and hundreds or (in some cases) 
 thousands of dollars in experiments, they woke up to find 
 that they had had the fever badly, but, fortunately, were 
 at last convalescent ! 
 
 I was busy, all this time, in supplying my friends with 
 " pure-bred" stock, however, and had very little leisure to 
 tarry to sympathize with these " poor creeturs." The 
 demand for my stock continued, and the best year's busi- 
 ness I ever enjoyed, was from the spring of 1853 to May 
 and June, 1854 ; when it commenced to fall off very sensi- 
 bly, and the prospect became dubious, for future operations, 
 even with me. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV, 
 
 AN EXPENSIVE BUSINESS. 
 
 During the past six years I have expended, outright for 
 breeding stock, and for appropriate buildings for my fowls, 
 over four thousand dollars, in round numbers — without 
 taking into the account the expenses of their care, and the 
 cost of feeding. 
 
 Few breeders have spent anything like this sum, for this 
 purpose, strictly. In the mean time, the aggregate of my 
 receipts has reached (up to January, 1855) upwards of 
 seventy thousand dollars. I have raised thousands upon 
 thousands of the Chinese varieties of fowls, and my purchases 
 to fill orders which came to hand during this term — in 
 addition to what I was able to fill from those I myself 
 raised — have been very large. And, while I have been 
 thus engaged, hundreds and hundreds of amateurs and 
 fanciers have sprung up in various directions, all of whom 
 have had their share, too, in this trade. 
 
 To the fanciers — those who purchased, as many did at 
 first, simply for their amusement, or for the mere satisfaction 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 161 
 
 of having good, or, perhaps, the best birds — this fever proved 
 an expensive matter. I have known amateurs who willing- 
 ly paid twenty, fifty, or a hundred dollars, and even more, 
 for a pair, or a trio, of what were considered very choice 
 Shanghaes. These fowls, after the first few weeks or months 
 of the purchaser's excitement had passed by, could be 
 bought of him for five or ten dollars a pair ! Yet, his next- 
 door neighbor, who would not now take these identical birds 
 for a gift, scarcely, would pay to a stranger a similarly 
 extravagant amount to that which had a hundred times been 
 paid by others before him, for something, perhaps, inferior 
 in quality, but which chanced to be called by the most pop- 
 ular name current at the moment. 
 
 Thus, for a time, bubble number one, the Cochin- Chinas, 
 prevailed. The eggs of th^ese fowls sold at a dollar each, 
 for a long period. Then came the Shanghaes, of different 
 colors, — as the yellow, the white, the buff, or the black, — 
 and took their turn. Many thousands of these were disposed 
 of, at round rates. The smooth-legged birds at first com- 
 manded the best price; then the feathered-legged. And, 
 finally, came the Grey Shanghaes, or " Chittagongs," or 
 " Brahmas," as they were differently termed; and this 
 proved bubble number two, in earnest. 
 
 Everybody wanted them, and everybody had to pay for 
 them, too ! They were large, heavy fowls, of China blood, 
 plainly, but, with some few exceptions, were indifferent 
 14* 
 
162 THE HISTORY OS 
 
 birds. They were leggy, however, and stood up showy and 
 tall, and, to look at, appeared advantageously to the fancy, 
 at this period. In the maw of this bubble, thousands of 
 good dollars were thrown ; and no race of poultry ever had 
 the run that did these Greys, under various names, both in 
 this country and in England. 
 
 A most excellent Southern trade had sprung up, and large 
 shipments of fowls went forward to the West, from Massa- 
 chusetts, and to Charleston, Augusta, Mobile, New Orleans, 
 etc., where the fever broke out furiously, and continued, 
 without abatement, for three years or more. 
 
 No buyers were so liberal, generally, and no men in the 
 world, known to Northern breeders, bought so extensively, as 
 did these fanciers in New Orleans and vicinity. They 
 purchased largely, from the very start : and the trade was 
 kept up with a singular vigor and enterprise, from the be- 
 ginning to the end. Orders, varying in value from $500 to 
 $1200 and $1500, were of almost weekly occurrence from 
 that region ; and in one instance, I sent forward to a gentle- 
 man in Louisiana, a single shipment for which he paid me 
 $2230 ! This occurred in September, 1853. 
 
 In this same year, I sent, from January to December, to 
 another gentleman (at New Orleans), over ten thousand 
 dollars' worth of stock. 
 
 The prices for chickens ranged from $12 <s> $15 a pair, 
 to $25 or $30, and often $40 to $50, a pair. These rates 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 163 
 
 were always willingly and freely paid, and the stock was, 
 after a while, disseminated throughout the entire valley of 
 the Mississippi; where the China fowls always did better 
 than in our own climate. 
 
 It proved an expensive business to some of these gentle- 
 men, most emphatically. But they always paid cheerfully, 
 promptly, and liberally ; and knew the Yankees they were 
 dealing with, a good deal better than many of the sharpers 
 supposed they did. For myself, I shall not permit this 
 opportunity to pass without expressing my thanks to my 
 numerous and generous Southern patrons, to whom I sent a 
 great many hundred pairs of what were deemed " good 
 birds," and to whom I am indebted, largely, for the trade I 
 enjoyed for upwards of five years. I sincerely hope they 
 made more money out of all this than I did ; and I trust 
 that their substance, as well as " their shadows, may never 
 be less." 
 
 During this year, and far into 1854, the current of trade 
 turned towards Great Britain ; and John Bull was not very 
 slow to appreciate the rare qualities of my " magnificent " 
 and '• extraordinary " birds; "the like of which," said a 
 London journal, when the Queen's fowls first arrived, " was 
 never before seen in England." 
 
 For upwards of a year, I had all this trade in my own 
 way. Subsequently, some of the smaller dealers sent out a 
 few pairs to London, but " the people " there could never 
 
164 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 be brought to believe those fowls were anything but mon- 
 grels ; and, while these interlopers contrived to murder the 
 trade there, they at the same time " cut off their own noses," 
 for the future, with those who knew what poultry was, upon 
 the other side of the Atlantic. 
 
 I had my shy at the Britons, seasonably ! 
 
 But, a few months afterwards (as I shall show in a future 
 chapter), through the mismanagement of an ambitious dealer 
 in other fancy live-stock, the trade with England, from this 
 side of the water, was completely ruined. Over two hun- 
 dred American fowls were thrown suddenly upon the 
 London market, and were finally sold there, at auction, for 
 a very small sum ; and we were subsequently unable (with 
 all our chicken-eloquence) to make John Bull believe that 
 even the Grey Shanghaes were any longer " scarce " with 
 us, here I 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE GKEAT PAGODA HEN. 
 
 The most ridiculous and fulsome advertisements now 
 occupied the columns of certain so-called agricultural 
 papers in this country, particularly one or two of these 
 sheets in New York State, 
 
 Stories were related by correspondents (and endorsed by 
 the nominal editors), regarding the proportions and weights 
 and beauties of certain of the '- Bother'em " class of fowls, 
 that rivalled Munchausen, out and out. Fourteen and fif- 
 teen pound cocks, and ten or eleven pound hens, were as 
 common as the liars who told the stories of these impossibil- 
 ities. And one day the following capital hit, by Durivage, 
 appeared in a Boston journal. He called it " The Great 
 Pagoda Hen." There is as much truth in this as there 
 was in many of the more seriously-intended articles of that 
 time. It ran as follows : 
 
 " Mr. Sap Green retired from business, and took posses- 
 sion of his country 'villa,' just about the time the 'hen 
 fever ' was at its height ; and he soon gave evidence of hav- 
 
166 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 ing that malignant disorder in its most aggravated form. 
 He tolerated no birds in his yard that weighed less than 
 ten pounds at six months, and he allowed no eggs upon his 
 table that were not of a dark mahogany color, and of the 
 flavor of pine shavings. He supplied his own table with 
 poultry, and the said poultry consisted of elongated drum- 
 sticks, attached by gutta-percha muscles and catgut sinews to 
 ponderous breast-bones. He frequently purchased a 'crower ' 
 for a figure that could have bought a good Morgan horse ; 
 but then, as the said crower consumed as much grain as a 
 Morgan horse, he could not help being perfectly satisfied 
 with the bargain. His wife complained that he was ' mak- 
 ing ducks and drakes ' of his property ; but, as that involved 
 a high compliment to his ornithological tastes, he attempted 
 no retort. He satisfied himself that it ' would pay in the 
 end.' His calculations of profits were 'clear as mud.' He 
 would have a thousand hens. The improved breeds were 
 warranted to lay five eggs apiece a week ; and eggs were 
 worth — that is, he ivas paying — six dollars a dozen. His 
 thousand hens would lay twenty thousand eight hundred 
 and thirty-three dozen eggs per annum, which, at six dol- 
 lars per dozen, would amount to the sum of one hundred 
 and twenty-four thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight 
 dollars. Even deducting; therefrom the original cost of the 
 hens and their keep, — say thirty-six thousand dollars, — the 
 very pretty trifle of eighty-eight thousand nine hundred and 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 167 
 
 ninety-eight was the remainder — clear profit. Eggs — 
 even dark mahogany eggs — went doivn to a shilling a 
 dozen ! But we will not anticipate. 
 
 " To facilitate the multiplication of the feathered species, 
 Mr. Green imported a French Eccaleobion, or egg-hatching 
 machine, that worked by steam, and was warranted to 
 throw off a thousand chicks a month. 
 
 " One day an ' ancient mariner' arrived at the villa, with 
 a small basket on his arm, and inquired for the master of 
 the house. Sap was just then engaged in important busi- 
 ness, — teaching a young chicken to crow, — but he left his 
 occupation, and received the stranger. 
 
 " ' Want to buy an egg ? ' asked the mariner. 
 
 " ' One egg? Why, where did it come from? ' asked the 
 hen-fancier. 
 
 " ' E Stingies,' replied the mariner. 
 
 " ' Domestic fowl's egg ? ' 
 
 " 'Domestic' 
 
 '" Let 's see it.' 
 
 " The sailor produced an enormous egg, weighing about 
 a pound. Sap ( hefted ' it carefully. 
 
 " 'Did you ever see the birds that lay such eggs?' he 
 asked. 
 
 " ' Lots on 'em,' replied the sailor. ' They 're big as all 
 out-doors. They calls 'em the Gigantic Pagoda Hen. 
 I 'm afeared to tell you how big they are ; you won't 
 
168 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 believe me. But jest you hatch out that 'ere, and you '11 
 see wot '11 come of it.' 
 
 " ' But they must eat a great deal ? ' said Sap. 
 
 " ' Scarcely anything,' replied the mariner; ' that 's the 
 beauty on 'em. Don't eat as much as Bantams.' 
 
 " ' Are they good layers ? ' 
 
 " ' You can't help 'em laying,' replied the seaman, 
 enthusiastically. ' They lay one egg every week-day, and 
 two Sundays.' 
 
 " ' But when do they set? ' queried Green. 
 
 " e They don't set at all. They lays their eggs in damp, 
 hot places, and natur' does the rest. The chicks take keer 
 of themselves as soon as they 're out of the shell.' 
 
 "'Damp, hot place!' said Sap. 'My Eccaleobion is 
 the very thing, and my artificial sheep-skin mother will 
 bring 'em up to a charm. My friend, what will you take 
 for your egg ? ' 
 
 " ' Cap'n,' said the mariner, solemnly, ' if I was going to 
 stay ashore, I would n't take a hundred dollars for it ; but, 
 as I 've shipped ag'in, and sail directly, you shall have it for 
 forty.' 
 
 "The forty dollars were instantly paid, and the hen- 
 fancier retired with his prize, his conscience smiting him for 
 having robbed a poor, hard-working sailor. 
 
 " 0, how he watched the egg -hatching machine while 
 that extraordinary egg was undergoing the steaming pro- 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 169 
 
 cess ! He begrudged the time exacted by eating and sleep- 
 ing; but his vigils were rewarded by the appearance, in 
 due time, of a stout young chick, with the long legs that 
 are a proof of Eastern blood. The bird grew apace ; indeed, 
 almost as rapidly as Jack's bean-stalk, or the prophet's 
 gourd. But the sailor was mistaken in one thing ; it ate 
 voraciously. Moreover, as it increased in size and strength, 
 the Pagoda exhibited extraordinary pugnacity. It kickedr 
 a dozen comrades to death in one night. It even bit the 
 hand of the feeder. Soon it was necessary to confine it in 
 a separate apartment. Its head soon touched the ceiling. 
 What a pity it had no mate ! Sap wrote to a correspond- 
 ent at Calcutta to ship him two pairs of the Great Pagoda 
 birds, without regard to cost. Meanwhile he watched the 
 enormous growth of his single specimen. He kepi its ex- 
 istence a profound secret. It was under lock and key, in 
 a separate apartment, lighted by a large window in the roof. 
 Sap's man-of-all-work wheeled daily two bushels of corn 
 and a barrel of water to the door of the apartment, and 
 Green fed them out when no one was looking. Even this 
 supply was scanty ; but, out of justice to his family, Sap 
 was compelled to put the monster bird on allowance. 
 
 " 'Poor thing ! ' he would say, when he saw the creature 
 
 devouring broken glass, and even bolting stray nails and 
 
 gravel-stones, ' it cuts me to the soul to see it reduced to 
 
 such extremity. But it 's eating me out of bouse and home. 
 
 15 
 
170 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 Decidedly, that sailor-man must have been deceived about 
 their being moderate feeders.' 
 
 " When the bird had attained to the enormous altitude 
 of six feet, the proud proprietor sent for the celebrated Dr. 
 Ludwig Hydrarchos, of Cambridge, to inspect him, and 
 furnish him with a scientific description, wherewith he 
 might astonish his brethren of the Poultry Association. 
 The doctor came, and was carefully admitted by Green to 
 the presence of the Great Pagoda Hen. The bird was not 
 accustomed to the sight of strangers, and began to manifest 
 uneasiness and displeasure at seeing the man of science. It 
 lifted first one foot and then the other, as if it were tread- 
 ing on hot plates. 
 
 "'Hi! hi!' said Green, soothingly. 'Pagy! Pagy! 
 come, now, be quiet ! — will you ? ' 
 
 " ' Let me out ! ' cried Hydrarchos. in great alarm. The 
 huge bird was polking up to him. ' Let me out, I say ! ' 
 
 "'I never knew it to act so before,' said Green, fumbling 
 at the lock. 
 
 "A whirr, a rush, a whizzing of the wings, and the 
 bird was down on the doctor, treading on his heels, and 
 pecking at the nape of his neck. 
 
 " ' Pagy ! Pagy ! " supplicated the owner. 
 
 " But the angry bird would not listen to reason, and Sap 
 received a thump on the head for his pains. And now 
 both rushed for the opening door, stumbling and falling 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 171 
 
 prostrate in their eagerness to escape. The monster bird 
 danced a moment on their prostrate bodies, and then darted 
 forth from its late prison-house. 
 
 ' ' It rushed through a couple of grape-houses, carrying 
 destruction in its progress. It scoured through the flower- 
 beds, ruining the bright parterres. Mrs. Green, who was 
 walking in the garden with her child, saw the horrid appari- 
 tion, and stood paralyzed with terror. In an instant she was 
 thrown down and trampled under foot, shrieking and clasp- 
 ing her infant in her arms. 
 
 " Mr. Green beheld this last atrocity, and his conjugal 
 affection overcame his love of birds. He caught up his 
 fowling-piece and fired at the ungrateful monster ; the shot 
 ripped up some of its tail-feathers, but failed to inflict a 
 mortal wound, — nothing short of a field-piece could produce 
 an impression on that living mass. Away sped the fowl to 
 the railroad-track, down which it rushed with headlong 
 speed. But its career was brief; an express train, coming 
 up in an opposite direction, struck it full in front, and 
 rushed on, scattering feathers, wings and drum-sticks, wildly 
 in the air. 
 
 " 'Tell me, doctor,' gasped Green, 'what do you think 
 of my Great Pagoda ? ' 
 
 " ' Great Pagoda ! ' said the professor, in indignant dis- 
 dain. ' That was a Struthio, — Greek, Strotkons, — in 
 other words, an ostrich. If you had n't belonged to the 
 
172 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 genus Asinus, you 'd have known that, without asking me. 
 Good-morning, Mr. Green.' 
 
 ' ' ' Where is the monster ? ' cried Mrs. Green. ' I 
 believe the poor child is killed. 0, Sap, I did n't expect 
 this of you ! ' 
 
 " ' Be quiet, my dear,' said Green ; \ it was only an ex- 
 periment.' 
 
 "'An experiment, Mr. Green!' retorted the lady, 
 sharply ; ' your wife and child nearly killed, and you call 
 it an experiment ! Nurturing ostriches to devour your off- 
 spring ! I wonder you don't take to raising elephants.' 
 
 " l No danger of that, Maria,' replied her husband, 
 meekly. ' I have " seen the elephant." And to-morrow I 
 shall send my entire stock to the auction- room, — Shang- 
 haes, Chittagongs, Brahma Pootras. Cochins, Warhens and 
 Warhoos. They 're nice birds, great layers, small eaters, 
 but they — douH pay? " 
 
 Mr. Green was cured, of course ; and though his antici- 
 pations were great, yet he had his predecessors and his 
 successors in the hen traffic, who were almost as sanguine 
 as he, and who not only "paid through the nose " for their 
 experience, but who came off, in the end, really, with quite 
 as little success. Mr. Green was but one of many. Mr. 
 Green was one of " the people." 
 
 It will be remembered that my correspondents allude to 
 the fowls they " see in the noospapers." 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 173 
 
 /had seen these birds, in the same way, before they did. 
 And a London dealer wrote me that he could send me a lot 
 of Egleton's "famous" stock, "which took the three first 
 premiums at a metropolitan show, and two descendants of 
 which, at the close of the late exhibition, were sold at auc- 
 tion for forty-eight guineas ($262)." 
 
 I immediately sent out for a few of these monsters. 
 They were described to me. as being of enormous size, and 
 feathered upon the legs ; and I was now somewhat sur- 
 prised to note that several of the English societies decided 
 that the true " Cochin- China " fowl (as they term this 
 variety) come only with feathered legs. The very stock 
 above alluded to, however, came direct from the city of 
 Shanghae ; and duplicate birds of the same blood were de- 
 lineated in the London Illustrated News. The metropol- 
 itan associations required that all Cochin-China fowls 
 put in competition for premiums must be feathered-legged. 
 This was a new decision, as it is well known that every 
 importation of domestic fowl yet brought out from China 
 direct come more or less clean-legged ; and that fully one 
 half of their progeny are so, with the most careful breed- 
 ing, both in England and in this country. This was imma- 
 terial, however; and I repeated the story to my corres- 
 pondents in good faith, and sent them copies of the por- 
 traits of these new, "extraordinary," "splendid" and 
 "astonishing" hens, precisely as their history and pictures 
 15* 
 
174 
 
 THE HISTORY Of 
 
 came to me. The result can be fancied. Here is the 
 "original " portrait of 
 
 ONE OF EM. 
 
 This was the kind of thing that "took down" the out- 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 175 
 
 siders. Orders for this strain of pure blood poured in upon 
 me, and I supplied them. I trust the purchasers were 
 always satisfied. In my case, it might answer; but I 
 would not recommend the practice generally of purchasing 
 chickens out of the newspapers. Such a portrait as the 
 above might chance to be a little fanciful : or, perhaps, it 
 might be a trifling exaggeration, you see. Yet this was 
 the breed that were always " put in the newspapers." 
 You very rarely found them in your coops, though ! 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 "policy the best honesty." 
 
 This reversion of the old saying that " honesty 's the 
 best policy " seemed to have finally attained among many 
 hen-men, and the ambition to dispose of their now large 
 surplus stock, at the best possible prices, had become very 
 general, while the means to accomplish it came to be imma- 
 terial, so that they got rid of their fancy poultry at fancy 
 ^figures. 
 
 Nothing that could be said against me and my stock was 
 neglected, or omitted to be said. But, as long as fowls 
 would sell at all, I had my full share of the trade, notwith- 
 standing this. The following veritable letter, received from 
 a noted "breeder," in 1853, will explain itself; and it ex- 
 hibits the disposition of more than one huckster still left 
 around us. It will be observed that this gentleman called 
 me his " friend" ! 
 
 " Friend B : What has become of all the trade ? I 
 
 have n't sold twenty dollars' worth of chickens, in a month I 
 I 've now got over three hundred of these curses on hand — 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 177 
 
 and they 're eating me up, alive. What '11 we do with 
 them ? Do you want them ? Will you buy them — any- 
 how ? And give what you like for them. 
 
 "They are a better lot than you ever owned, — every- 
 body says so, — Greys, Cochins {pure) and Shanghaes. 
 D — n the business ! I'm sick of it. My fowls and fixin's 
 cost me over twelve hundred dollars. What do you think 
 of an auction ? Has the bottom fallen out, entirely ? Could 
 I get back two or three dollars apiece for this lot, do you 
 think, at public sale ? 
 
 " B is stuck with about five hundred of the gorman- 
 
 disers. I 'm glad of it — glad — glad ! An't you ? He 
 always lammed you, as well as me ; and though I think 
 you can swinge the green 'uns as cutely as 'most any of ~ 
 'em, he has been an eye-sore for three years that ought 
 to be put down. He got his stock of you, he says, — but 
 
 (no offence to you, friend B ), it an't worth a cuss. All 
 
 of it 's sick and lousy, and he shan't sell no more fowls, if 
 I can help it. 
 
 "Have you seen W 's stock, lately? Isn't he a 
 
 beauty ! I told him, last week, he 'd ought to be ashamed 
 of himself ever to gone into this trade, at all. He 's well 
 enough off, without stealing the bread out of the mouths of 
 them that's a long way honester than he ever was. I'll 
 have a lick at him, yet. 
 
 "Come and see my stock, — and buy it. I don't want 
 
178 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 » 
 
 it. I must give it up. I'm too busy about something 
 else. Come — will you? I don't say anything against 
 your fowls, outside ; but you know, as well as I do, that 
 you have n't got the real thing. Bennett says you have n't, 
 and everybody else says so. As to your 'importations,' 
 you never had a fowl that was imported from any further 
 off than Cape Cod, and you know it ! But that is neither 
 here nor there. / don't care a fig how much you gouge 
 'em. All I want is to get rid of mine. If you don't buy 
 them, I shall sell them, — somehow, — or give them away, 
 sure. They shan't eat me up, nohow. 
 
 " They don't eat nothing — these fowls don't ! 0, what 
 an infernal humbug this is ! I never got much out of it, 
 though. I tell everybody what all the rest of you do, — of 
 course. But / had rather keep the same number of Suf- 
 folk pigs, anyhow, so far as that 's concerned. I an't 
 afraid of your showing this letter to nobody — ha ! ha ! 
 So I don't mark it ' private.' But of all the owdacious 
 humbugs that ever this country saw, this thing is the 
 steepest, — and you know it ! 
 
 "-Write me and say what you '11 give me for my lot. I 
 won't peach on you. You can buy 'em on your own 
 terms. I want to get out of it. And you may say just 
 what you've a mind about 'era. I'll back you, of course. 
 Could n't you take them, and get up another fresh guy on 
 a ' new importation ' ? That 's it. Come, now, friend 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 179 
 
 B , help me out. And answer immediately. All I 
 
 want is to get out of it, and catch me there again if you 
 can ! Yours, &c, 
 
 "P. S. If you don't buy them, I shall kill the brutes, 
 and send 'em to market ; though they are too poor for that, 
 I think." 
 
 This complimentary epistle from a brother-fancier was 
 rather cool, but it did n't equal the following. I had more 
 than one of this sort, too, — of which I had no occasion, for 
 the time being, to take the slightest notice, for I had " other 
 fish to fry," decidedly ! 
 
 ' ' Me. Burnham. — Sir : How is it that you have the 
 impudence to try to palm off on the public those fowls of 
 yours for genuine ' imported ones,' when it is known that 
 
 you bought them all of me, and A , and B ? How 
 
 can you sleep nights ? Don't you feel a squirming in your 
 conscience ? Or is it made of ingy- rubber, or gutter-perchy ? 
 You have made hundreds, and I don't know but thousands 
 of dollars, by your impudence and bare-faced deceit. They 
 are not genuine fowls. I say this bolely. I wish there was 
 a noospaper that would show the inderpeadence to print an 
 article that I could rite for it, on this subject of poletry. 
 If I would n't make you stare, and shet your eyes up, too, 
 then I aint no judge of swindling ! 
 
180 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 " Why don't you act like a man ? Camt you ? Havn't 
 you got the pluck to own up that other people have done 
 for you what you never had the gumption to do for your- 
 self? Why don't you act fair, — and tell where the genuine 
 fowls can be got, and of who ? You 're a doing the poultry 
 business more hurt than all the rest of the men in the 
 country is doing, or ever did, or ever will, sir. 
 
 " I don't mind a man's being sharp, and looking out for 
 himself. / do that. But I carn't humbug people as you 
 are doing, — and I won't, neither. You 're sticking it into 
 the people nicely, — don't you think you are? And they 
 believe it, too ! The people believes what you tell them, 
 and sucks it all down, and wants more of it. And you 
 keep a giving it to them, too ! How long do you suppose 
 such infamous things as these can last ? I hope this letter 
 will do you good. I havn't no ends to answer. I keep 
 but a few fowls, and I have never charged over twenty-five 
 dollars a pair for the best of them, — as you know. You 
 get fifty or a hundred dollars a pair. So the noospapers 
 say, but I believe you lie when they say so. You carn't 
 come this over me ! You don't pull none of that wool 
 over my eyes ! No, sir ! 
 
 " If you want to get an honest living, — get it ! I don't 
 say nothin against that ; you 've a rite to. But don't 
 cheat the people out of their eye-teeth, by telling these 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 181 
 
 stories that you carn't prove.* You 've no right to. You 
 sell fowls, by this means, but you don't get no clear con- 
 science by it. It 's wrong, Mr. Burnum, and you know it. 
 "While you do this, nobody can sell no fowls except you. 
 Give other people a chance, say I. I would n't do this, no- 
 how, to sell my fowls at your expense ; and I go for having 
 everybody do unto others as I would do to them. This is 
 moral and Christian-like, and you 'd better adopt it. That 's 
 my advice, and I don't charge nothing for it. So, no more 
 at present — from Your, resp'y, 
 
 These missives never disturbed me. Why should they ? 
 These very men would have sold, from that very stock, — 
 had done so, repeatedly, before, — whatever a buyer sought 
 to purchase. I never knew either of them to permit the 
 chance of a sale to pass by him, on account of the variety 
 of bird sought ! They invariably possessed whatever was 
 wanted. With them, '■'"policy was the best honesty." I 
 did not complain. I was a " hen-man," but no Mentor. 
 
 * I never found, in my limited experience in this business, any par- 
 ticular necessity for attempting to prove anything. " The people " wanted 
 Fowls — not proofs ! 
 
 16 
 
CHAPTER XXVII, 
 
 A GENUINE HUMBUG. 
 
 It was now getting pretty clear to the vision of most of 
 the initiated that the hen fever was in the midst of its height. 
 Buyers with long purses were about, but they were not sc 
 ravenous as formerly. They talked knowingly and cau- 
 tiously, and chose their fowls with more care than formerly ; 
 but still a great many samples were being circulated, and at 
 very handsomely remunerating prices. 
 
 A gentlemanly-Zoo&m.j? man called upon me, one day, 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 183 
 
 about this time, in Boston, and introduced himself, in his 
 own felicitous manner, something in this wise : 
 
 " How are you ? Mr. Burnum, I suppose. My name is 
 T . I 'm from Phil'delphy." 
 
 " Happy to see you, Mr. T ," I replied. "Take a 
 
 seat, sir? " 
 
 " I want to look at your fowls, Burnum," he continued, 
 in a rather bluff manner. " I know what poultry is. I 
 think. I've been at it, now, over thirty year ; and I'd 
 oughter know what fowls is. You 're a humbug, Burnum ! 
 There's no doubt about that; and you're all a set of 
 hums, together — you hen-men ! I have n't got the fever. 
 I 'm never disturbed by no such stupid nonsense. These 
 China fowls are an old story with me. I had 'em twenty 
 years ago, — brought into Phil'delphy straight from Shang- 
 hae by a friend of mine." 
 
 [This gentleman had forgotten, or did n't know (or 
 thought /didn't), that the port of Shanghae had been open 
 to communication with this country only a dozen years or 
 less ; and so I permitted him to proceed in his remarks 
 without offering any opposition to his assumption.] 
 
 " These big fowls never lay no eggs, Burnum. You know 
 it as well as anybody. Do they ?" 
 
 " None to hurt," I answered. 
 
 "No, no — I reck'n not," continued my visitor. "/ 
 know 'em, like a book. Can't fool me with them. They 
 
184 THE HISTORY 0¥ 
 
 an't worth a curse to nobody. I'll go out and see yours, 
 though, 'cause you 're a good deal fairer than I expected to 
 find you. I thought you 'd try to hum me, same as I s'pose 
 you do the rest." 
 
 " 0, no ! " I replied, meekly. " When I meet with gen- 
 tlemen who are posted up, as you are, sir, I conceive it to be 
 useless to attempt to urge them to possess themselves of this 
 stock : because I am always satisfied, at first sight, what my 
 customer is. And I govern myself accordingly. I will 
 take you out to my place, directly. My carriage is in 
 town, and we '11 ride out together. You can see it, — but 
 you say you don't want to purchase any ? " 
 
 " No, no — that 's not my object, at all. Still, I like to 
 look at the humbugs, any way." 
 
 I was as well satisfied that this man knew very little of 
 what he thus boldly talked of, as I also was that he had 
 come all the way from Philadelphia purposely to buy some 
 Chinese fowls. But I gave him no hint of this suspicion ; 
 and we arrived, an hour afterwards, at my residence in 
 Melrose. 
 
 He examined my fowls carefully ; went through all the 
 coops and houses, and finally we entered the "green-house" 
 where the selected animals were kept. As soon as he saw 
 these birds, /saw that he was " a goner." 
 
 He denounced the whole race as he passed along ; but 
 when we entered this well-appointed place, he stopped. 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 185 
 
 These were very respectable, and he would n't mind having 
 a few of these, he said. 
 
 " What do you get for such as these ? " he inquired. 
 
 " Twenty-five dollars each," I replied, " when I sell 
 them. But they 're all alike. You know it as well as I 
 do. They 're worth no such money. These fowls are well- 
 grown, and are in good condition ; but five or six shillings 
 each is their full real value. Still, you know when ' the 
 children cry for them,' why, we get a little more for 
 them." 
 
 " Yes ; but twenty-five dollars is a thundering hum, any- 
 how, Burnum ! I can't go that ! You must n't think of 
 getting no such price as that out of me, you see ; 'cause 
 you know that i" know what all this bosh means. I 'd like 
 that cock and those three big hens," he added, pointing to 
 four of my " best " birds. " That is," he continued, " if 
 I could have them at anything like a fair rate." 
 
 "My dear sir," I responded; "you don't want any 
 such hum as this imposed upon you. You know, evidently, 
 what all this kind of thing signifies. But, at the same time, 
 you see I can get this price, and do get it every day in the 
 week, out of the ' flats ' that you have been speaking of. 
 I don't sell any of these things to gentlemen, who know, as 
 you do, what they are, you see." 
 
 " Yes, yes ! " continued the stranger ; "I know ; I see. 
 I comprehend you, exactly — precisely. But I should 
 16* 
 
186 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 like them four fowls. What 's the lowest price you '11 
 name for them? " 
 
 " I never have but one price, sir," I replied. " These 
 fowls I keep here for show-birds. They are my 'sign,' 
 you perceive — my models. The younger stock, that you 
 have seen outside, are bred from these ; and thus I am 
 enabled to show gentlemen, when they come here, what the 
 others will be " — (perhaps, I might have added ; but I 
 didn't). 
 
 This gentleman remained half an hour at my house, and 
 we talked the whole subject over, at our leisure. I agreed 
 with him in every proposition that he advanced, and he 
 finally left me with the assurance that I had been traduced 
 villanously. He really expected to meet with a regular 
 sharper when he encountered me ; but he was satisfied, if 
 there was a gentleman and an honest poultry r breeder in 
 New England, I was that fortunate individual ! 
 
 I did not dispute even this assurance on his part. And 
 when he left, /had one hundred dollars of his money, and 
 he took away with him four of my " splendid " pure-bred 
 Grey Shanghaes, which I sent to the cars with him when he 
 bade me good-day. 
 
 This was but a single sample of the real humbugs that 
 presented themselves to us, from time to time, all of whom 
 were certain to inform us that they were "thoroughly 
 acquainted" with the entire details of the business; all of 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 187 
 
 whom had been through the routine, and " knew every rope 
 in the ship;" none of whom were affected with the 
 "fever" (so they always declared), and not one of whom 
 believed, while they were thus striving to pull wool over 
 the eyes of others, that they were all the time being 
 " shaken down" without mercy ! 
 
 This was the very class of men who, in the later days 
 of the malady, assisted most to keep up the delusion, and to 
 aid in carrying on the hum of the trade. To be sure, 
 the keepers of agricultural warehouses talked, and told big 
 stories to their poor customers, who would buy eggs and 
 chickens of them, for a while, at round prices ; true, most of 
 the agricultural papers strove from week to week to keep 
 up the deceit, after the editors or proprietors found their 
 yards over-stocked with this species of property, for which 
 they had originally paid me (or somebody else) roundly, 
 and which they "couldn't afford to lose," though they 
 knew it to be valueless ! True, the hen-men themselves 
 kept their advertising and the big stories of their success 
 constantly before "the people," whom they gulled from 
 day to day. But no portion of the community did more 
 to " help the cause along " than did this self-sufficient, 
 learned, know-nothing, thin-skinned class of " wise-acres," 
 who never chanced to make much more than a considerable 
 out of the writer of this paragraph — I think ! 
 
 Among this well-informed (?) set of men there wa3 
 
188 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 a "John Bull" who was connected in some way with 
 a Boston weekly, which was nominally called an agri- 
 cultural sheet, but which for several years was filled 
 with articles upon the subject of "the equality of the 
 sexes." 
 
 His name was Pudder, or Pucker, or Padder, as 
 nearly as I remember. From the commencement of 
 this fever he was sorely affected, and his articles upon 
 the merits of the different breeds of fowls he raised 
 were very learned and instructive ! He sold eggs for 
 three, four, or five dollars a dozen, for a few weeks ; but, as 
 they didn't hatch, his game was soon blocked. Still, he 
 stuck to this hum with the obstinacy of a " bluenose ; " and 
 his readers were indebted to his advice for possessing them- 
 selves of the most worthless mass of trash (in the shape 
 of poultry) that ever cursed the premises of amateur. 
 His lauded " Plymouth Rocks," his " Fawn-colored Dork- 
 ings," his " Italians," his "Drab Shanghaes," etc., sold, 
 however ; and the poor devils who read the paper, and 
 who purchased this stuff, lived (like a good many others) 
 to realize, to their hearts' content, after paying this fellow 
 for being thus humbugged, the truth of the old adage that 
 " the fool and his money is soon parted." 
 
 Still, Podder was useful — in his way — in the hen- 
 trade. The operations of such ignorant and wilful huck- 
 sters had the effect of opening the eyes of those who 
 
THE HEN FEVEH. 189 
 
 desired to obtain good stock, and who were willing to 
 pay for it. And after they had been thus fleeced, 
 they became cautious, and procured their poultry only of 
 "honorable" and responsible breeders (like myself), who 
 imported and bred nothing but known pure stock. 
 
 As late as in January, 1855, a western agricultural 
 sheet alludes to the flaming advertisement of an old hand 
 in this traffic, and says: "It is known to all who know 
 anything about poultry that Mr. G has been an ama- 
 teur breeder for about forty years, and is undoubtedly 
 better 'posted,' in reference to domestic and fancy fowls, 
 than any other man in America ; and, beside this, he is an 
 honest man, and has no { axe to grind.' He has raised fowls, 
 heretofore, solely for his own amusement ; but now he 
 proposes to accommodate the public by disposing of some of 
 them." 
 
 This man is my " fat friend " in Connecticut, — who has 
 bred and bought and sold as much trash, in the past ten 
 years, as the best (or the worst) of us. Friend Brown, we 
 could tell you a story worth two of yours, on this point ! 
 But — we forbear. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 BARNUM IN THE FIELD. 
 
 The prince of showmen was suddenly developed as a 
 " hen-man " ! Mr. Barnum was seized, one morning, with 
 violent spasms, and, upon finding himself safely within the 
 friendly shelter of "Iranistan," his physicians were duly 
 consulted, who examined his case critically, and reported 
 that the disease lay chiefly in the head of their patient — 
 who, it was subsequently ascertained, was suffering from a 
 severe attack of hen fever. 
 
 Such was the violence of the demonstrations in this gen- 
 tleman's case, however, and so fearful were the indications 
 with him, even during the incipient stages of the affection, 
 that his friends feared that Phineas T. had really contracted 
 his " never -get-over." But, upon being informed (as I 
 was, soon afterwards) of this case, and questioned as to his 
 probable eventual recovery, I unhesitatingly gave it as my 
 opinion that his friends might rest assured the humbug that 
 could kill him was yet to be discovered; and that, so far 
 as he was personally concerned, I entertained no sort of 
 
THE HIST BY OF THE HEN FEVER. 191 
 
 doubt that " lie would feel much better when it was done 
 aching." (A prediction which, I have no question, has 
 been accurately fulfilled, ere this.) 
 
 The man who could succeed, as he had, with no-haired 
 horses, gutta-percha mermaids, fat babies, etc., and who had 
 gone into and out of fire-annihilators, prepared mastodons, 
 illustrated newspapers, copper mines, defunct crystal pal- 
 aces, and the like, unscathed, would scarcely be jeopardized 
 by an attack of the prevailing malady of the day, however 
 violently it might exhibit itself in his case. And so there 
 was hope for Phineas, though his symptoms were really 
 alarming. 
 
 My friend took the very best possible means for alleviat- 
 ing the virulence of his attack ; and, looking about him for 
 the largest-sized humbug known in the trade, he alighted 
 upon a two-hundred-and-forty-pound Connecticut joker, 
 who quickly offered to inform him how he could find relief. 
 
 " How shall I do it, John? " exclaimed Phineas, as his 
 fat friend made his appearance. 
 
 " Heesiest thing in life," responded John ; "hall you 'ave 
 to do is to put yer 'and in yer pocket." 
 
 "So?" said Phineas, putting his fist gently out of 
 sight. 
 
 "No — you aren't deep enough down yet," replied 
 John. " Go down deeper. That 's better, — that '11 do." 
 
 " How much '11 it cost ? " queried Phineas, 
 
192 THE HISTORY OP 
 
 " Carn't say," responded John. "You're pooty bad. 
 There 's nuth'n' in this country that '11 cure you. Hi '11 go 
 hout to Hingland, if you say so, and hi can git somethin' 
 there that '11 'elp you. It ar'n't to be 'ad in Ameriky, 
 though." 
 
 " Sho ! " exclaimed Barnum; "you don't say so ! Do 
 you think, John, that we could find something in England 
 that would knock 'em, here? " 
 
 "Nothing else," replied John. " Hi know where they 
 keep 'em." (John was raised in Great Britain.) 
 
 "But, John," persisted Phineas, "there's Biimham, 
 you know, of Boston. They say he has the best poultry in 
 the world ; and I 've no doubt of it, between you and I." 
 
 " Fudge ! " exclaimed John ; " Burn' am 's a very clever 
 fellow, hi 've no manner o' doubt, and hi won't say nuth'n' 
 ag'inst 'im ; but 'ee 's the wust 'umbug you ever see, since 
 you 'ad breath. 'Ee don't know the dif 'rence 'tween a 
 Shanghi and a Cochin-Chiny — an' never did. 'Ee 's a 
 hum, 'is Burn'am. Don't go near hm, unless you want 
 the skin shaved hoffo' yer knuckles, clean." 
 
 "Well, John," said the show-man, " something must be 
 done. I 've got the fever, bad, I 'm afraid, as you suggest ; 
 and it must be fed. What can you do for me? " 
 
 John thought the matter over, and it was finally agreed, as 
 there were no good fowls in America (according to John's 
 notions), that he should be deputized by Phineas to proceed 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 193 
 
 to "Hingland," and procure some genuine (that is, pure) 
 stock, for the coops at Iranistan, at the liberal show-man'"s 
 expense ! A capital recipe, this, for Barnum's disease, as 
 well as for John's own benefit. 
 
 But Phineas is n't taken down easy, though they do occa- 
 sionally " fetch him." And so he hesitated. He thought 
 the matter over a while, and finally said to his friend, one 
 day, 
 
 "John, I've got it! " 
 
 " 'Ave you ? " says John. 
 
 " Yes, I 've got it. You know I 've something in my 
 head besides grey hairs, John." 
 
 " Hi 've no manner o' doubt o' that" replied John. 
 
 " "Well, I have thought this thing over, and I have 
 determined to see, first, what there is in America, before I 
 send you out to Europe." 
 
 " It '11 take you a long time to do that," said John, "and 
 you 'd 'ave to travel a great w'ile to see all the poultry 
 we 've 'ere." 
 
 " I won't travel at all," said Phineas. 
 
 " No ? As 'ow, then ? " inquired John. 
 
 "I'll get up a show — a poultry exhibition — on a 
 grand scale, and it shall come off at my Museum, at New 
 York. Everybody '11 come, of course ; and we can see 
 what there is, buy what I want from the best of 'em, and 
 make our selections as we may fancy ; you shall go out 
 17 
 
194 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 afterwards to England, and obtain for me what I can't get 
 here, you see." 
 
 " Capital ! — hexellent ! " responded John. 
 
 " And I '11 call it the — the — what ? " said Barnum, 
 stopping for an appropriate title to this anticipated 
 exhibition. 
 
 " I donno," said John, puzzled. 
 
 " Well — then — the National Show" continued Phin- 
 eas. " How '11 that do ? The first exhibition of the 
 ' National Poultry Society.' I think that 's good. You 
 see that includes all quarters of the country ; and we shall 
 know no north, no south, no east, no west ! A quarter 
 admission — Museum included — capital ! " 
 
 "Yes — just the thing!" chimed in his friend. And 
 shortly afterwards advertisements and circulars found their 
 way into the hands of all the hen-men in the country, who 
 were thus invited to visit New York, in February, 1854, 
 to contribute to the grand show of the " National Poultry 
 Society," of which P. T. Barnum, Esq.. was President. 
 
 A long string of names was attached to this call, and 
 the list of " Managers " embraced one or more representa- 
 tives from every State in the Union — my own humble name 
 appearing among the Vice-presidents for Massachusetts. 
 
 The whole thing was clearly one of Barnum' s dodges to 
 fill his Museum for a few days ; and probably not a single 
 individual except himself had any knowledge of the forma- 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 195 
 
 tion or existence of any such society as this, of which he 
 thus nominally appeared to be the presiding officer. At any 
 rate, after diligent inquiry, I could never ascertain that 
 anybody knew anything about any such an association, 
 except himself. 
 
 However, this was a matter of no sort of consequence, of 
 course. The Fitchburg Depot Show, in Boston, was a sim- 
 ilar affair ; and I now joined in this exhibition without 
 asking unnecessary questions, — because I saw that there 
 was fun ahead, and that / could make an honest penny out 
 of it, whether Barnum did or not. 
 
 Every one now put his best foot foremost ; and, as this 
 fair approached, Shanghaes were converted into Cochin- 
 Chinas (by the knowing ones), by the removal of the 
 feathers from the legs ; the mongrels were made feathered- 
 legged Bother'ems, by the free use of gum-tragacanth and 
 down ; the long-tailed fowls were deprived of all super- 
 fluous plumes, through the aid of the pincers ; and what 
 this last process did not satisfactorily effect, the application 
 of the shears completed (see engraving !) ; until, at last, 
 the unlucky bipeds, whom nature had originally supplied 
 with decent caudal appendages, were reduced to that re- 
 quisite state of brevity, astern, which the mode or the taste 
 of the day demanded. And, at length, all was ready for 
 the great " National Show " in Ne,w York city. 
 
 As it turned out, the whole thing (though an utter sham 
 
THE HISTORY OF 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 197 
 
 as regarded its being a society matter) proved to have been 
 well conceived, and, from beginning to end, was admirably 
 well carried out. Mr. Barmim did his part most creditably 
 at this first show in New York, and the experiment was 
 eminently successful. 
 
 The birds were afforded excellent care, and an immense 
 quantity of good specimens found their way to the Museum 
 at the appointed time. For a week, notwithstanding the 
 very dull weather, the great rooms of the American Museum 
 on Broadway were thronged with visitors ; and Barnum was 
 in high glee at the entire success of his undertaking. 
 
 Not content with one week's show of the fowls, Barnum 
 proposed that it should be continued for six days longer ; 
 and the crowd continued to visit this exhibition for another 
 week, and to pour in with their friends, their wives, their 
 children, and their quarters, to the great edification and 
 satisfaction of the proprietor of the show, and the " Presi- 
 dent " of the " National Poultry Society. 5 ' 
 
 I was there, with a goodly quantity of my " rare " and 
 "unexceptionable" and "pure-bred" fowls, which were 
 greatly admired by the thousands of lookers-on, who flocked 
 to this extraordinary exhibition. It was really astonishing 
 (to me, at least) what very fine birds I had at this show. 
 
 And, " may be," fowls did n't sell there ! If I remem- 
 ber rightly, "the people" were round, on that occasion. 
 And so was I! 
 
 17* 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 FIRST "NATIONAL" POULTRY-SHOW IN NEW YORK. 
 
 Whether it was because Barnuni had taken this enter- 
 prise in hand, whether it was because it was known that my 
 "superior" stock was to be seen at the Museum, or whether 
 it was because the intrepid " Fanny Fern" had promised to 
 visit the show, I cannot say ; but one thing was certain, — 
 Such a gathering of "the people" was seldom witnessed, 
 even in busy, driving, sight-seeing New York, as that 
 which crowded the great rooms of Barnums establishment 
 on the occasion of the first exhibition of the so-called " Na- 
 tional Poultry Society." 
 
 "All the world" was there, with his wife and babies, 
 and nieces and nephews. The belle and the beau, the mer- 
 chant and the mechanic, the lawyer and the parson, the rich 
 and the poor, old and young, grave and gay, — all were in 
 attendance upon this extraordinary display of cockadoodle- 
 dom ; and Barnum — the indefatigable, the enterprising, 
 the determined, the incomparable Barnum — was in 'his 
 glory, as the quarters were piled up at the counter of the 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 199 
 
 ticket-office, and "the people" wedged their way up the 
 crowded stairs and aisles of his Museum. 
 
 The great show-man was as busy as His Satanic Majesty 
 is vulgarly supposed to be in a snow-storm ! Now here, 
 now there ; up stairs, down stairs ; in the halls, in the 
 lobbies ; busy with John, button-holing the " committees," 
 from morning till night. All smiles, all good-nature, all 
 exertion to please the throngs of visitors who constantly 
 jammed their way about the building. And, to say that 
 everything about this undertaking (so far as he was person- 
 ally concerned) was not managed with tact and good judg- 
 ment, as well as complete propriety and liberality, would 
 be to state what was untrue. Mr. Barnum rarely does 
 anything by halves ; and to him, in this instance, belongs 
 the credit of getting up, and carrying through successfully, 
 the very best show of poultry ever seen in America, — 
 beyond all comparison. 
 
 In due season I selected from my then somewhat reduced 
 stock sixty specimens of the Shanghae tribe of fowls, which, 
 with some twenty samples of choice Madagascar Rabbits, I 
 forwarded (in charge of my own agent) to this long-talked- 
 of show. * 
 
 The person whom I employed to look after my stock — 
 (for I had long since got to be "a gentleman," and couldn't 
 attend to such trifling matters, personally) — the man who 
 went with it to this exhibition was thoroughly posted up in 
 
200 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 his " profession," and knew a hawk from a handsaw, as 
 well as a Shanghae from a Cochin-China. And when he 
 started for New York with my contributions, I enjoined it 
 upon him to bear in mind, under all circumstances, that 
 the gentleman he represented had the only pwre-bred 
 poultry in America, any way. To which he replied, 
 briefly, 
 
 < ' Is that all ? I knew that before. ' ' 
 
 I said, "John, you're a brick. A faced-brick. A hard- 
 faced-brick. You '11 doP 
 
 John winked, and left me, with the understanding that, 
 as soon as he should have time to look around the show, he 
 would telegraph me at Boston what the prospect was, com- 
 paratively. I felt quite sure that my fowls would take all 
 the premiums, for they always had done so before ; and my 
 "pure-bred" stock grew better and better every year! 
 
 I did not go to the show for a day or two after my 
 agent left ; and, on the morning succeeding the opening, I 
 received from him the following brief but expressive tele- 
 graphic dispatch : 
 
 " G. P. Burnham, Boston. 
 
 "Arrived safe ; thought we 'd got 'em, sure. We have 
 — over the left. You are nowhar ! B." 
 
 Here was a precious fix, to be sure ! For five years, I 
 had carried away the palm at every exhibition where my 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 201 
 
 ■'splendid" and deservedly "unrivalled" samples had been 
 put in competition with the stock of others. And now, at 
 the first great national exhibition, where everybody would 
 of course be present (and where the first cages that would 
 be looked for, or looked into, must be those of Mr. Burn- 
 ham, the breeder of the only original " pure "-blooded 
 poultry in the country), according to my agent's dispatch 
 I was nowhar ! 
 
 This dispatch reached me at noon, and on the following 
 morning I was in New York. I looked about the several 
 apartments in the Museum, and satisfied myself who had 
 the best fowls there, very quickly. As it happened, they 
 were not inside of my cages, by a long mark ! 
 
 Yet ' ' the people ' ' crowded around my showy coops, for 
 which my agent had secured an advantageous position, and 
 in displaying them (if I remember aright) he lost no oppor- 
 tunity in saying just enough (and no more) to the throng 
 who passed and admired their beautiful proportions, their 
 great size, and splendid colors. There were not a few choice 
 birds scattered about the rooms, — under the benches, or in 
 the far-off corners, — which my eye fell upon, which my 
 agent subsequently purchased at very modest prices, and 
 which found their way, somehow, into my coops. 
 
 "The people" now stared with more earnestness than 
 ever. By the evening of the second day, my "pure-bred" 
 stock did look remarkably well ! And when the "commit- 
 
202 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 tee " came round, at last, I found myself the recipient of 
 several of the leading premiums, for my "magnificent," 
 "superb" and "extraordinary" contributions, again. And 
 now commenced the fun, once more, in earnest. 
 
 Everything that I sent to New York was quickly bought 
 up at enormous prices. Fifty, eighty, a hundred, a hun- 
 dred and twenty-five dollars per trio, was willingly paid my 
 agent for the rare and incomparable fowls I exhibited there. 
 " The people " were literally mad on the subject ; and I 
 had n't half enough to supply my customers with, at figures 
 that astonished even my ideas of prices, — which, by the 
 way, were not easily disturbed ! 
 
 During this exhibition, Mr. Barnum announced that a 
 "conversational" gathering would be held, one day, in the 
 lecture-room of his Museum ; whither the throng were in- 
 vited to repair, at last, to talk over matters pertaining to 
 the welfare of the trade generally, and the hen-humbug 
 more particularly. 
 
 A rush was directly made for this hall, which was 
 quickly filled up by the multitude, who now stood or sat, 
 with gaping mouths and staring eyes, in readiness to be 
 further bamboozled by the managers of this National 
 "Society," who duly paraded themselves upon the platform, 
 and commenced to show themselves up for the edification 
 of the uninitiated, and to the great amusement of those who 
 had "been there" before them. 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 203 
 
 Mr. Barnum presided, but with that grace and modesty 
 and extreme diffidence for which he is so noted. The en- 
 thusiasm of the occasion soon reached concert-pitch, how- 
 ever, and everybody on the stage, in the parquette, and 
 around the gallery, desired to relieve themselves of the 
 pent-up patriotism that rioted in their bosoms ; and all 
 desired to be heard at the same time. 
 
 Cries of " Barnum ! Barnum ! " " Where 's Bennett ?" 
 " Speech from Burnham ! " " Down in front ! " "Give 
 'em a chance ! " " Hear the president ! — there he is ! " 
 "Hurra for the Bother' ems ! " &c. &c, rang from the 
 lungs of the crowd. And finally order was restored, and 
 Mr. Barnum approached the front of the stage, to deliver 
 himself of "feelings that could be fancied, not described," 
 amid the cheers and shouts of that crazy multitude. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 barnum' s innate diffidence. 
 
 As soon as the vociferous cheering had subsided, Mr. 
 Barnum reached the foot-lights, and smiled beneficently 
 upon the crowd before him. 
 
 " Ladies and Gentlemen," said the show-man, mod- 
 estly, " unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, you will 
 pardon me, imprimis, for hinting at the extreme diffidence 
 with which I now rise to address you ; and I am sure that, 
 notwithstanding the commendable zeal that now animates 
 this enlightened audience, you will sympathize with me in 
 the midst of the embarrassments under which you must 
 readily perceive I am laboring, and extend to the speaker 
 your lenity (all unused, as you are aware he is, to this sort 
 of scene), while he ventures upon a few very brief remarks 
 on the interesting and laudably-exciting topic that has 
 brought us together here, on this happy occasion." 
 
 This modest appeal brought down the house, of course ; 
 and the bashful Mr. B., after clearing his throat, was 
 requested by the crowd to "Go on, Barnum ! Proceed — 
 put 'er through ! " 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 205 
 
 "The hen fever," continued Mr. B , "isbut just begun 
 
 to be realized, ladies and gentlemen, among us." (Barnum 
 had been attacked by the malady only a few weeks previous- 
 ly, and hadn't "heard from the back counties" then!) 
 " This first exhibition of the National Poultry Society, my 
 friends, is ample evidence in support of this statement. 
 Was there ever such a show seen, or heard of, ladies and 
 gentlemen, as this which you are now the witnesses of? 
 Never ! Yet, I repeat it, this is but the commencement. 
 The enthusiasm which has attended upon this exhibition, the 
 feelings that have been stirred up by this before unheard-of 
 display, the people of every grade in society that come for- 
 ward here in its support, the zeal which animates the bosoms 
 of the thousands upon thousands who have attended it, and 
 the names of the men connected with its origin and present 
 patronage, afford ample evidence in support of my assertions, 
 that the fire has but just begun — just begun to burn, fairly, 
 ladies and gentlemen ! " (" That 's a fact," was the ready 
 response of a young gentleman who had just paid my 
 agent over three hundred dollars for a few samples of my 
 " choice " chickens ; the first he ever owned !) 
 
 " I" want to say a few words," remarked a stranger, 
 
 under the gallery, at this point. But he was requested by 
 
 the chairman to " hold in ! " until Mr. Barnum concluded. 
 
 After considerable urging, this anxious man was prevailed 
 
 18 
 
206 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 upon to sit down ; though he was evidently " full to burst- 
 ing," with his enthusiastic emotions. 
 
 " We have a good deal to learn yet, gentlemen," con- 
 tinued Barnum (and that was truthful, at any rate !) "We 
 have much to learn ; but we know enough to spur us on to 
 acquire more. More knowledge, more experience, more 
 fowls. We haven't enough — we don't know enough, yet. 
 I am greatly rejoiced at the prospects, to-day, and with the 
 entire success of this enterprise, here ! " (And well he 
 might be.) "I have freely given my time and humble 
 talents to its consummation, and we have triumphed ! We, 
 the people, the men who have the heart and the pluck to 
 undertake and carry through this sort of thing. There 's 
 no hum in this, gentlemen ! None, whatever. How can 
 there be ? We see this thing before our very eyes. It is a 
 tangible, living, breathing, walking, crowing " (and he 
 might have added eating /) " reality, ladies and gentlemen. 
 There can be no humbug in anything of this sort ; because 
 we can take hold upon it, handle it. view it with our eyes 
 open. A humbug is but an unexplained or half-concluded 
 fact. This is a self-evident, clearly-defined fact — 
 
 c A thing that is — and to be blessed ! ' 
 
 And when you, or I, can take a crower in our hands that 
 will weigh twelve or fourteen or fifteen pounds, — when we 
 can see and feel him, — can there, by any possibility, be 
 humbug in it?" 
 
THE HEN FEVEE. 207 
 
 "No — no — no ! " shouted the crowd ; the ladies kindly 
 joining in the decisive negative given to this forcible appeal. 
 
 "Then, I repeat it, we are but just in the beginning of 
 the commencement of this new and promising era. The fire 
 has just begun to burn, and to illumine the world ; and, as 
 I said before (or intended to say), it is not to be subdued ! 
 It is a mighty conflagration, which assails everybody at this 
 moment, and is now enveloping all classes of the community, 
 from the highest to the lowest ! This land is in a blaze ! 
 In a threatening, exciting, violent, whirling, astounding 
 blaze, gentlemen — and no opposition or invention can put 
 it out I" (" Fetch on your fire-'nihilators, then ! " shouted 
 a vicious wag, from the gallery.) 
 
 " We don't want to put it out," continued Mr. Barnum, 
 growing warmer as the fire of his zeal in this cause contin- 
 ued to glow within him ; '* we have no wish to put it out. 
 Let it burn ! Let it come ! Let it conflagrate ! "We love 
 it — you love it — 1" love it — it 's one of the things we 
 admire to think of, and speak of, and read of, and pay for, 
 and help to keep alive here, and everywhere, and elsewhere ! 
 Our country is big enough; we have millions of broad acres, 
 miles on miles of fertile fields, and cords of maize and grain 
 that cannot be used or disposed of, unless it be devoted to 
 the uses and benefits of these beautiful birds, sometimes so 
 cavalierly spoken of by their enemies, but the value of which 
 / know, and most of you, gentlemen, know how to appre- 
 
208 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 ciate ! " (Applause, and cries of " Go it, old hoss ! You '11 
 be a capital customer for some of the hen-men to pick up ! 
 Go it, Barnum ! ") 
 
 "I did not rise, gentlemen," continued the speaker, 
 " with any idea of telling you anything new. I am but an 
 humble coadjutor with you in this pleasing and innocent 
 undertaking. I can see, as you can, also, the importance 
 of this subject" (he didn't say what "subject"), "and I 
 trust that we may go on, and increase, and multiply domestic 
 fowls and customers, in a ratio commensurate with the rapid- 
 ly increasing throbs of the public pulse — which is now 
 beating only at 2.40, and which must soon reach a 2.10 
 pace, if nothing breaks!" ("Hurra! Hurra!" yelled 
 the boys ; " that 's a good 'un ! ") And the President sat 
 down, blushing, amid the uproarious applause that followed 
 his remarks. 
 
 As soon as order was comparatively restored, other gen- 
 tlemen, whom the President introduced as " honorable," 
 and "talented," and "professional," and "influential," 
 took the rostrum, and "followed suit" upon Barnum's 
 lead. 
 
 A vote of thanks was finally passed to Mr. Barnum for 
 his services, and the sacrifices he had made in behalf of the 
 "Society;" another to the "orator" of the day (whose 
 name I have now forgotten), formerly a member of Con- 
 gress, I believe ; another similar vote to the Secretary, to 
 
THE HEN FEVEK. 209 
 
 whom, also, a plated jug was subsequently presented; a 
 vote to Mr. Burnham, of Boston, for his speech and his 
 " magnificent " contributions of ^wre-bred stock ; a vote 
 condemning everybody who had or should thenceforward 
 nickname fowls ; a vote of condolence and sympathy with 
 John Giles, because none of his "pure Black Spanish fowls 
 were in the exhibition ; a vote to Porter, of the New York 
 Spirit of the Times, for . his disinterested notices of the 
 show ; another to Greeley, of the Tribune, who had n't time 
 to visit it ; another to pay the bills of the " Committees " 
 at the Astor House (minus the champagne charges !) ; 
 another to Dr. Bennett, for not being present at this show ; 
 another endorsing the claims of patent pill-venders and 
 cross-grained bee-hive makers; another to Frank Pierce, 
 for the allusions in his inaugural to the " march of prog- 
 ress " in our land, which of course included Shanghae-ism ; 
 another to Caleb Cushing (an honorary member), who was 
 lauded as the most thoroughly graceless humbug known to 
 the "national" society; another endorsing the collector and 
 postmaster of Boston as disinterested democrats; another 
 that my " Grey Shanghaes " were evidently the only full- 
 blooded fowls exhibited at the American Museum on this 
 occasion; and numerous other resolves were duly " voted," 
 of which no note was taken at the time. 
 
 While this bosh was transpiring, I sent to Boston for 
 some fifty pairs more of my " superb " specimens of Shang- 
 18* 
 
210 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 liaes and Cochins, all of which were disposed of during the 
 second week of this show, at curiously " ruinous " rates. 
 And at the close of the exhibition my agent had taken 
 very nearly three thousand dollars for the " pure " Shang- 
 haes, and Cochins, and Greys, he had sold there for my 
 account ! 
 
 I trust that every one was as well satisfied with the re- 
 sults of this first exhibition of the " National Poultry 
 Society " as I was. It is the last show /shall ever attend. 
 And having invariably taken the lead, from the beginning 
 up to this trial, I retired, content with the self-assurance 
 that I had made all I could make out of this sort of thing, " 
 and that the field now legitimately belonged to my juniors 
 in the profession. May success attend them ! 
 
 At the close of the exhibition, my friend Barnum con- 
 gratulated me. 
 
 " They tell me you 've done ivell, Burnham," said my 
 friend, cheerfully. " I 'm glad of it. And, since you've 
 made it so handsomely, suppose you leave me a couple of 
 your best Fancy Rabbits, yonder ; I '11 add them to the 
 1 Happy Family.' " 
 
 " Certainly," I replied. " With great pleasure, B . 
 
 And, since you have done so capitally with this show, you 
 shall give me a quarter of your profits on the tickets sold. 
 Here — take the rabbits ! " 
 
 " A-hem ! " said Barnum. " No — no. It 's no mat- 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 211 
 
 ter. You need n't — no — we won't say anything about it. 
 It ; s all right. You '11 do. You can run alone, I guess. 
 / believe I don't spell my name right ! Good-by — good- 
 by." 
 
 I have n't seen friend Barnum since. 
 
 At this exhibition of poultry I managed to show a pair 
 of my pure-bred Suffolk pigs, too, which did not set me 
 back any. I took numerous orders for these animals, and I 
 have given on page 174 what passes for a likeness of a 
 fancy " Shanghae " fowl, such as we " read of in the news- 
 papers," and which everybody, during the last five years, 
 imagined he was buying, when he ordered "such," after 
 seeing the " pictur'." 
 
 In this class of illustration, there was quite as much 
 deceit and chicanery practised, commonly, as in any part of 
 the general system of the humbug. The uninitiated saw 
 the well-rounded forms of the huge fowls or hogs he sought, 
 in his weekly agricultural journal, from time to time ; and, 
 through the same channel, he met with " portraits," repre- 
 sented to have had originals at some time or other, and 
 which were said to be in the possession of this or that 
 breeder, who "had been induced, after earnest solicitation, 
 to part with a very few choice samples," out of such imag- 
 inary stock. With the swine, the thicker the ham, the 
 smaller the feet, the shorter the nose, and the thinner the 
 
212 
 
 TEE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 hair, the better and the purer blooded pig you got, for 
 instance ! 
 
 The following is a sample of this kind of guy, which has 
 had its run in the past three years, and upon which tens of 
 thousands of dollars have been squandered by enthusiastic 
 admirers of these bloated bladders of lard. This is sup- 
 posed to be a likeness of the " genuine " 
 
 i^ii^Hw!/ 
 
 SUFFOLK PIG. 
 
 The good old lady replied, when asked if she loved the 
 Lord, " I donno much about him, but I hain't nothin' agin 
 him ! " So I affirm in reference to this hog. But one thing 
 I may be permitted to remark in this connection ; to wit, 
 that the more pure Suffolk pigs there are, the less corn 
 you find round. That 's all ! 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 A SUPPRESSED SPEECH. 
 
 The following remarks, on the occasion referred to, were 
 neither published at the time, nor would the " Committee on 
 Printing" admit them into the official report of the proceed- 
 ings of this national show. For what reason, I am utterly 
 unable to determine. These were the author's sentiments, 
 and I give the speech a place here, because I have no idea 
 of being thus " headed " by my colleagues in that enter- 
 prise. This speech was delivered by the Young 'Un " with 
 emphasis and discretion ;" but the managers suppressed it. 
 I now submit it, in the hope that it will be duly appreciated. 
 When called upon, I said, as modestly and as gracefully as 
 I knew how : 
 
 " Mr. President : Vox populi, vox Dei ! The people 
 assembled within the classic and well-painted walls of your 
 American Museum call upon me for a few words of encour- 
 agement ; and, while I assure you I find myself totally 
 unprepared to speak (though my present address has been 
 
214 THE HISTORY OE 
 
 written some four weeks), I cheerfully respond to the flat- 
 tering demonstration that greets me on this electrifying 
 occasion." (Applause, and waving of hats and handker- 
 chiefs.) 
 
 "lam but an humble disciple in this profession, Mr. 
 President, and know very little of the deceit and chi- 
 canery that some persons charge others with practising in 
 the ramifications of the hen- trade ; and, although it has 
 been said that ' what I don't know about this part of the 
 business would n't be worth much to anybody,' yet I here 
 solemnly disclaim any superhuman or supernatural knowl- 
 edge of the tricks of this laudable and highly respectable 
 calling." (Cries of " Good, good ! You're an injured 
 man ! Go on ! ") 
 
 " For six years, Mr. President, I have carefully watched 
 the progress of this disease, and it really warms the recesses 
 of my heart to find myself surrounded, as I do to-day, by 
 the highly honorable and respectable throng of gentlemen 
 who now grace this rostrum, — yourself, Mr. President, 
 prominent among this galaxy of talent, education, genius, 
 morality, and thrift ! " (Immense applause, during which 
 the speaker removed his outside coat.) 
 
 " The day is auspicious, Mr. Barnum, — I beg pardon — 
 Mr. President. The spirit of liberty, — of American lib- 
 erty, — sir, is abroad ! To be sure, our valued friends who 
 pretend to Know Nothing (and whose pretensions none of 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 215' 
 
 us here, I think, will gainsay) have commenced an on- 
 slaught upon almost everything of foreign extraction ; but 
 they kindly permit us to import Chinese fowls, and allow 
 us to breed them — for the present, at least — without inter- 
 ruption; for which I trust they may receive a unanimous vote 
 of thanks from this American National Poultry Society. 7 ' 
 ("Yes, yes ! " followed this allusion, with hearty cheers.) 
 
 " I repeat it, sir, — the times are auspicious. Money is 
 a drug in the market, plainly. The patronage bestowed 
 upon this show (in which, Mr. President, I am sure your 
 native modesty and national patriotism cannot suffer you to 
 feel the slightest personal interest) is evidence of this fact. 
 The prices paid here, in 1854, for domestic fowls — though 
 so clearly below their actual value ! — supports this assertion : 
 and your own entire lack of backwardness in coming for- 
 ward to assume the risk and responsibility of the expenses 
 of this exhibition is the crowning proof that V argent is 
 plenty — somewhere, at least. I have no disposition, Mr. 
 President, — far be it from me — Heaven forbid that I 
 should attempt — to offer one word of flattery, that you 
 might, by any possibility, appropriate personally. No, sir, 
 — I am no such man ! But, if ever there was an individual 
 whose pure-bred disinterestedness, whose incomparable gen- 
 erosity, whose astonishing sacrifice of self, stuck out like a 
 sore thumb, these attributes have now been evinced, beyond 
 the shadow of a shade of question, on this exhilarating occa- 
 
216 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 sion, through the' astounding liberality of a gentleman, the 
 initials of whose name are Finnyous Tee Barman ! " 
 (Immense applause, during which the Young' Un laid aside 
 his dress-coat, and took off his cravat, — while the President; 
 with both hands over his face, sat overpowered with his 
 emotions.) 
 
 " Mr. President, I am no clap-trap orator. 1 shall say 
 what I have to say, sir, to-day, without any hope or aim 
 towards future reward. To be sure, I have the originals 
 of the finest-blooded fowls in the land, and nobody disputes 
 it ; and I have now a fine lot here to dispose of ; but this is 
 not the time or place to allude to this matter ; and I will 
 only say that I do not charge so much for them as many 
 breeders do, while, at the same time, mine are very much 
 finer and purer than anybody else's, as can readily be seen 
 upon examining the contents of my cages, in the first room 
 below this hall, on the right-hand side as you enter the 
 building. The people, sir, are in search of information on 
 this interesting subject ; and I will only add, gentlemen, — 
 call as you pass out, and judge for yourselves." (Loud 
 cries of " We will ! — we will ! " " That 's true ! " " That 's 
 a fact ! " " Your fame is firmly established ! ") 
 
 " Mr. President, I have been too long a resident of 
 these United States — I am too old a citizen of this 
 enlightened country — to be ignorant of the true character 
 of the American people. I am a Yankee, sir ! My father 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 217 
 
 was a Yankee, and my grandfather (if I ever had one, sir), 
 before him. ' The people ' know what they are about. 
 You cannot deceive them, sir, as you and I well know. 
 When they undertake a thing, it must go forward. There 's 
 no stopping them, sir. . They enter into any enterprise that 
 promises so much of universal success to the whole country 
 as does this business of poultry-raising, with a rush, sir ! 
 And they carry out their objects, — nil disperandum hie 
 jaeit est glorii mundi morning, sir, — as the poet re- 
 marks." (Hurra! Hurra! "Three cheers for Burn- 
 ham," suggested the President, which were given with a 
 will ; and during which the speaker removed his vest and 
 braces, — carefully securing his watch, however, at the 
 same time.) 
 
 "We are not here to be humbugged, sir, nor do we 
 aspire to humbug anybody, at this exhibition ; — a perform- 
 ance which would be rather difficult to effect, in my humble 
 judgment, even if we did ! We come here to show the 
 people what has been done, what is now doing, and what 
 may be done again, sir, by our friends here, all of them 
 and any of them, who choose to undertake the pleasing and 
 delightful task of rearing pure-oved fowls. And, should 
 there now be within the sound of my voice any lady or 
 gentleman who has never seen the tiny Shanghae chick as 
 it emerged from its delicate prison-shell and leaped forth 
 into liberty and the glorious sunlight, — should any one of 
 19 
 
218 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 my listeners never have enjoyed the dulcet tone of that 
 chicken's tender 'peep,' — if any of you are strangers to 
 the habits and beauties and innocence of these rare but 
 graceful birds, — if you have never listened to the melody 
 of their musical crow, from youth to green old age, — I will 
 only say, procure some of the genuine specimens, and there 
 is much of joy and happiness yet in store for yourselves, 
 your wives, your children, or your friends, — if you chance 
 to have any." (Applause, and marked sensation.) 
 
 " Mr. President, I am no speech-maker. Had I, for one 
 moment, supposed that 2" should have been thought of, by 
 this talented and well-informed audience, I should not have 
 been present here, I assure you. But, sir, my fame pre- 
 ceded me here. I 'm a poor but honest man ; and modesty, 
 sir, that native modesty which so preeminently character- 
 izes your own composition, Mr. President (had I suspected 
 that I should have been called upon), would have prompted 
 me to have left to others the pleasing task of speaking of 
 me and mine. Still, if my friends c will buckle fortune on 
 my back, whether I will or no,' I can only say that I feel 
 impressed that the duty and moral obligations I owe to 
 society compel me to submit to the burthen, with the best 
 possible grace at my humble command." (Deep sensation 
 among the audience ; the ladies, for the most part, in tears.) 
 
 ' ' But, sir, the future is before us ! The brilliant star 
 of fortune still shines in the distance, for the encouragement 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 219 
 
 of those who have not yet availed themselves of the splendid 
 promise that awaits the men who are yet to come after us, 
 to do as we have done ! And, to those who are now about 
 to undertake the commendable occupation of attempting to 
 breed ' fancy poultry,' I will only say, ' Go on, gentlemen ! 
 Forward, in your delightfully pleasing and profit-promising 
 ambition ! Purchase none but the best stock, without 
 regard to price; and breed it (if you can!) Everybody 
 wants to buy, — everybody will buy, — and the hens that 
 lay the golden eggs are still for sale, within the sound of my 
 voice (unless they have all been bought up since I entered 
 this hall). But there are still a few more left, I have no 
 doubt, gentlemen ; and, I charge you, seize them while you 
 may ! ' " 
 
 A general stampede followed my speech. I secured my 
 clothes, and, for three hours afterwards, I found it impossi- 
 ble to get within fifty feet of my show-cages, in consequence 
 of the throng of purchasers that crowded around them ! 
 
 There must have been some charm about those magical 
 coops of mine. They were filled and refilled, twenty times 
 over ; but they were as often emptied, and at singularly 
 gratifying prices, both to buyer and seller. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 A "confidence" man. 
 
 Towards the close of this show in New York, a 
 somewhat noted cattle-breeder (who was then absent 
 in England) wrote home to an agent in this country, 
 directing him to secure all the Grey Shanghaes obtain- 
 able, and further to contract for the raising of hun- 
 dreds or thousands more, to be delivered during the 
 following season. 
 
 At this late day, such an undertaking appeared (to the 
 initiated) to exhibit a most extraordinary confidence in the 
 reality of the hen-trade; but, to those who "had been 
 there," it was very amusing to witness the new-born zeal 
 of this curiously verdant purchaser, who invested so large 
 an amount of money, in 1854, in this hum ! 
 
 The most extravagant prices were paid by this person 
 for Grey fowls, and large orders were given by the agent, 
 to different breeders, in New England, for future supplies. 
 Several hundred birds were then purchased, at rates vary- 
 ing from four or five dollars to fifty dollars each ; and 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 221 
 
 finally some twenty cages were filled, and consigned to 
 London, to be disposed of (as it was supposed) at enormous 
 figures. 
 
 This speculation was a total failure. The fowls were 
 inferior, and sick, and worthless. An auction sale followed 
 quickly upon their arrival in England, the proceeds of 
 which failed to pay even their freight and expenses out 
 from this country ; and the " confidential " proprietor of the 
 stock, who had not the slightest conception of the details of 
 the trade, was the loser of hundreds of dollars by this fool- 
 ish and reckless undertaking. 
 
 But his contracts with home breeders, who had raised 
 for him one hundred, three hundred, or five hundred pairs 
 of chickens, each, were yet in statu quo ! Two or three 
 thousand Grey chickens were awaiting this confident gen- 
 tleman's orders, and in the mean time were devouring hu°;e 
 
 1 DO 
 
 quantities of corn and meal, then ranging at from a dollar 
 to a dollar and ten cents a bushel ! 
 
 Sales were merely nominal ; buyers of fancy fowls were 
 wowhar ; grain continued on the rise ; the chickens grew 
 longer in the legs and necks, and devoured more corn 
 than ever ; cold weather approached, and the breeders had 
 no conveniences for housing these thousands of monsters; 
 and finally the victims became importunate. 
 
 The contractor did n't want the fowls. Of course he 
 did n't. He had " put his foot into it " with a vengeance ! 
 19* 
 
222 THE HISTOKY OF 
 
 But the parties who had raised these birds " to order " 
 insisted' upon the fulfilment of the contractor's promise to 
 take them, at four, six and eight months old. 
 
 But the confident gentleman, who, in the spring of 1854, 
 had made up his mind that the "hen fever had but just 
 then made its appearance, in fact," now discovered that the 
 bottom had been shaky for a twelvemonth, at the least, and 
 had at length fallen out altogether ! 
 
 The folly of this enterprise was apparent to every fowl- 
 raiser in New England, from the outset. But this man 
 knew what he was about, — so he declared, — and he scouted 
 the advice of those who, from long experience, were able to 
 instruct and advise him better. It was but a single 
 instance of its kind, however, and it served, for the time 
 being, to aid in keeping up the excitement of the humbug 
 which had cost so many men before him large sums of 
 money, and months of labor and care, without the slightest 
 subsequent compensation. 
 
 By the fall of 1854, the price of this "fancy stock" 
 began to approximate towards its intrinsic level, somewhat, 
 in consequence of its being thus overdone; and very fair 
 birds were offered for five to seven dollars the pair, with but 
 few purchasers. 
 
 In England, the fever had subsided. During the 
 spring and summer, my own sales for that market had been 
 continuously, and without any abatement, extremely liberal ; 
 
THE HEN FEVEK. 
 
 223 
 
 but the prospect suddenly became clouded — the demand 
 fell off — and I saw that the gate was about to be shut 
 down. 
 
 The jig was nearly up, evidently, in December, 1854. 
 In all the suburban towns of this state, and more especially 
 throughout the entire length and breadth of Rhode Island 
 and Connecticut, immense numbers of the Chinese varie- 
 ties of fowls were being bred ; and I saw, months before, 
 that the market must of necessity be glutted, to the 
 full, in the winter that was then approaching. Many of 
 the experienced fanciers still clung to the hope that the 
 trade would rally again, however, — but I was satisfied that 
 the engine-bell had rung for the last time, and that the train 
 was already now on the move. 
 
 M'M, 
 
 rs^^^g^hmig*^ 
 
 A " PURE-BRED SPECIMEN, IMPORTED PROM BRIGHTON 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 THE ESSENCE OF HUMBUG. 
 
 During this and the previous years, some of the older 
 fanciers and breeders had resorted to the most fulsome and 
 nonsensical style of advertisements, to push off their stock 
 upon the unguarded. No quality of superlative goodness, 
 known or unknown, that could be described in the English 
 language (either by means of "communications" through 
 the public prints, or by ordinary forms of advertising), was 
 omitted to be proclaimed by the owners of fancy stock, in 
 order to force off upon the credulous or the uninitiated 
 their " newly-imported " stuff, and its progeny. 
 
 High-sounding but most ridiculous titles were given, by 
 the nominal " importers," to their live stock ; and the pub- 
 lic were asked to purchase "Hong-Kong" fowls, "Ben- 
 gal Eagle" chickens, "Wild Indian Mountain" hens, 
 " Whang- tongs," " Quittaquongs," " Hoang-Hos," " Pad- 
 uas," etc. ; and the following advertisement appeared, 
 finally, to cap the climax of this inexpressibly stupid non- 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 225 
 
 sense. It was printed in an agricultural monthly, issued 
 somewhere in western New York, and it ran as follows : 
 
 "Mormann & Humm, Importers and Exporters of, and 
 Dealers in, all breeds and varieties of Blooded Live Stock, 
 Big Falls, 1ST. S. Messrs. Mormann and Humm are now 
 perfecting their arrangements for importing from Europe 
 and Asia all the best breeds of Horses, Cattle, Hogs, Dogs, 
 Sheep, Rabbits, Goats, Fowls, &c. &c, and for exporting 
 Buffalo, Elk, Deer, Moose, Badgers, Bears, Foxes, Swifts, 
 Eagles, Swans, Pelicans, Granes, Loons, &c. &c. They 
 will keep on hand, as near as may be, all the best Blooded 
 Animals and Fowls — gallinaceous and aquatic — fancy 
 and substantial — which they will furnish to their numer- 
 ous patrons in Europe and America at reasonable rates. 
 All orders should be directed to Big Falls, N. S., until oth- 
 erwise notified. 
 
 " Also, they have imported the finest and only Ptar- 
 magins ever introduced into the United States. These 
 surprisingly beautiful fowls are direct from the original 
 stock. The Ptarmagins — white in winter and ash -colored 
 in summer — booted and tufted — are the most unique of 
 domestic fowls. They will supply orders for Ptarmagin chick- 
 ens; also, Hoang-Hos, Imperials, Falcon-hocked Cochins, (!) 
 and a large variety of Improved Suffolks and other fine 
 hogs, from the choice stocks of His Royal Highness Prince 
 Albert, His Grace the Duke of Beaufort, Lord Wenlock, the 
 Earl of Radnor, late Earl of Ducie, Rev. Mr. Thursby, Mr. 
 Garbanati, &c. &c. Also some choice Chinese Mandarin 
 and Siamese hogs, &c. &c. &c." 
 
 In this same pamphlet, appeared the annexed communi- 
 cation (in the form of a letter to the nominal publisher), 
 which will explain itself, probably, to those who are ac- 
 quainted'with its hifalutin author. It was a rich " card," 
 
226 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 in the estimation of the " boys," at the time of its first 
 appearance, though nobody ever saw this extraordinary beast 
 or its progeny. I imagine : 
 
 Chinese Mandarin Hogs. 
 
 " — , JSTov. 7, 1854. 
 
 " Friend M : 
 
 " We have just purchased the lot of Chinese Mandarin 
 Swine, imported, &c. &c. &c. * * * 
 
 "This is the best breed of China hogs, and are great 
 favorites with the inhabitants, the meat being remarkably 
 tender and fine-flavored. At maturity they Aveigh from 
 fifteen to eighteen score, and are very prolific. 
 
 "The head and face of these animals very closely 
 resemble an elephant, both as to the appearance of the skin 
 and ears, and the number and depth of facial fissures ; per- 
 fectly unique, and strikingly oriental in capital aspect. 
 
 ' ' The neck is longer than that of anything of the hog 
 race, imparting a most singular appearance to the propor- 
 tions of the whole animal. 
 
 " These Chinese hogs are entirely different from anything 
 of the sort ever imported into this country before, and are 
 the most prolific of the swine race. The imported sow and 
 each of the sow-pigs have eighteen well-developed dugs. 
 The number of well-defined dugs is always the best prima 
 facie evidence of prolificness in any animal. 
 
 "The bodies of these hogs are shaped like the white 
 Berkshire breed of England. They take on fat with remark- 
 able rapidity, and, in color, though not so spotted as the 
 leopard, these hogs are beautifully striated, the body spotted 
 like polished alabaster and ebony, checkered and rounded 
 most exquisitely. 
 
 "We shall have an engraving of these animals for the 
 northern agricultural papers, and one of the great English 
 periodicals. Yours, truly, k ." 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 227 
 
 The editor adds, cautiously, "The importers are gentle- 
 men of strict probity and honor, so far as our knowledge 
 extends ; but, in these hurrying times, "when the public 
 excitement is up on any kind of stock, a man may import 
 and sell worthless animals, to a great extent, before a reac- 
 tion can take place." 
 
 ISTow, this sort of mush and moonshine very soon nau- 
 seated upon the stomachs, of "the people." even; who 
 ordinarily can (and will) patiently submit to a vast deal of 
 mummery. But when such palpable bosh as this is placed 
 before them, they are apt to dodge all association with it 
 and its clearly-expressed humbuggery ; and so the tide now 
 very quickly began to turn against the trade. " Brahmas," 
 and " Quittaquong " fowls, and " Mandarin " pigs, proved 
 too threatening a dose for the masses ! They had n't time 
 to spell out the names of such stock — to say nothing of 
 purchasing it, at round figures, and attempting to breed it 
 afterwards. 
 
 What those men imagined they could possibly effect by 
 this sort of ridiculous nonsense, I am unable to conceive of. 
 Yet it was put forth in sober earnest ; and scores of similar 
 advertisements filled the papers, from time to time — each 
 having for its object the continuous gulling of the " dear 
 people," each in its own peculiar way. 
 
 And for years — up to this period — the star-gazing, 
 wonder-loving, humbug-seeking portion of the community, 
 
228 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 — the mass who fill every corner of the land, and who watch 
 for something continuously "new under the sun," out of 
 which money can be made, — I say, for years, this por- 
 tion of the public believed what they saw and read of, and 
 responded to this sort of thing with a gusto equalled only 
 by the zest with which, in years before, they had encour- 
 aged and supported the score of other "hums" that had 
 been current around them. 
 
 But the delusions of morus multicaulis, and Merino 
 sheep, and patent bee-keeping, and Berkshire pigs, and 
 tulip-growing, had passed away ; and the hen fever, at last, 
 subsided, too. Unpronounceable names and long-winded ad- 
 vertisements would n't do ! " The people " had ascertained 
 that there was an end even to Shanghae and Brahma-ism ! 
 And this flimsiest of all bubbles was now inflated fully to 
 bursting;. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 A TRUMP CARD. 
 
 Not to be beaten bj this sort of thing (since the 
 columns of certain friendly journals were still open to me), 
 I adopted the style of advertising then current ; and soon 
 after the articles noted in the last chapter made their 
 appearance in the "agricultural" paper alluded to, the fol- 
 lowing letter from the Young 'Un was published in the 
 New York Spirit of the Times, upon the subject of 
 live stock generally, and what I had for sale particularly. 
 
 " Uncle Porter: 
 
 " During the last few years, I have turned my attention 
 to trafficking in stock (as you may possibly already be 
 aware). Not copper stock, or Reading, or Hoosac Tunnel, 
 or similar 'bores,' — but in live stock; to wit, living stock. 
 As is usual in this great and free country, other people have 
 got to doing the same kind of business, since it has been 
 now found to ' pay ;' and who 's a better right ? 
 
 " / desire, at the commencement of the new year, 
 
 through the Spirit, to call the attention of such of your 
 20 
 
230 THE HISTORY OB 
 
 friends (as you cannot supply readily) to my present assort- 
 ment of ominus, omnivorous, carnivorous, graminivorous 
 and bipederous specimens — which I have imported from 
 Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceanica, South America, and other 
 places ; and consisting, in part, of the following, namely : 
 
 " All the best and choicest breeds and varieties of horses, 
 cattle, swine, dogs, cats, sheep, rabbits, goats, fowls, 
 pigeons, rats, catamounts, hyenas, alligators, cormorants, 
 kangaroos, grizzly bears, antelopes, envelopes, llamas, lam- 
 'ems, jaguars, fox and geese, kinkajous, petrel, periwinkles, 
 long-tailed rabbits, Nubian fennecs, red eagles, condors, 
 hooded ducks and hood-winked drakes, swifts, sloes 
 (intended for 'fast' men and old 'fogies'), chamois, arma- 
 dilloes, wingless emus, beadles, crabs, cranes, coons (bred 
 from 'that same old 'un'), white zebras, macaws, catspaws, 
 cantelopes, carbuncles and shuttle-sewing machines. 
 
 " I also have, for exporting, a splendid assortment of buf- 
 falo, elk, deer, moose, bears, cranes, owls, badgers, wood- 
 chucks, swans, pelicans, gulls (genuine), rattle-snakes 
 (domesticated), fighting hen-turkeys (from Iowa), larks 
 (from Nauvoo), and a superior assortment of fishes, of 
 every conceivable size, color and variety, which are war- 
 ranted to live out of the water, in any climate. In short, 
 I will keep on hand all the best ' blooded ' animals, fowls, 
 quadrupeds, fishes, reptiles, insects and birds, — be they 
 gallinaceous, aquatic, aerial, fancy, substantial, good, bad 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 231 
 
 or indifferent, that may be had ; which I will furnish to 
 my numerous friends, patrons, and the rest of mankind, in 
 Europe, Asia, Africa or America, at all hours of the day or 
 night (Sundays excepted) ; and at prices so reasonable that 
 Christendom shall ' vote me ' a philanthropist, or no sale. 
 
 " Among my most recently received samples, I beg espe- 
 cially to call the attention of fanciers, amateurs and breed- 
 ers, to a ' vaggin-load of monkeys, vith their tails burned 
 off,' which I warrant will not frighten the most skittish of 
 horses. A crate of she-basilisks, of most virtuous exteriors, 
 and with eyes as large as saucers. Eleven pet elephants 
 (intended to have been offered to Mr. Barnum, but who 
 informs me that he has done breeding them, on account of 
 the high price of provender). One pair of red ostriches. — 
 supposed to be the original progenitors of the famous ' Co- 
 chin-China ' race of poultry. (The male has a ' horse-shoe 
 mark ' upon his breast, described by certain modern authors 
 on poultry. Unluckily for this theory, however, I happen 
 to know that this individual was kicked by a mare of mine, 
 while the beauty was skulking behind her, and attempting 
 to rob her of the corn she was eating from her crib.) I have 
 a trio of very healthy walruses, from Norway, that will eat 
 snowballs from your hand. Also, a brace of young masto- 
 dons, very docile, and as easily kept, almost, as a trio of 
 ' Brahma Pootras.' Three green swans (delightfully green), 
 that never seek for or approach the water ; supposed not 
 
232 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 yet to have learned to swim. I have also in my collection 
 a family of very curious chameleons (believed to be), but 
 none of which are supplied with the usual caudal extremity 
 yclept a tail. 
 
 "My friend Durivage — who, as you are aware, is now 
 in the Boston Custom-house, and whose opinion, conse- 
 quently, isn't worth much — examined this family, and at 
 once pronounced them hop-toads ! But I don't mind his 
 jokes. You must see them. They are beautiful creatures, 
 and ' do live on air,' I assure you ; I have seen them do it 
 frequently, without changing color. Dr. Bennett, of Fort 
 des Moines, has recently sent me a fine male porcupine, — 
 a nice little fellow to handle, so long as you rub his feathers 
 the right way, — which I purpose to cross upon my Chinese 
 Mandarin sow, at a future day, for experiment. In addi- 
 tion to all these, I have, of fowls, the Mum-chums, Hong- 
 KongSj Whamphoas, Quittaquongs, Hoanghos, Bramapoot- 
 ers, Damphules, Rocky-mountain-Indian-wharhoops, Nin- 
 compoops, etc., and an endless variety of white blackbirds, 
 sleeping weasels, very fine mules (for breeding), fan-tail 
 tumblers and tumbling fantails, no-woolled sheep, etc. etc., 
 and so forth. 
 
 "The principal object of this communication, however, is 
 not to particularize my stock, but rather to call attention 
 to my new breed of Hogs, which I have lately imported ; 
 and of which I send you a striking likeness herewith. I 
 call it the Chinese Mandarin H02:. 
 
THE HEN FEVEK. 
 
 233 
 
 
234 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 "The drawing of this very faithful and life-like picture 
 — copies of which I have already forwarded to Punch, 
 the Paris Charivari, etc. — was executed by Phizz ; the 
 engraving is by Quizz ; the portraits are perfect. 
 
 " This breed of hogs is most extraordinary; and has been 
 pronounced of great value for their beautiful model (see 
 portrait), and easy fattening qualities. Their meat is also 
 remarkably tender and fine-flavored, as can be proved by 
 several gentlemen in this country, although this is the first 
 hog of the kind ever brought here, and she is now alive ! 
 As you will note in the drawing, the head and face of these 
 hogs (supposing it possible that another could be found on 
 God's footstool of the same kind) very closely resemble an 
 elephant ; perfectly unique, and strikingly oriental in capi- 
 tal aspect. (Which, if you do not understand, I can only 
 say is plain English, and I must again refer you to the pic- 
 ture.) There is another singular feature, you will probably 
 have observed (allowing that you are somewhat acquainted 
 with the ordinary formation of animals), and that is, that 
 the trunk of this animal is upon the wrong extremity ; but 
 it answers, apparently, a very good purpose for a tail, as 
 will be noted. True, the neck is longer than that of any 
 hogs ever seen here, imparting a singular appearance ; but 
 it is a long lane that has no turn in it, and so n? import e on 
 this point. 
 
 " This is the most prolific of the whole swine raoe. 
 
THE HEN FEVEB. 235 
 
 There never was one in America before, but this point is 
 settled. She has eighteen dugs (see portrait), and learned 
 doctors inform us that the number of dugs (teats) is always 
 evidence of prolificness. The bodies of these hogs are like 
 the white ' Berkshires ' of England (admitting that the 
 white and the black Berkshires have different-shaped 
 bodies). In color, though not so spotted as the leopard, 
 these hogs are beautifully striated, like polished alabaster 
 and ebony, checkered and rounded (see drawing) most ex- 
 quisitely, like a slice of mouldy sage cheese. 
 
 "P. S. Although I am now short — or shall be, in the 
 spring — full eleven thousand pairs of pigs, from this sow 
 (to fill present orders), yet I will undertake to furnish a 
 few more to gentlemen who may fancy them, at the ad- 
 vanced price, — seven-and-sixpence per pair. (I have no 
 boa?' of this breed, but that is immaterial.) 
 
 " N. B. I have frequently been asked to account for the 
 singular facial appearance of this sow ; but I can only do 
 so, satisfactorily to myself, upon the theory of my friend 
 Jacob, of old ; that, at some time or other, her mother 
 must have ' seen the elephant ' ! 
 
 "*%.* The other figures in the accompanying drawing 
 are likenesses, also from life, of my harmless and beautiful 
 { Bramerpootrers.' They are very fond of little children 
 (see picture), and I send to my uncle William Porter, 
 herewith, as a New Year's Gift to our mutual friend, Solon 
 
236 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 Robinson, a very fine sample, with the gentle hint that if 
 he keeps his ' Hot Corn ' as far out of this fellow's reach 
 as it has thus far been out of mine, it will be perfectly 
 safe. 
 
 ' ' tCj 3 All orders for my famous ' Bramerpootrers, ' or my 
 imported ' Chinese Mandarin Hogs,' etc., must be put in 
 water-proof condition, post-paid, endorsed by the collector 
 of this port, and sent, by Adams & Co.'s Express, to Nia- 
 gara Falls, until I conclude to remove to Salt Lake, 
 Nebraska, or 'elsewhere,' of which due notice will be given 
 (provided I don't decide to 'step out' between two days). 
 Adios ! Yours, 
 
 " The Young 'Un. 
 
 "Boston, Jan., 1854." 
 
 Now, the above letter explains itself fairly, upon its face ; 
 yet — would it be believed? — I actually received four or five 
 sober (I joreswnie the writers were sober) letters of inquiry, 
 relating to the "curious and remarkable Chinese Mandarin 
 Hog in my possession," immediately after the above article 
 appeared in the Spirit ! Such are the knowledge and 
 acquirements of "the people," in certain quarters, upon the 
 subject of live stock ! 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 "hold tour horses." 
 
 My competitors in the hen-trade, by this time, had got 
 to be exceedingly active and zealous, though they rarely 
 indulged in personalities towards me, at all. Generous, 
 disinterested, liberal, kind-hearted, valiant men ! Provi- 
 dence will reward you all, I have no doubt, some day or 
 other ! 
 
 The following article, which appeared in a "respectable" 
 agricultural sheet (which, though I was solicited so to do, 
 I neither subscribed for nor advertised in), I offer here as a 
 sample of the puffs that were extended to me for five years, 
 by the small-fry humbugs whom I rarely condescended to 
 notice. This "elegant extract" appeared in a northern 
 Farmer : 
 
 "We did suppose that the strait-jacket we fitted to 
 this fellow (Burnham) would be worn by him, but it ap- 
 pears that, on reading our article relative to his movements 
 in England in regard to Grey Shanghae fowls, he cast it 
 off, and made an attempt to put us hors du combat, in his 
 usual style. 
 
238 THE HISTOET OF 
 
 " But we must say that his pretensions to being an 'im- 
 porter ' of these fowls, to having the ' original ' stock, to 
 being the importer of the fowls he sent to England, is the 
 greatest deception that ever came under our observation. 
 But this is only in character with the general transactions 
 of the man. In his dealings generally he seems to have 
 had no other object in view but to get all he could for his 
 fowls, with no regard to their merits. This is shown by a 
 letter of his, which we have in our possession, written in 
 1852 to Dr. Bennett, in which he uses the following lan- 
 guage, in regard to fowls : ' Anything that will sell. — 
 bah!' 
 
 ' ' We will take the liberty to digress a moment, to make 
 a few remarks on his penchant for the use of the expression 
 ' bah ! ' which is his common habit in correspondence. When 
 Burnham was a loafer at large, previous to his foul specu- 
 lations, it is said that he was very fond of mutton ; and 
 as many a fat lamb was missed in the vicinity where he re- 
 sided, it was more than suspected that he knew what became 
 of them. Whether this be so or not, it seems that l bah ' is 
 ever escaping from his lips, a judgment, as it were, for the 
 alleged iniquity of disturbing the nocturnal peace of that 
 quiet animal. * * * * 
 
 •' Now, friend Burnham, do be civil and honest. Your 
 having sold ' premium ' Cochins all over the country, with 
 the real ' premium ' fowls in your own yard, will soon be 
 forgotten, and you may yet be considered a clever, honest 
 fellow ; but you must stop pretending to be an ' importer ' 
 of fowls." 
 
 I was thus charged with putting my "friend" hors du 
 combat, with lying generally, with sheep-stealing, with 
 selling "premium" fowls over and over again, as well as 
 with striving to get all I could for my poultry, — this 
 last offence being the most heinous of all ! But, as I lived 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 239 
 
 (as I supposed I should) to see this cub and his allies on 
 their knees to me (as I could show, if I desired to do so, 
 now), I did not mind these first-rate notices. They were 
 most decidedly of miner consideration in my esteem, when 
 I thought how " the people " crowded around me to 
 obtain eggs or samples of my famed "imported," "supe- 
 rior," "magnificent" and "never-to-be-too-much-lauded" 
 pure-bred fowls ! 
 
 In the official Report upon the first New York show, the 
 Committee of Judges there state that, "though they have 
 been governed by the nomenclature of the list, they by no 
 means assent to it as a proper classification. Shanghae and 
 Cochin-China are convertible terms, and Brahma Pootra 
 is a name for a sub- variety of Shanghaes, of great size and 
 beauty. White Calcuttas and Hong-Kongs were not on 
 exhibition. Believing them to be inferior specimens of 
 White and Black Shanghaes, it is likely that we would not 
 have awarded them premiums, if found. In lieu thereof, 
 we have assigned several additional second premiums for 
 Brahma Shanghaes. 
 
 " For the sake of simplicity, we would recommend that 
 all thorough-bred large Asiatic fowls be classed under the 
 name of Shajighae, to be further designated by their color; 
 and, inasmuch as these shows are intended not solely for 
 the aggrandizement of breeders, but for the purpose of 
 converting ' Henology ' into a science, we would earnestly 
 
240 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 suggest that all ridiculous, unmeaning aliases be abandoned, 
 and a simple, intelligible and truthful classification strictly 
 observed." After quoting this, the writer above alluded to 
 objects to the recommendation to call all Asiatic fowls 
 Shanghaes, notwithstanding the action of the Committees 
 of the National Society. He insists : 
 
 " This is a ridiculous affair, and we call on fowl-breed- 
 ers to veto this nonsense at the outset. Just imagine 
 what a ridiculous figure breeders would cut in calling their 
 fowls ' Brahma Shanghaes,' ' Chittagong Shanghaes,' &c. ! 
 Why this desire to overturn established names ? It arises 
 from a prejudice against the name 'Brahma Pootra,' and 
 a desire to put down that popular breed. Again : Who are 
 the gentlemen who recommend such a course ? Why don't 
 they give their names ? These ' recommendations ' and 
 ' resolutions ' are no more the act of the National Poultry 
 Society than of the Emperor of Russia ! Where were the 
 forty managers when the above ' resolution ' was passed ? 
 We, as one, were not there ; and we learn that not over 
 three out of the entire number were present, and that the 
 resolution was passed by outsiders, and, perhaps, influenced 
 to do so by G. P. Burnham, of ' Grey Shanghae ' noto- 
 riety." 
 
 This clown even " regrets that he did not attend this 
 show ;" as if it would have made a difference in the result ! 
 Well, well ! — the impudence and ignorance of some people 
 really astound us, at times ! He says " some of the best 
 Brahma Pootra fowls were entered ' Chittagongs.' Now, 
 we declare emphatically that the desire on the part of cer- 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 241 
 
 tain breeders to class the Brahmas as identical -with the 
 Chittagong fowl is absurd ; and we assert that no man can 
 produce any evidence that the Brahmas are identical with 
 Chittagongs, beyond the fact that many breeders have pro- 
 duced mongrels, by crossing Brahmas with Chittagongs, and 
 now seek to amalgamate the two breeds." 
 
 Who ever wished to "produce any evidence " on this 
 subject, pray ? '•' The people " wanted foiols ; they never 
 sought for " evidence," man ! The breeder who could 
 " produce " fowls was the man to succeed in the hen-trade. 
 As you never did this, and only bought and sold wretched 
 mongrels, with long names, you never succeeded. And 
 " the people " said, u Served you right ! " 
 
 This sapient editor then declares that he " doubts the 
 ability of any Poultry Society to maintain its existence 
 permanently, for the reason that such societies will, sooner 
 or later, degenerate into mere speculating cliques, and the 
 premiums will become a matter of barter, or a matter of 
 favor to particular men, like the operations of our govern- 
 ment." 
 
 Is it possible ! When did you discover this extraordinary 
 and singular fact, my dear sir ? Not until the close of the 
 year 1854 ! After the cars had long since passed by, and 
 the fun was over, effectually and forever, in this country. 
 Your warning was valuable, indeed ! The colt had left the 
 stable, and you now come to fasten the door ! 0, chief of 
 21 
 
242 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 prophets in Henology ! how much " the people " owe you 
 for your advice and foresight in this hum ! 
 
 This writer finally thus wriggles over the action of the 
 "National" Society at New York, which knocked his 
 " Bother'ems " on the head so effectually, substituting their 
 true name (the " Grey Shanghaes ") for this ridiculously 
 assumed cognomen. He continues : 
 
 <{ The most absurd thing which came under our observa- 
 tion at the fair was the classification of certain fowls. 
 There were the beautiful white Brahmas, with pencilled neck 
 hackles, placed by the side of fowls of an owl or hawk 
 color, and both classed ' Grey Shanghaes V How long 
 will a few old fogies thus stultify themselves ? Many 
 exhibitors were highly displeased with this absurdity. They 
 who think that the name of Brahma fowls can be changed 
 to ' Grey Shanghaes ' have entirely mistaken their ability 
 to make such an innovation. What did all the nonsense in 
 the resolutions passed at the National Poultry Show in New 
 York about the nomenclature of fowls effect ? Just nothing 
 at all." 
 
 Indeed ! Did n't it ? Is it possible ? You don't say 
 so ! My dear friend, you have a great deal to learn yet ; 
 and I here advise you, affectionately and lovingly, and with 
 an ardent desire for your present and future good, to — 
 " hold your horses ! " 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 TRICKS OF THE TEADE. 
 
 Poultry exhibitions had been or were now being held 
 all over the country. In the New England States, in New 
 York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, numer- 
 ous fairs had come off, at which the customary competition 
 among breeders of fancy poultry had been duly shown ; and 
 for a time, yet, out of Massachusetts, the fever still raged, 
 though with comparative abatement. 
 
 It was now a common thing, and certain men were in the 
 habit of visiting the express offices, and examining coops of 
 fowls, and taking the names of the persons to whom they 
 were directed, and then writing them that they would furnish 
 such fowls at a much cheaper rate. This occurred, gener- 
 ally, while the stock was en route to its destination ; but it 
 never disturbed me. 
 
 Among the Rhode Islanders (who, by the way, generally 
 speaking, have raised the best of all the Chinese varieties 
 of fowls, for five years past) a feeling of desperate rivalry 
 had grown up. At the Providence shows, many of the 
 
244 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 choicest specimens ever seen among us were exhibited and 
 disposed of at high rates. But the management of the fairs 
 there was not satisfactory to certain breeders, who, unfor- 
 tunately, and naturally, drove rather " too slow coaches " 
 to keep pace with a few of the leaders in the traffic there, 
 as will be seen by the following expose, which I find in the 
 shape of an advertisement in the Woonsocket Patriot : 
 
 In a report published subsequently to this State Fair in 
 Rhode Island, the Committee on Poultry at the exhibition 
 held there in the fall of 1854 awarded their first premium 
 to the chairman of the committee. The second premium 
 was awarded to another man, who had just as good fowls, 
 probably, but who was n't smart enough to "keep up " with 
 his competitor. The person who came out thus second-best, 
 only, at once charged, through the public prints, that an 
 attempt had been made by the chairman thus " to hoodwink 
 the public" in their future purchases (which was very 
 likely, because it was a very common matter). The injured 
 party says, in his published " card," — 
 
 ' ' No doubt Mr. C was ready to grasp at the ap- 
 pointment as the committee, and he was progressing in the 
 examination, when I remonstrated, and had two other men 
 added to the committee with him, supposing that justice 
 would then be administered to the parties concerned. But 
 
 Mr. C was determined to have the sole arrangement 
 
 of the report, contending with the other two upwards of 
 five hours, aggrandizing to himself the first premium, and 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 245 
 
 then affixing to the committee's report the name of Mr. 
 
 A , instead of his own, to deceive the public, that he 
 
 was not interested. Mr. C intended that justice should 
 
 not be done his competitor, by withholding his right as to 
 the first premium ; and I challenge him to an impartial exhi- 
 bition of the poultry (although some of his number were 
 borrowed), for the sum- of one hundred dollars, to be de- 
 cided by three disinterested men." 
 
 Another member of this committee then states that, 
 "being one of the Committee on Poultry at the late State 
 Fair, held in Providence, R. I., and having seen the report 
 of the same, I feel it my duty to say that such was not the 
 decision of the committee. Two were in favor of giving 
 
 to the Jirst premium : as we could not agree, we 
 
 decided to award a premium of tioelve dollars to . 
 
 also the same to Mr. C , provided each were repre- 
 sented equal in the report." 
 
 Now, this was a very trifling affair to trouble the public 
 
 with, yet it shows " how the thing was done." Mr. C 
 
 had a happy way of '• laying 'em all out," when /was not 
 in the field. If the advertisements " to the public " were 
 paid for duly (and I presume they were), I have no doubt 
 
 the public are satisfied ; and Mr. , the injured party, 
 
 must keep his eyes open tight, if he trains in company with 
 experienced hen-men. This is but " a part of the system," 
 man ! 
 
 Now, as this sort of thing was of very common occur- 
 rence among the hucksters who kept the hen-trade alive, for 
 21* 
 
246 THE HISTOKY OF 
 
 years, this was in nowise a matter of astonishment to the 
 " hard heads " in the business. The only wonder was that 
 the man who performed this trifling trick did not carry out 
 the dodge more effectually, and bear away all the premiums 
 in a similar manner, as had been done by some of his 
 smarter predecessors ! 
 
 The editor of a New York journal undertook as follows 
 to "inform the public " (in 1854) of a little performance 
 in kind, which had been common for several years at these 
 fairs where " premiums " were awarded, and which proved 
 a very profitable mode of operation, almost from the very 
 beginning of fowl-shows in the United States. In an article 
 upon a recent exhibition, under the caption " How the 
 Cards are Played" he says : 
 
 " A fowl-breeder, by extraordinary means, raises a few 
 specimens of fowls of great size, which he takes to the 
 exhibition ; and, on the appearance and character of those 
 few specimens, he contracts to furnish fowls and eggs of 
 the ' same stock.' He goes home with his pockets full of 
 orders, and with not a single fowl, for sale, in his posses- 
 sion at the time, and hastens to purchase of A, B and C, 
 such fowls as he can find, say at $8, $5 to $10 a pair, 
 which he sends to fill his orders at $20 to $50 a pair, and 
 no nearer in value to the stock that appeared on exhibition 
 than a turkey is to a turkey buzzard ! The same of eggs. 
 Now, there are exceptions to this allegation, but we know 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 247 
 
 that such things are done, and we think that the public 
 should be put on their guard." 
 
 There is no question about the accuracy of this statement. 
 The writer says he " knows that such things were done ; " 
 and I feel sure that no. man in New York State ever knew 
 the details of this dodge so well as he did. It was a very 
 common thing everywhere, however, among the hucksters. 
 I had no occasion to resort to this plan ; for the game we 
 played was a deeper one, altogether. 
 
 There was a "live Yankee," all the way from Rhode 
 Island, who attended the New York show, who took the 
 boys down there after the following style, as appears from 
 another advertisement, which I recently met with, and 
 which feat is thus described by one of the sufferers. In a 
 " card " published soon after that exhibition, this victim of 
 misplaced confidence says, with a show of seeming injured 
 innocence : 
 
 "Justice to the public, as well as myself, demands a 
 slight explanation of a few facts connected with the recent 
 National Poultry Show, in New York City. 
 
 "Mr. C , of Woonsocket, R. I., accompanied me to 
 
 New York for the purpose of attending the fair. On the 
 fourth day of the exhibition it was announced that the 
 
 judges were about to commence their labors. Mr. C , 
 
 seeing that his chance for a premium of any kind on Asiatic 
 fowls was very slim, came to me and requested, nay, even 
 insisted, on grounds of mutual friendship, that I should 
 put my two best hens with a cock of his, for the purpose of 
 taking the first premium. I finally consented, with the ex 
 
248 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 press understanding, and no other, that we should each 
 share the honors and proceeds equally. On Friday it was 
 announced, in the lecture-room, that he had taken the first 
 premium on the best pair of Asiatic fowls, of whatever sub- 
 variety. I went to him, at once, and expressed my dissat- 
 isfaction, and reminded him of his agreement. He then 
 agreed to see the secretary and all the reporters, and pub- 
 lish, or cause to be published, a card, stating that I was 
 equally entitled to the premium with himself, as the hens 
 were raised by me ; and he furthermore agreed that his 
 name should not be mentioned or published, in relation to 
 the premium, except in connection with my own. How was 
 that agreement fulfilled ? On taking up one of the New 
 York dailies the next morning, I was surprised to see a puff 
 
 laudatory of Mr. , while my name was not alluded 
 
 to, — which puff, report says, was paid for with a rooster. 
 On my return home, a few days afterwards, I found that he 
 had volunteered to make the following assertions : ' Well, 
 I have laid 'em all out. I took the first premium on every- 
 thing, best pair and all, and I can beat the world.' When 
 asked how it was done; he said, 'I will tell you, some time, 
 how I played my card.' " 
 
 But Mr. C , with that reserve and indifference 
 
 peculiar to gentlemen in the hen-trade who have accom- 
 plished a " neat operation," did not see fit to explain the 
 process, and hesitated to inform his " friend" how he 
 played his card. And so the aggrieved party resorted to 
 the newspaper, and come the "power of the press" 
 upon Mr. C , as follows : 
 
 "Mr. stated that my stock was 'mongrel,' and 
 
 inferior. Whether it be so or not, is for the thousands and 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 249 
 
 tens of thousands who saw them, while on exhibition, to 
 judge. After selecting two of my best hens for Mr. 
 
 C 's especial benefit (as it appears), the committee even 
 
 then saw fit to award me a premium, while his two coops 
 of 'pure, full-blooded Asiatic fowls,' which he had cracked 
 up so loud and extensively, did not receive, as I can learn, 
 even a passing notice, except the old cock, which was put 
 in the coop with my ' mongrel hens,' as he is pleased to 
 call them. Perhaps the public would also be gratified to 
 learn the manner in which he obtained the first premium at 
 the recent Agricultural Eair in Providence, E. I. Was it 
 not done by entering several coops of fowls, belonging to 
 another person, in his own name, without that person's 
 knowledge and consent, and pointing out those fowls to 
 one or more of the judges, representing them as his own ? 
 No doubt the books of the society, and those of the railroad 
 
 corporation which conveyed Mr. C 's poultry to and 
 
 from the fair, if compared, will throw some light upon the 
 subject. Is not this the manner in which he has frequently 
 played his card ; or, in other words, ' laid 'em all out' ? 
 As I have always treated him as a gentleman, a neighbor 
 and friend, to what cause can I impute this low, mean 
 contemptible and underhand manner of exalting himself at 
 my expense ? I would advise him, in conclusion, to peruse 
 iEsop's moral and instructive fable of the ambitious Jackdaw, 
 and learn from that, that however well a course of decep- 
 tion and duplicity may at first prosper, the day of exposure 
 and disgrace will come, and the ungainly Jackdaw, stripped 
 of his ill-gotten plumage, will stand forth in all his native 
 blackness and deformity." 
 
 Now, I have no doubt, that this Mr. C , when he 
 
 read the above "card" (which must have cost its author 
 considerable time and money), felt very badly about it, the 
 
250 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 more especially as the show-prizes had been duly announced, 
 and he had the premium-money safely in his own pocket ! 
 And it certainly must have been a very gratifying circum- 
 stance, to the man who had been thus duped, to see his ad- 
 vertisement thus in print, too. Had / been similarly situ- 
 ated, however, after losing my premium and the credit that 
 belonged to my having had the best fowls on exhibition, 
 also (only by thus joining issue with another to gull the 
 " dear people "), I rather think I should not have published 
 the facts, to show myself up a fool as well as a knave. But 
 
 this is merely a matter of taste. Mr. B , who signs 
 
 this "card," will scarcely be caught in this way again. 
 We "live to learn." 
 
 Mr. B had not become apprised of the fact that, 
 
 from the very commencement, the hen-trade was a huge 
 gull, possessing an unconscionable maw, and most incon- 
 ceivable powers of digestion. Older heads and wiser men 
 than he had been duped or swallowed by this monster, that 
 stalked about the earth for six long years, seeking whom he 
 might devour. If this is the worst treatment he ever ex- 
 perienced at the hands of those who helped to feed the 
 
 vampire, Mr. B is, indeed, a fortunate man. There 
 
 be those who would gladly exchange places with this gentle- 
 man, and give him large odds. 
 
 C was smart. I have known him for several years. 
 
 He is one of the few " hen-men " whom I would trust alone 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 251 
 
 with my purse. And whether he raised them, or purchased 
 them, it matters nothing ; he has sold some of the best fowls 
 in America. 
 
 In all human probability, the author of the "card " last 
 quoted will live long enough (unless he shall have already 
 stepped out) to know that " the people " went into the hen- 
 trade blindfolded, and that the bandages have now dropped 
 from their eyes. He will have ascertained, too, I think, that 
 a resort to the newspapers for redress against such of his 
 "friends" as may get ahead of his time in this way is 
 precious poor consolation, when he reflects that advertise- 
 ments cost money, and that the anathemas of an over- 
 reached chicken-man have never yet been known to harm 
 anybody — as far as heard from ! Selah ! 
 
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 
 Slate 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 deter- 
 mined 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 exist- 
 ing understanding between the parties in regard to the 
 premiums. 
 
 For the above statement we have the authority of a huck- 
 ster in New York, who did not obtain any premiums, and 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 253 
 
 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 foot- 
 steps 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 — over- 
 did the matter ; hence the universal indignation of exhibitors. 
 And then concludes that "poultry-societies generally merge 
 into mere speculating gatherings, a feio 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 disap- 
 peared almost entirely, and now that everybody has been 
 22 
 
254 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 gulled, and gouged, and gorged ', with the fulsome and glow- 
 ing 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 astound- 
 ing " 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 ayouM 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 
 one! 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 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 255 
 
 people," I am very much in error regarding the ordi- 
 nary strength of their nerves. It was an almost immac- 
 ulate 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. 0, 
 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 transac- 
 tions ; 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 dis- 
 charge their duties properly," etc.; while, in my opin- 
 ion, than this, a more barefaced 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 
 
256 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 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 high- 
 way 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 feio pounds in a journey of a week or less, 
 in a cramped condition, and perhaps without food for a por- 
 tion of the time ; but in other respects justice should be 
 done to the confiding purchaser." 
 
 Beautiful ! — poetical ! — musical ! This advertiser, 1 
 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, 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 257 
 
 because I should feel assured, after reading such an adver- 
 tisement, 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 82d 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 Eng- 
 land, 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 can- 
 not 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 
 22* 
 
258 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 had been so much imposition upon the public by irresponsi- 
 ble persons claiming to have made importations" ! 
 
 Now I never entertained the slightest objections to this 
 sort of advertisement, — not 1", 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." 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 THE PORTE-MONNAIE I OWE 'EM COMPANY. 
 
 It has been said, with much of truth, that "two of a 
 calling rarely agree ;" and this applies with force to those 
 engaged in the "hen-trade." Messrs. Mormann and Humm, 
 whom I have before spoken of, could n't long agree together, 
 and their "dissolution" soon appeared; and, from the 
 ashes of the professional part of this firm, there suddenly 
 arose an entirely new dodge, under the big-sounding title 
 of 
 
 "THE PORTE-MONNAIE I OWE 'EM COMPANY." 
 
 The presiding genius of this concern was one Doctor 
 Bangit, — an old friend of mine, who had been through wars 
 enough to have killed a regiment of ghouls, who was among 
 the earliest advocates and supporters of the " New England 
 Mutual Admiration Society," who was one of the very first 
 physicians employed in prescribing for the hen fever in this 
 country, and who, I supposed, had had sufficient experience 
 not to embark (at this late day) in such a ridiculous enter- 
 prise as this so clearly seemed to be. 
 
260 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 But the doctor saw his victims in prospective, probably ; 
 and, though he had run the huinmery of the fowl-fever so 
 far into the ground that, in his case, it would surely never 
 know a day of resurrection, still he was ambitious and 
 hopeful ; and he flattered himself (and some others) that 
 the last man who bought live stock had not yet turned up ! 
 And so the doctor pushed on, once more. 
 
 The " Blood Stock" of the " Porte- Momiaie I owe 
 5 em Company' 1 * was thus advertised, also: 
 
 " IN addition to the genuine, unadulterated Prince 
 Albert fowls, the ' Porte-Monnaie I owe 'ems ' offer pigs, 
 with tails on, of the Winsor, Unproved Essex, Proved Suf- 
 folks, Yorkshire, Wild Indian, Bramerpouter, Siam, Hong- 
 Kongo, Emperor Napoleons, and Shanghae Breeds; most 
 of them of new styles, and warranted to hold their colors in 
 any climate. 
 
 " Also, Welsh Rarebits — bred from their Merino buck 
 1 Champum,' of England (that didn't take the first prize 
 at the National Show, because Mr. Burnham's ' Knockum ' 
 did!), whose ears are each thirty-three feet longer than 
 those of our best pure-bred jackasses, and wider than five 
 snow-shovels, by actual measurement. 
 
 "Also, A-quack-it fowls; as Swans {Porte-Monnaie 
 
 * I trust that this association may not be confounded with the " Fort 
 Des Moines Iowa Company." The difference will plainly be seen, of 
 course. 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 261 
 
 / owe 'em strain), Two-lice, Hong-gong, Brumagem and 
 other Geese. Ruin and Ailsburied Ducks, and Pharmigan 
 Pigeons (blue-billed). 
 
 " Also, every breed of Gallinaceous fowls, — Games and 
 other bloods already noted, — together with every species of 
 pure and select blood-stock, which has been secured in Eu- 
 rope, Asia, Africa, and the Arctic Ocean, with reference to 
 quality, without regard to price. 
 
 " £Cp We can furnish pedigrees to all buyers who desire 
 them, which will be endorsed by the faculty of Riply Col- 
 lege, Iowa. 
 
 " N. B. The 'Winsor' breed of pigs imported by us is 
 a great addition to the already fine hog stock of the United 
 States, and is fully equal, if not superior, to any other 
 breed. They are the very choicest of the royal stock which 
 is so much admired in England. We are in possession of 
 the shipping papers of these splendid pigs. The freight 
 and incidental expenses on them, alone, amount to about six 
 hundred dollars. They ought to be fine pigs. Three hun- 
 dred dollars a pair for the pigs from this splendid stock 
 would be low, taking their great value into consideration. 
 We have often heard of Prince Albert's stock of pigs, 
 but until G. P. Burnham, Esq., of Russet House, Melrose, 
 first imported this superb stock into this country, no Ameri- 
 can was ever honored with a shy at this extraordinary breed 
 of swine. The company, at great expense and trouble, 
 
262 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 prevailed upon Mr. Burnham to part with a few of his sec- 
 ond-rate samples ; and they have now no doubt that they 
 will be able to 'beat him all to rags,' in a few months, since 
 they have been lucky enough to get them from him purely 
 bred (probably !). 
 
 " P. S. Of these pigs, which gained the first prize and 
 gold and silver medal at London in December, 1863, and 
 the first prize and gold and silver medal in Birmingham, 
 were from Tibby, by Wun-eyed Jack. Old Pulgubbin's 
 pigs gained a prize at Mutton-head in 1729, and one at 
 London in 1873." 
 
 Still, notwithstanding all this extra flourish of trumpets, 
 the " Porte Monnaie I owe 'em Company " is well-nigh 
 defunct. It was started, unfortunately, about five years 
 and eight months " too late in the season." 
 
 Yet, as I honor talent and enterprise, wherever they may 
 be shown, I trust that this association may be galvanized 
 into successful operation — as, perhaps, it will ! 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 A SATISFACTORY PEDIGREE. 
 
 In the course of my live-stock experience, and espe- 
 cially during the excitement that prevailed amidst the routine 
 of the hen-trade, I found myself constantly the recipient of 
 scores and hundreds of the most ridiculously unreasonable 
 and meaningless letters, from the fever-struck (and inno- 
 cent) but uninitiated victims of this epidemic. 
 
 In England, amongst other nonsense bearing upon this 
 subject, the more cunning poultry-keepers resorted to the 
 furnishing oi pedigrees for the birds they sold. This trick 
 worked to admiration in Great Britain for a time, and the 
 highest-sounding names were given to certain favorite fowls, 
 the progeny of which ("with pedigree attached") com- 
 manded the most extravagant and ruinous prices, in the 
 English "fancy" market. 
 
 For instance, I noticed in the London papers, in 1852, 
 an account given of the sale of "two splendid cinnamon- 
 colored chickens, out of the famous cock ' Jerry,' by the 
 noted hen < Beauty,' sired by ' Napoleon,' upon the well- 
 
264 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 known 'Queen Dowager,' grandsire 'Prince Albert/ on 
 ' Victoria First,' " &c. &c, which brought the handsome sum 
 of one hundred and sixty pounds (or about eight hundred 
 dollars). And, soon afterwards, the same dodge was 
 adopted on this side of the Atlantic. The " Porte-Monnaie 
 I owe 'em Company " have now an advertisement in sev- 
 eral New York and Western papers, concluding thus : 
 
 " To all who desire it, we will furnish authentic pedi- 
 grees of our stock of all descriptions, which may be relied 
 on for their accuracy." 
 
 This sort of thing was rather too much for my naturally 
 republican turn of mind; and, though I could endure 
 almost anything in the humbug of this bubble, I could n't 
 swallow this. I received from New York State, one day, 
 the following spicy epistle : 
 
 " Mr. Burnham. 
 
 " Sir : I have been a live-stock breeder for some years 
 in this and the old country, and I was desirous to obtain 
 only />we-blooded fowls when I ordered the ' Cochins ' of 
 you last month. I asked you for their pedigree. You 
 have sent none. What does this mean ? I paid you your 
 price — seventy-five dollars — for three chickens. What 
 have you sent me ? Am I dealing with a gentleman ? Or 
 are you a mere shambles-huckster? What are these fowls 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 265 
 
 bred from ? Perhaps I may find myself called upon to speak 
 more plainly, sir. I hope not. Who are you ? I sent for a 
 pedigree, and I want it. I must have it, sir. You will 
 comprehend this, I presume. If you do not, I can en- 
 lighten you further. In haste, 
 
 I smiled at the earnestness of this letter, the more par- 
 ticularly when L reflected that this gentleman always sup- 
 plied to his patrons a thing he called a pedigree, for all the 
 animals he sold — so intricate, conglomerated and lengthy, 
 that no one would ever venture to dispute the authenticity 
 and reliability of the document he sent them. 
 
 I re-read his sharp communication, and I found the sen- 
 tence again, " Who are you ? I sent for a pedigree, and I 
 must have it." And I sat down, at once, and„wrote him as 
 follows : 
 
 " Melrose, Mass., 1853. 
 
 "My Dear Sir: 
 
 " Your peppery favor came duly to hand. You say you 
 ' want a pedigree,' and that you ' must have it ; ' and you 
 inquire who / am? I cannot furnish any such history for 
 my fowls, for I haven't the slightest idea what they are, 
 except that they are bred from my superb imported ' Cochin- 
 Chinas.' which have so long been pronounced the 'admira- 
 tion of the world.' 
 
 23 
 
266 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 "But, since you must have a pedigree, you say, and as 
 you seem anxious to know who I am, I enclose you the fol- 
 lowing, as an accurate account of my oion pedigree, which 
 I furnished to a legal gentleman in New York city, some 
 years since,* and which, I presume, will answer your pur- 
 pose as well as any other would ; as I observe, by your 
 polite favor now before me, that you ' want A pedigree.' 
 Please read this carefully, and then inform me (as you 
 promise to do) if you ' can enlighten me further ' ! 
 " Very profoundly yours, 
 
 ! <G. P. B." 
 
 It will be necessary, in order that my readers may the 
 better appreciate the pedigree that follows (and which I 
 enclosed to my correspondent, as above stated), to inform 
 them that some fifteen years ago, or more, there was a per- 
 son named Burnham, who died in England, leaving no 
 will behind him ; but who was possessed, at the time of his 
 decease, of an immense fortune, said to amount to several 
 millions of pounds sterling in value. As soon as the intel- 
 ligence reached this country, the Burnhams were greatly 
 elated with their prospects, and meetings of the imaginative 
 
 * This article -was originally published in the New York Spirit of 
 the Times, substantially, and was afterwards issued in an edition of my 
 fugitive literary productions, by Getz & Buck, of Philadelphia, in a vol- 
 ume entitled " Stray Subjects." 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 267 
 
 " heirs" to this estate were held, who, each and all, believed 
 that a windfall was now in certain prospect before them. 
 The excitement ended as all this sort of thing does. No 
 one among the Burnhams could identify himself, or substan- 
 tiate the fact of his ever having had a grandfather ; and the 
 bubble was soon exploded. Among the parties who were 
 addressed on the subject of this supposed " JBurnham for- 
 tune," was mj humble self; the ambitious lawyer who 
 undertook to unravel the mystery, and to recover the money 
 for us, informing me by mail that " it would be of material 
 pecuniary advantage to me to establish my pedigree." I 
 wrote him as follows : 
 
 "My Dear Sir: 
 
 " Your favor, under date 4th instant, came duly to hand, 
 and I improve my earliest moment of leisure (after the un- 
 avoidable delays attendant upon procuring the information 
 you seek) to reply. You are desirous of being made ac- 
 quainted with my £ pedigree.' 
 
 " I have to inform you that I have taken some days to 
 examine into this matter, and. after a careful investigation 
 of the 'records,' find that I am a descendant, in the direct 
 line, from a gentleman, very well remembered in these 
 parts, by the name of Adam. The old man had two sons. 
 ' Cain ' and ' Abel ' they were called. The latter, by the 
 other's hands, went dead one day ; but as no coroner had 
 
268 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 then been appointed in the county where they resided, 
 { verdict was postponed.' A third son was born, whom they 
 called 'Seth.' Cain Adam had a son named Enoch, who 
 had a son (in the fourth generation) by the name of Malech. 
 Malech had a son whom he called Noah, from whom I 
 trace directly my own being. 
 
 " Noah had three sons, ' Shem,' ' Ham ' and ' Japheth.' 
 The eldest and youngest — Shem and Japheth — were a 
 couple of the ' b'hoys ; ' and Ham was a very- well-disposed 
 young gentleman, who slept at home o' nights. But his 
 two brothers, unfortunately, were not so well inclined. 
 Ham was a sort of 'jethro' — the butt of his two brothers, 
 who had done him ' brown ' so many times, that they 
 called him ' burnt.' For many years he was known, there- 
 fore, as ( Burnt-Ham.' Before his death he applied to 
 the Legislature in his diggings for a change of name. He 
 dropped the t, a bill was passed entitling him to the name 
 of Burn -ham, and hence the surname of your humble 
 servant. So much for the name. 
 
 " In several of the newspapers of that period I find al- 
 lusions made to a very severe ram-storm which occurred 
 'just about this time ; ' and the public prints (of all parties) 
 agree that 'this storm was tremendous,' and that 'an im- 
 mense amount of damage was done to the shipping and 
 commercial interest.' As this took place some six thousand 
 years back, however, you will not, I presume, expect me to 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 269 
 
 quote the particular details of this circumstance, except in 
 so far as refers directly to my own relatives. I may here 
 add, however, that subsequent accounts inform me that 
 everything of any particular value was totally destroyed. 
 A private letter from Ham, dated at the time, declares that 
 ' there was n't a peg left to hang his hat on.' 
 
 " Old Noah found it was ' gittin' werry wet under foot' 
 (to use a familiar expression of his), and he wisely built a 
 canal-boat (of very generous dimensions) for the safety of 
 himself and family. Finding that the rain continued, he 
 enlarged his boat, so that he could carry a very consider- 
 able amount of luggage, in case of accident. This fore- 
 sight in the old gentleman proved most fortunate, and only 
 confirms the established opinion, that the family is ' smart ; ' 
 - for the c storm continued unabated for forty days and forty 
 nights ' (so say the accounts), until every species of animal 
 and vegetable matter had been 'used up,' always excepting 
 the old gentleman's canal -boat and cargo. 
 
 " Now, Noah was a great lover of animals. ' Of every 
 kind, a male and female,' did he take into his boat with him, 
 and l a nice time ' they must have had of it for six weeks ! 
 Notwithstanding the fact (which I find recorded in one of 
 the journals of the day), that ' a gentleman, who was swim- 
 ming about, and who requested the old man to let him in, 
 upon being refused, declared that he might go to grass 
 with his old canoe, for he did n't think it would be much of 
 23* 
 
270 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 a shower, anyhow,' — I say, notwithstanding this opinion' 
 of the gentleman, who is represented as having been a ' very- 
 expert swimmer,' everything was destroyed. 
 
 " Ham was one of 'em — he was ! He ' knew sufficient 
 to get out of the rain,' albeit he wasn't thought very 
 witty. He took passage with the rest, however, and thus 
 did away with the necessity of a life-preserver. From Ham 
 I trace my pedigree directly down through all the grades, 
 to King Solomon, without any difficulty, who, by the way, 
 was reported to have been a little loose in his habits, and 
 was very fond of the ladies and Manzanilla Sherry. He 
 used to sing songs, too, of which : the least said the soonest 
 mended.' But, on the whole, Sol was a very clever, jolly- 
 good fellow, and on several occasions gave evidence of pos- 
 sessing his share of the cunning natural to our family. 
 Some thought him ' wise ; ' but, although I have no dispo- 
 sition to abuse any of my ancestors, I think the Queen of 
 Sheba (a very nice young woman she was, too) rather 
 1 come it ' over the old fellow ! 
 
 " By a continuous chain, I trace my relationship thence 
 through a rather tortuous line, from generation to genera- 
 tion, down to Mr. Matthew, — not the comedian, but to 
 Matthew, the Collector (of Galilee, I think), who 'sat at 
 the receipt of customs.' To this connection I was, un- 
 doubtedly, indebted for an appointment in the Boston Cus- 
 tom-house. Matthew lived in the good old ' high tariff ' 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 2T1 
 
 times, when something in the shape of duties "was coming 
 in. But, as nothing is said of his finale, I rather think he 
 absquatulated with the funds of the government. But I 
 will come to the information you desire, without further 
 ado. 
 
 " You know the ' Old 'Un,' undoubtedly. (If you 
 don't, there is very little doubt but you will know his 
 namesake hereafter, if you don't cease to squander your 
 time in looking after the plunder of the Burnham family !) 
 Well, the ' Old 'Un ' is in the ' direct line,' to which I 
 have now endeavored to turn your attention ; and I have 
 been called, of late years, the 'Young 'Un,' for reasons 
 that will not interest you. To my honored senior 
 (whom I set down in the category as my legitimate ' dad ') 
 I would refer you for further particulars. He is tenacious 
 of the character of his progeny, and loves me ; I would 
 commend you to him, for it will warm the cockles of his 
 Gld heart to learn that the ' Young 'Un ' is in luck. 
 
 " If you chance to live long enough to get as far down 
 in my letter as this paragraph, allow me to add that, 
 should you happen to receive any very considerable 
 amount as my share of the ' property ' for the Burnham 
 family, please not overlook the fact that I am ' one of 'em, 5 
 and that I have taken pains to tell you c whar I cum from.' 
 Please forward my dividend by Adams & Co.'s Express 
 (if their crates should be big enough to convey it), and if 
 
272 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 it should prove too bulky, turn it into American gold, and 
 charter a steamer to come round for the purpose; I shan't 
 mind the expense. 
 
 " In conclusion, I can only intimate the high consider- 
 ation I entertain towards yourself for having prepaid the 
 postage upon your communication ; a very unusual trans- 
 action with legal gentlemen. My sensations, upon closing 
 this hasty scrawl, are, I fancy, very nearly akin to those of 
 the Hibernian who ' liked to have found a sovereign once,' 
 ■ — but you will allow me to assure you that it will afford me 
 the greatest pleasure to meet you hereafter, and I shall be 
 happy to give you any further information in my power 
 touching that l putty ' in prospective. 
 
 " I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 " Geo. P. Burnham, alias the 'Young 'Un.' " 
 
 I presume this pedigree was perfectly satisfactory to my 
 correspondent; and I am quite certain that it was of as 
 much account as this kind of thing usually is. At any 
 rate, I heard nothing more from him, in any way ; and I 
 made up my mind, therefore, that, after reading this, he 
 concluded that he couldn't " enlighten me further," as he 
 had so pertly suggested in his communication, quoted in the 
 beginning of this chapter. He is a very nice man, I have 
 no manner of doubt. 
 
> 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 " DOING THE GENTEEL THING." 
 
 " There is one thing you should always bear in mind," 
 said a notorious shark to me, one day, while we conversed 
 upon the subject of breeding live-stock successfully — 
 " there is one thing you should always remember ; and 
 that is, under no circumstances ever permit a fowl or a pig 
 to pass out of your hands to a purchaser, unless you know 
 him to be of pure blood." 
 
 This is a pretty theory, and, I have no doubt, such a 
 course would work to admiration, if faithfully carried out 
 (as 2" always intended to do, by the way) ; but in this 
 country this was easier to talk about than to accomplish. 
 I have now a letter before me, received some years since, 
 upon this point, and which will give the reader some idea 
 how far this thing extended in certain quarters, and what 
 came of it. 
 
 " Sir : I have been informed by my friends, and I have 
 seen it stated in the poultry-books generally, that you are 
 
274 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 a breeder of fowls who can be relied on. I wish I could 
 say as much of some other parties with whom I have dealt, 
 during the past year or two. 
 
 '•' I have been striving, for a long time, to get possession 
 of some ptire-hved domestic fowls, and a strain of thorough- 
 bred Suffolk swine. I am satisfied you have got them. 
 Now, I beg you will understand that I am fortunately pe- 
 cuniarily able to pay f° r what I see ^- I care nothing for 
 prices; * but I do desire, and stipulate for, purity of blood. 
 Can you supply me ? What are your strains ? When did 
 you import it, and how has it been bred ? 
 
 " If you can send me half a dozen Chinese fowls, all 
 pure bloods, of each of the different varieties, do so, and 
 charge me whatever you please, — only let them be fine, and 
 such as will produce their like. 
 
 "I have read much on this subject of poultry, and I 
 want to begin right, you perceive. I have made up 
 my mind that there are not so many varieties of fowls ex- 
 tant as many breeders describe. I am satisfied that these 
 domestic birds hail originally from China, and that all of 
 them are of one blood. What is your opinion ? 
 
 "Write me your views, please, and let me know if you 
 can furnish me what I seek, upon honor ; bearing in mind 
 
 * This was the kind of customer I met with occasionally, and whom I 
 always took at his word. The gentleman who " did n't care about price " 
 was always the man after my own heart. 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 275 
 
 that I am ready to pay your price, whatever it may be ; 
 but that I want only pure-blooded stock. 
 
 "Yours, respectfully, 
 
 I immediately forwarded to this customer (as I usually 
 did to my newly -found patrons) copies of the portraits of 
 my "genuine Suffolk" pigs, and of my " pure-bred " and 
 " imported " Chinese fowls. These " pictures," samples of 
 which appear in this work upon pages 174 and 212, had 
 the desired effect. I rarely forwarded to these beginners 
 one of these nicely-got-up circulars that didn't "knock 
 'em" at first sight. 
 
 These gentlemen stared at the engravings, exclaimed, 
 " Can it be?" thrust their hands to the very bottom 
 of their long purses, and ordered the stock by return of 
 mail. 
 
 In this last-mentioned case, I informed my correspondent 
 that I agreed with him in the ideas he had advanced pre- 
 cisely (I usually did agree with such gentlemen), and I 
 entertained no doubt that he was entirely correct in his 
 views as to the origin of domestic fowls, of which he evi- 
 dently knew so much. (This helped me, amazingly. ) I 
 pointed out to him the distinction that existed (without a 
 difference) between a " Shanghae" and a " Cochin-China," 
 and finally concluded my learned and zmselfish appeal by 
 
276 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 hinting (barely hinting') to him that I felt certain he was 
 the best judge of the facts in the case, and I would only 
 suggest that, so far as my experience went, there were, in 
 reality, but ten varieties of pure-bred, fowls known to orni- 
 thologists (I was one of this latter class), and that these ten 
 varieties were the Cochins, the White, Grey, Dominique, 
 Buff, Yellow, Red, Brown, Bronze and Black Shang- 
 haes — and these were the only kinds /ever bred. 
 
 As to their purity of blood, I could only say, that I im- 
 ported the original stock myself, and "enclosed" he had 
 their portraits ; to which I referred with pride and confi- 
 dence and pleasure, &c. &c. &c. Of their probable merits 
 I must leave it entirely to his own good judgment to decide. 
 I had this stock for sale, and it did not become me (mind 
 this !) didn't become me to praise it, of course (0 no I). 
 And I would say no more, but simply refer him to the 
 public prints for my character as a breeder of blooded stock, 
 etc. etc. etc. 
 
 Did this take him down ? Well, it did ; vide the follow- 
 ing reply from him, two weeks subsequently. 
 
 "My Dear Sir: 
 
 " I never entertained a doubt that you were all you had , 
 been represented ; and your reputation is, indeed, an envi- 
 able one, in the midst of these times, when so much deceit 
 and trickery is being practised among this community. I 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 277 
 
 am flattered with the tone of your kind letter, just received, 
 arid I am greatly pleased that you thus readily coincide 
 with me in regard to my opinions touching the fowl race. 
 
 " I had come to the conclusion that there were but eight 
 real varieties of genuine fowls ; but I observe that, in your 
 last favor, you describe ten strains of pure-bloods, that you 
 know to be such. The portraits of your stock are beauti- 
 ful. You allude to the ' Bronze ' and the ' Dominique ' 
 colored Shanghaes. These must be very fine, I have no 
 doubt ; and I gladly embrace the opportunity to enclose 
 you a draft on Merchants' Bank, Boston, for six hundred 
 dollars, in payment for six of each of your splendid 
 varieties of this pure China stock, the like of which (on 
 paper, at least) I have never yet been so fortunate as to 
 meet with. 
 
 " Please forward them, as per schedule, in care of Adams 
 & Co.'s Express; whose agents, I am assured, will feed and 
 water them regularly three times a day * on the route, 
 and who are universally proverbial for their attention to the 
 birds thus directed and intrusted to their care. I shall 
 order the ' Suffolks ' shortly. Yours, truly, 
 
 I sent this anxious purchaser sixty chickens, at ten dol- 
 
 * Certainly — of course. The express agents had nothing else to do 
 but to " feed and water " fowls " three times a day " on the way ! 
 
 24 
 
278 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 lars each (cheap enough, to be sure), in accordance with 
 his directions, and he was delighted with them. I do not 
 now entertain a shadow of doubt that every one of those ten 
 " different varieties " were bred from white hens and a black 
 cock, of the ordinary " Shanghae" tribe. 
 
CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 THE FATE OF THE " MODEL " SHANGHAES. 
 
 Napoleon, the great, found himself compelled to suc- 
 cumb to adverse fate, at the end of a long and brilliantly 
 triumphant career. "It was destiny," he said; and he 
 bowed to the fiat, which at last he was unable successfully 
 to dodge. 
 
 I was the fortunate owner of a pair of fine Shanghae 
 fowls, that were universally acknowledged to be "at the 
 head of the crowd," — so far as there was any beauty or 
 attractive qualities, whatever, in this species of animal, — 
 and I thought they were not bad-looking birds, really. 
 
 I caused a likeness to be taken of them from life, accu- 
 rately, and it was placed, some years since, at the head of 
 the circulars which I always enclosed back to my corres- 
 pondents, in reply to their favors and inquiries regarding 
 my views as to what was the best kind of domestic bird for 
 breeding. | 
 
 The cock was very handsomely formed, and when in full 
 feather was exceedingly showy, and graceful, and noble in 
 
280 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 his carriage. His hen companions were fine, too ; but there 
 was one in particular, that, in company with this bird, I 
 showed at several fairs, where they invariably carried away 
 the first premium, without any question or cavil as to com- 
 parative beauty and merit. I named them "Napoleon" 
 and the " Empress." 
 
 Their joint weight, when in the best condition, was about 
 twenty-two pounds ; and as the "fancy" then raged, they 
 were really unexceptionable. I "donno" how many chick- 
 ens I have sold by means of the -pictures of these birds, but 
 I do know that, unfortunately, this particular hen never 
 laid an egg while I owned her, which was some two years. 
 Still, she was very handsome, as was also her husband ; and 
 I certainly raised a great many fine chickens while they 
 were in my yards. I called them my very best, — and 
 they were, indeed, to look at, — a model pair of Shang- 
 haes, as will be seen by a glance at their portraits on the 
 next page. 
 
 But they were singled out for a curious fate. At two or 
 three of our early fairs they had taken the first prizes ; 
 and at one of the exhibitions, finally, there chanced to come 
 along a gentleman who fancied them exceedingly, and who 
 was bound to possess himself of the best that could be had. 
 He had a long purse (though, at the time he bought, prices 
 were not up to the mark they reached subsequently, by a 
 long margin) ; and when he offered forty dollars for this 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 281 
 
 r^AiSa* 
 
 THE "MODEL," SHANGHAES. (See page 280.) 
 
 24* 
 
282 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 "model" pair, it was thought, by most of the outsiders, to 
 be a fabulous transaction altogether, made up between us to 
 aid in gulling "the people." However, he paid his money 
 for them, sent them off, and the following account of their 
 subsequent fate is thus touchingly furnished by my friend 
 " Acorn," who chanced to be " in at the death" : 
 
 " The gentleman who became the fortunate purchaser of 
 these fine fowls had come to the city in the morning for 
 the purpose of- posting himself up generally, and to procure 
 a pair of these then very desirable birds, though he did not 
 imagine that he would be called upon to come down so 
 1 werry han'some ' for a single pair. He saw these, how- 
 ever, and visions of brilliant promise loomed up before him, 
 if he could contrive to obtain them, however high a figure 
 this ' magnificent ' twain might be held at. As soon as 
 he secured them, he felt that his fortune was made. 
 
 "He calculated to remain in town until evening, and, sit- 
 ting down, he hastily wrote a note to the keeper of a fash- 
 ionable hotel in T street, informing him that he would 
 
 dine with him, and that the bearer would deliver him a pair 
 of nice chickens, which he desired him to take charge of. 
 He also directed the boy (to whom he gave this note and 
 the coop) to say that he would take dinner with his friend 
 at four p. m. ; and, sending up the fowls, he turned to other 
 matters, for the day. 
 
^SE HEN FEVER. 283 
 
 "Arriving at the hotel, the youngster found the landlord, 
 and said, 
 
 '*' 'Here 's a pair of rousing big chickens Mr. M s has 
 
 sent up ; and he says he '11 be here to dine with you at four 
 o'clock.' 
 
 "The landlord supposed that his friend knew a hawk from 
 a handsaw, as well as a canvass-back from a broiled owl ; 
 and believed that he had 'sent up' something a little extra 
 for the proposed dinner. He therefore ordered the two birds 
 to be placed in the hands of the cook, and gave directions 
 also to have these ' model Shanghaes ' killed and dressed 
 at once, for the proposed dinner, to come off at four o'clock 
 p. m. ! 
 
 " This order was promptly obeyed ; and at the hour ap- 
 pointed the chicken-fancier made his appearance, in com- 
 pany with a few of the 'boys,' and the dinner was served 
 up with due accompaniments. After indulging in sundry 
 wine bitters, as a sharpener to their appetites, the snug 
 party sat down to table, and the liberal owner of the forty- 
 dollar Shanghaes was politely invited to carve. While in 
 the act of dissecting those enormous ' members of the late 
 hen convention,' the amateur remarked, 
 
 " ' 'Pon my word, Major, you 've a noble pair of chickens 
 here, to be sure.' 
 
 "'Yes, yes,' responded the Major. 'I think they are 
 an indifferently good-sized pair of birds. They were sent 
 
284 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 up to ine, to-day, by a mutual friend of ours. I think we 
 shall find them choice.' 
 
 " ' A present, eh ? ' said the owner, unwittingly. ' A 
 very clever fellow our friend must be, Major. Capital, — 
 really ! ' And as he finally commenced to enjoy the feast, 
 he added, ' I declare they are very fine, and of the most 
 delicious flavor I ever tasted. Juicy, too, — juicy as a 
 canvass-back.' 
 
 ' ' Thus continued the victim, praising the rich excellence 
 of the birds, until at last he had bagged a bottle or more of 
 sparkling Schreider. While chatting over their Sherry, at 
 last, and enjoying the rich aroma of their regalias, the now 
 unlucky owner of the model Shanghaes suddenly said, 
 
 " 'By the way, Major, speaking of fowls, what do you 
 think of my hen-purchase, this morning ? Are n't they good 
 'uns ? ' 
 
 "'Well, Bill,' rejoined his friend, 'I think they were 
 delicious. And I won't mind if you dine with me every 
 day in the week, provided you can send me up such chick- 
 ens as those ! ' 
 
 " ' Such chickens!' exclaimed Bill, astounded, as the 
 thought for the first time flashed upon him that he might 
 possibly now have been dining upon his 'model Shanghaes.' 
 ' Why, Major, what the deuce do you mean ? ' 
 
 " ' Mean ? ' replied the Major ; ' nothing, — only to say 
 — without, any intention of disturbing your nerves, — 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 285 
 
 that we have just finished a most capital dinner upon those 
 nice Shanghaes that you sent up to me, this morning.' 
 
 Ui What!' yelled Bill, jumping wildly up from the 
 table ; ' what do you say, Major ? ' 
 
 " ' Those Shanghaes — ' 
 
 " Bill groaned, rammed his hands clean up to the elbows 
 into his breeches-pockets, and, after striding fiercely across 
 the room some half a dozen times, without uttering another 
 word, but with his eyes all this time 'in a fine frenzy 
 rolling,' he stopped short, and, turning to the Major, he 
 exclaimed, with no little gesticulation, 
 
 " ' Good God, Major, you don't mean to say you're seri- 
 ous, now ? ' 
 
 " ' Nothing else, Bill. What 's the matter ? ' 
 
 " ' Why, I paid forty dollars for that pair of chickens, 
 this morning, at the hen-show ! ' 
 
 "'You did!' 
 
 " ' Yes. Did n't that stupid boy give you my note, when 
 he left the chickens ? ' 
 
 " ' Not a note ; not even a due-bill,' said the Major, 
 provokingly. 
 
 " ' I mean my letter,' continued Bill. 
 
 " ' No,' said the Major, ' he gave me no letter ; he sim- 
 ply delivered the fowls, and informed me that you would 
 dine with me at four P. M I thought, of course, you would 
 like them thus, and so I had 'em roasted.' 
 
286 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 "Bill didn't stop for further explanations, but rushed 
 for his horse and wagon, and was n't seen in the city but 
 once afterwards, for a long time. He was then closely 
 muffled up, and had both his ears stopped up with cotton- 
 batting, lest he might possibly hear some one say Sliang- 
 hae ! 
 
 " A few weeks afterwards, while passing near his resi- 
 lience, I halted, and dropped in upon him for an hour ; 
 and, after a while, I ventured to touch upon the merits 
 and beauties of the different breeds of poultry : — but 
 I discovered, at once, that there was a wildness about 
 Bill's eyes, and therefore ceased to allude to this usu- 
 ally interesting ' rural ' subject, as Bill exclaimed, implor- 
 ing 1 /, 
 
 " ' Don't hit me, old boy, now I 'm down ! That chicken 
 dinner has never yet digested V " 
 
 Thus "passed away" one of the handsomest pairs of 
 domestic fowls ever seen in this part of the country, and 
 which were well known, by all the fanciers around me, 
 as tip-top specimens of the then lauded race of Shang- 
 haes. 
 
 This result proved rather an expensive dinner for Mr. 
 
 M s ; but, while it served for an excellent lesson to him 
 
 (as well as to many of his friends who chanced to hear of 
 what the Major called "this capital joke"), he had the 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 287 
 
 satisfaction, subsequently, of ascertaining that he got off at 
 a remarkably low figure. His hen fever was very quickly, 
 and fortunately, cured. But for- this sudden and happy 
 turn in his case, the disease might have cost him far more 
 dearly. 
 
 The fowls -he thus lost were what were then deemed "tall 
 specimens ;" but they did not, in this respect, equal those 
 of a neighbor, who declared that a young Shanghae cock 
 of his grew so high on the leg, that he got to be afraid of 
 him ; and, instead of eating him, one day while the rooster 
 was in a meditative mood, he contrived to place a twenty- 
 feet ladder beside him, and, mounting it, man&ged to blow 
 out the monster's brains, greatly to the owner's velief. 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 AN EMPHATIC CLINCHES. 
 
 One of the last specimen letters that I will offer I re- 
 ceived late in the year of our Lord 1854, which afforded 
 me as much amusement (considering the circumstances of 
 the case) as any one I ever yet received, of the thousands 
 that found their way to " Geo. P. Burnham, Esq., Boston, 
 Mass." Here it is, word for word : 
 
 "Geokg- Buenam : 
 
 More 'n a yeer aggo i cent yu twenty six dollers in a 
 leter for 3 coshin chiner Chickns, an yu sed tha wus per- 
 feck pure bludds an yu lade yerseff lyble tu a Sute of pros- 
 ekushn fer letin such dam stuf go intu yure yard or out of 
 it, eether. 
 
 "ibred them orl by theniselfs an never had no uther 
 cockrill on my plase. an i no yu cheeted me like the 
 devl, an yu no it 2. the fust lot of chickns i gut was awl 
 wife as snobawls. but i didnt sa nothin, cause wy ? Wat 
 did I Want tu let fokes no ide bin fuled an suckt in by a 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 289 
 
 Corntemtible yanky, fer ! i sed nothin an kep shaidy, an 
 stuk to it that i gut em to breed wite fouls out on — caus i 
 Ment peeple shudent larf at me, no how ! 
 
 ' ' Wei, the nex lot of chickns i gut wus black as thun- 
 der ! black, Geo Burnam — bred out of yur Patent yaller 
 impoted preemum stock, that yu an the lyin Noospappers 
 ced wus pure bludds. i chocked Every wun on em quick- 
 er '"n scatt — wen i found um, an ef Yude a bin thare then 
 i guess you Wuddent razed not more'n ten thowsen more 
 fouls to cheet Peeple with after ide a gut a holt on yure 
 desaitful gullet. 
 
 ' ' never y u mind now, yuve gut my monny an yu can 
 maik the most of it. aint yu a Pooty kine of mann ? dont 
 yu think yu ort tu hav yure Nairn put in the nuspapper an 
 let em say more 'n fifty times a Munth that yu breed onny 
 pure Impoted stock ? dont yu feel nice wen Yu beer about 
 the luck that peeple has with the stuf you impose on em in 
 this shaimfull maner ? Yu muss be a Nise kine of a sort 
 of mann, i dont think. 
 
 " i tell yu wot i think on yu. i think if yu Shud taik to 
 sum onnest imploiment, sech as drivin a express Waggin or 
 sorring wood, yude be Considurd a gentle mann Compaired 
 with wat yu now be. everyboddy nose how yu ar cheetin 
 and Gougin and bleadin the publick, an yur naim stinks 
 wuss 'n a ole Hen-cupe enny how. i spose tho ef yu shud 
 taik to enny kine of onness sort of way tu git a livin it ud 
 25 
 
299 THE HISTORY OE 
 
 kill yu dam quik cos yu aint uste tu it, an that wud serv 
 yu rite, yu Cheetin lyin onprinsipled nave, ide orter taikn 
 hermits an Minur's advise, an then i Shudent hin suckt by 
 yu. tha air Gentle mann to yu, an tha aint no hetter 
 then tha shud be Ney ther — no how ! 
 , " i dont mine the Eckspence, it aint no cornsidahle mat- 
 ter of konsekens Tu me, i 'shure yu. i can stan it, yu 
 need n't be Afeered of that, i can aford tu he suckt wunce. 
 But ide like yu tu tell me how Blak chickns an wite chickns 
 an sum of em orl Cullers tu, can cum out of pure bludded 
 Aigs, or pure bludded fouls ? tha carnt, an yu kno it. an 
 yu kno'de it afore, an yure Welcom tu orl yule ewer maik 
 More out of me, bait yure life on that, georg Burnam ! 
 
 "goahed. sue em as long as Yu can. tha wunt fine 
 yu out fer a wile, an yu can maik sum cornsidable mor 
 Monny out of the flatts, yit. yu thort yude suckt one I 
 spoze. well i own up. yu did. yu gut twenty six dollers 
 of my monny an i spose yu chukled about it, same's yu did 
 Wen yu stuk them roten aigs onto bill turner. Yude beter 
 cum here, this wa, sum fine da an See the stock here thats 
 bred out of yure preemum fouls, praps Yude git hoam 
 agin without a saw hed." i think yu wood, haddn't yu 
 Better try it on — hay ? 
 
 " dont yu wish ide pade the postige on this leter ? Yule 
 git a wus wun nex time, ile rite yu agin, wunct a weak, 
 cee ef i dont. ile Meat yu sum day at sum of the fares 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 291 
 
 an then cee if i dont Rake yu down with a corse comb, i 
 haint harf dun with yu yit, by a dam site, so wate. 
 ' ' In haist, 
 
 " B F L . 
 
 " Poss Skrip. — P. S. i seen in boston Times yister- 
 day that yu ' Lade six aigs on The editurs table, 8 inchi3 
 long an 4 inchis Round.' This was put in that paper i 
 Spose sose yu cud cell Aigs. yu ma pool wull over thair 
 ies But yu dont fule Me. i doant bleeve yu ever Lade a 
 aig in yur life — yu Hombugg. go tu the devl gorge 
 Burnam ! " 
 
 A German friend of mine once temporarily left the pro- 
 fession to which he had been educated thoroughly, and, with 
 a few hundred dollars in hand, purchased a small place, a 
 dozen miles out from the city, which was called by the seller 
 of it "a farm." 
 
 Mynheer went to work lustily at his new vocation, slav- 
 ing and sweating and puffing away over his lately ac- 
 quired grounds, every moment of time that he could bor- 
 row or steal from his legitimate duties, and expending 
 upon his "farm" every dollar he could rake and scrape 
 together. 
 
 In the fall of his first year as a "practical agriculturist," 
 I met him casually, and I said, 
 
292 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 " A , how does the farming succeed with you ? How 
 
 have you made it?" 
 
 " By gar," he replied, "I 'av try vera hard all de time, 
 I 'av plant potato an quash an corn an all dat, I 'av hire 
 all my neighbors to ; elp, I buy all de manoor in town, I 
 'av spent all my monish — an wot you tink, now, Burn- 
 ham — wot you tink I get — eh ? Well, I git one dam 
 big watermel'n, dass all ; — but he never git ripe, by 
 gar!" 
 
 When I had read the letter which I have just quoted 
 
 above, I thought of my friend A , and I said that my 
 
 correspondent (like a good many before him), as did Myn- 
 heer A , had undertaken a business which was entirely 
 
 beyond his comprehension. 
 
 His letter was complimentary, (!) to say the least of 
 it. But the young man was easily excited, I think. 
 He did pay me some twenty-six dollars for four chickens, 
 and from some cause (unknown to this individual) he got 
 only white or black progeny from the yellow fowls I sent 
 him ! Was that any business of mine ? He should 
 have thanked, rather than have abused me, surely, — for 
 didn't he thus obtain a variety of "pure" stock, from 
 one and the same source ? 
 
 Such fortune as this was by no means uncommon. The 
 yellow stock was crossed in China, oftentimes, long before 
 we ever saw it here ; and there was only one means of 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 293 
 
 redress that I could ever recommend to these unlucky 
 wights, conscientiously, and that was to buy more, and try 
 it again. 
 
 Sometimes " like would breed its like" in poultry; not 
 often, however, within my humble experience ! The ama- 
 teurs were continually trying experiments, and grumbling, 
 and constantly dodging from one "fancy" kind of fowl to 
 another, in search of the right thing ; and I endeavored to 
 aid them in their pursuit ; though they did not always at- 
 tain their object, even when they purchased of me. 
 
CHAPTER XLIXI. 
 
 " STAND FROM UNDER ! " 
 
 I have asserted, in another place, that, in all probability, 
 in no bubble, short of the famous " South Sea Expedition," 
 has there ever been so great an amount of money squan- 
 dered, from first to last, as in the chicken-trade ; and, 
 surely, into the meshes of no humbug known to us of the 
 present day have there been so many persons inveigled, as 
 could now be counted among the victims of this inex- 
 plicable mania. 
 
 A copy of the Liveiyool Express in January, 1854, now 
 lies before me, from which I notice that the great metro- 
 politan show in London, just then closed, surpassed all its 
 predecessors ; and that the excitement in England, at that 
 time, was at its height. The editor asserts that "it was 
 not an easy thing to exhaust the merits of the three thou- 
 sand specimens of the feathered tribe there shown. No 
 one," continues the writer, " who is at all conversant with 
 natural history, can fail to find abundance of material for 
 an hour's instruction and amusement. The general charac- 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 295 
 
 ter of the exhibition has been already indicated ; but this is 
 one of those cases in which no description, however elabo- 
 rate, can supply the place of personal inspection." 
 
 The British correspondent of the Boston Post, but a 
 short time previously, writes that "the fowl fever, which has 
 raged with so much violence in New England during the 
 last three years, has extended to this country. There was 
 a great crowing among the cocks at the late Smithfield 
 cattle-show, and there seems to have been a still louder one 
 at the Birmingham fair. 
 
 " The mania for the purchase of fine fowls," continues 
 this writer, "was as furious there as if each of them had 
 been the hen in the fable that found the jewel in the dung- 
 hill. Some pairs brought as high as forty pounds (two 
 hundred dollars). One very fine pair of Cochin-Chinas 
 sold for fifty pounds (two hundred and fifty dollars). In 
 the catalogue some were marked at one hundred pounds, 
 the valuation prices of owners who did not wish to sell. 
 With you, in America, the rage for fowl-raising is simply 
 one of fancy and profit,* but here it is the result — and a 
 very beneficial one, too — of free trade. The price of eggs 
 and poultry, owing to the great demand, does not fall ; the 
 price of grain, owing to free importation, does fall ; and 
 hence the great profit which is realized from keeping fowls. 
 
 * We. have found it a very comfortable " rage," thank you ! 
 
296 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 The Dorkings are great favorites, less difficult to raise than 
 with you ; and, though not abundant layers, still command, 
 from the greater whiteness and superior delicacy of their 
 flesh, a high price in the market. But the new Cochin- 
 China varieties are in the greatest demand ; the display of 
 them at Birmingham exceeded all others, and they are now 
 much sought after here." 
 
 Such accounts as these continually occupied the papers ; 
 and the fever had been kept furiously alive, by this means, 
 until far into the year 1854. The most glowing accounts 
 of the poultry-shows, at home and abroad, were kept up, 
 too ; but, in the mean time, Shanghae chickens multiplied 
 rapidly, and grew up, and filled the barns and yards of 
 " the people," — and at the same time they did not forget 
 how to eat corn, when they could get it. 
 
 And, in spite of the best endeavors of interested parties to 
 galvanize the hum into a continued existence, it was now 
 evident to those who watched its progress, as / had done, 
 that the death-rattle was clearly in its throat. 
 
 At this juncture I was reminded of the details of the 
 mulberry -tree bubble, the tulip fever, and the Merino sheep 
 speculation ; and I had taken care not to become involved 
 in the final ruin of the hen-trade (as I knew many had 
 been, and more were destined to be), in the eventual wind- 
 ing-up of this affair, which was now close at hand. 
 
 A brief account of the famous sheep mania (so like the 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 297 
 
 hen fever in its workings) will not be uninteresting at this 
 point ; and its record here, perhaps, will have the effect of 
 opening the eyes of some chance reader, haply, who is, even 
 now, half inclined to try his hand in the chicken-trade. 
 
 This sheep bubble originated in the year 1815 or 1816, 
 immediately after the treaty of Ghent, and at a period when 
 thousands of the American people were actually ' ' wool- 
 mad" in reference to the huge profits that were then ap- 
 parent, prospectively, in manufacturing enterprises. 
 
 In the summer of the last-named year (as nearly as can 
 be fixed upon), a gentleman in Boston first imported some 
 half-dozen sheep from one of the southern provinces of 
 Spain, whose fleeces were of the finest texture, as it was 
 said; and such, undoubtedly, was the fact, though the sheep 
 were so thoroughly and completely imbedded in tar, and 
 every other offensive article, upon their arrival in America, 
 that it would have been very difficult to have proved this 
 statement. Eut the very offensive appearance of the sheep 
 seemed to imbue them with a mysterious value, that ren- 
 dered them doubly attractive. 
 
 It was contended that the introduction of these sheep into 
 the United States would enable our manufactories, then in 
 their infancy, to produce broadcloths, and other woollen 
 fabrics, of a texture that would compete with England and 
 Europe. Even Mr. Clay was consulted in reference to the 
 Bheep ; and he at once decided that they were exactly the 
 
298 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 animals that were wanted ; and some of them subsequently 
 found their way to Ashland. 
 
 The first Merino sheep sold, if I recollect right, for fifty 
 dollars the head. They cost just one dollar each in Anda- 
 lusia ! The speculation was too profitable to stop here ; and, 
 before a long period had elapsed, a small fleet sailed on a 
 sheep speculation to the Mediterranean. By the end of the 
 year 1816 there probably were one thousand Merino sheep 
 in the Union, and they had advanced in price to twelve 
 hundred dollars the head. 
 
 Before the winter of that year had passed away, they sold 
 for fifteen hundred dollars the head ; and a lusty and good- 
 looking buck would command two thousand dollars at sight. 
 Of course, the natural Yankee spirit of enterprise, and the 
 love which New Englanders bore to the " almighty dollar," 
 were equal to such an emergency as this, and hundreds of 
 Merino sheep soon accumulated in the Eastern States. 
 
 But, in the course of the year 1817, the speculation, in 
 consequence of the surplus importation, began to decline ; 
 yet it steadily and rapidly advanced throughout the Western 
 country, while Kentucky, in consequence of the influence of 
 Mr. Clay's opinions, was especially benefited. 
 
 In the fall of 1817, what was then deemed a very fine 
 Merino buck and ewe were sold to a gentleman in the West- 
 ern country for the sum of eight thousand dollars ; and 
 even that was deemed a very small price for the animals ! 
 
THE HEN FEVEK. 299 
 
 They were purchased by a Mr. Samuel Long, a house builder 
 and contractor, who fancied he had by the transaction 
 secured an immense fortune. 
 
 Now, Mr. Long had acquired the sheep fever precisely 
 as thousands of others (in later days) have taken the hen 
 fever. And, in this case, the victim was really rabid with 
 the Merino mania. In proof of this, the following authentic 
 anecdote will be amply sufficient and convincing. 
 
 There resided, at this time, in Lexington, Ky., and but a 
 short distance from Mr. Clay's villa of Ashland, a wealthy 
 gentleman, named Samuel Trotter, who was, in fact, the 
 money-king of Kentucky, and who, to a very great extent, 
 at that time, controlled the branch of the Bank of the 
 United States. He had two sheep, — a buck and an ewe, — 
 and Mr. Long was very anxious to possess them. 
 
 Mr. Long repeatedly bantered and importuned Mr. Trot- 
 ter to obtain this pair of sheep from him, but without suc- 
 cess ; but, one day, the latter said to the former, " If you 
 will build me such a house, on a certain lot of land, as I 
 shall describe, you shall have the Merinos." 
 
 "Draw your plans for the buildings," replied Long, 
 instantly, " and let me see them; I will then decide." 
 
 The plans were soon after submitted to him, and Long 
 eagerly accepted the proposal, and forthwith engaged in the 
 enterprise. He built for Trotter a four-story brick house, 
 about fifty feet by seventy, on the middle of an acre of 
 
300 THE HISTOKY OF 
 
 land ; he finished it in the most approved modern style, 
 and enclosed it with a costly fence ; and, finally, handed it 
 over to Trotter, for the two Merino sheep. The establish- 
 ment must have cost, at the very least, fifteen thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 But, alas ! A long while before this beautiful and costly 
 estate was fully completed, the price of Merinos declined 
 gradually ; and six months had not passed away before 
 they would not command twenty dollars each, even in Ken- 
 tucky. 
 
 Mr. Long was subsequently a wiser but a 'poorer man. 
 He held on to this pair till their price reached the par 
 value only of any other sheep ; and then he absolutely killed 
 this buck and ewe, made a princely barbecue, called all his 
 friends to the feast, and whilst the "goblet went its giddy 
 rounds," like the ruined Venetian, he thanked God that, at 
 that moment, he was not worth a ducat ! 
 
 This is absolute, sober fact. Mr. Long was completely 
 and irretrievably ruined in his pecuniary affairs ; and very 
 soon after this "sumptuous dinner," he took sick, and 
 actually died of a broken heart. 
 
 Along in the summer and fall of 1854, having watched 
 the course that matters were taking in the chicken-trade, I 
 became cautious ; for I thought I heard in the far-off dis- 
 tance something indefinite, and almost undistinguishable, 
 yet pointed and emphatic in its general tone. I listened ; 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 501 
 
 and, as nearly as I could make the warning out, it sounded 
 like "Take care!" 
 
 And so I waited for the denouement that was yet to 
 come. In the mean time, I had a friend who for five long- 
 years had been religiously seeking for that incomprehensi- 
 ble and never-yet-come-at-able ignis fatuns, a genuine 
 " Cochin-China" fowl of undoubted purity ! 
 
 I had not heard of or from him for some weeks ; until, 
 one morning, about this time, a near relative of his sent to 
 my house all that remained of this indefatigable searcher 
 after truth ; an accurate drawing of which I instantly caused 
 to be made — and here it is ! 
 
 26 
 
CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 BURSTING OF THE BUBBLE. 
 
 My friend John Giles, of Woodstock, Conn., has some- 
 where said, of late, "I often hear that the 'fowl' fever is 
 dying out. If by this is meant the unhealthy excitement 
 ■which we have had for a feAV years past, for one, I say the 
 sooner that it dies out the better. But as to the enthusiasm 
 of true lovers of the feathered tribe dying out, it never will, 
 as long as man exists. It is part of God's creation. The 
 thinking man loves and admires his Maker's work ; always 
 did ; always will. And I have not the least doubt that any 
 enterprising young man, with a suitable place and fancier's 
 eye, would find it to his advantage to embark in the enter- 
 prise of fowl-raising for market." 
 
 Now, I don't know but John is honest in this assertion, — ■ 
 that is, I can imagine that he believes in this theory ! But 
 how he can ever have arrived at such a conclusion (with 
 the results of his own experience before him), is more than 
 I can comprehend. 
 
 Laying aside all badinage, for the moment, I think it may 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 803 
 
 i 
 
 be presumed that I have had some share of experience in 
 this business, practically, and I think I can speak advis- 
 edly on this subject. As far back as during the years 
 ,1889, : 40 and '41, I erected, in Koxbury, a poultry estab- 
 lishment on a large scale, upon a good location, where I had 
 the advantages of ample space, twenty separate hen-houses, 
 running water and a fine pond on the premises, glass- 
 houses (cold, and artificially heated, for winter use), and 
 every appurtenance, needful or ornamental, was at my 
 command. 
 
 I purchased and bred all kinds of domestic fowls there, 
 and they were attended with care from year's end to year's 
 end. But there was no profit whatever resulting from 
 the undertaking, — and why ? 
 
 The -very week that a mass of poultry — say three to 
 five hundred fowls — is put together upon one spot, they 
 begin to suffer, and fail, and retrograde, and die. ISTo amount 
 of care, cleanliness or watching, can evade this result. In 
 a body (over a dozen to twenty together), they cannot 
 thrive ; nor can the owner coax or force them to lay eggs, 
 by any known process.* 
 
 * Since this was -written, I find in the Country Gentleman a communica- 
 tion from L. F. Allen, Esq., on this very subject, in -which he says that 
 " A correspondent desires to know how to build a chicken-house for ' about 
 one thousand fowls.' If my poor opinion is worth anything, he will not 
 build it at all. Fowls, in any large number, will not thrive. Although I 
 
304 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 To succeed with the breeding of poultry, the stock must 
 be colonized (if a large number of fowls be kept), or else 
 only a few must find shelter in any one place, about the 
 farm or country residence. And my experience has taught 
 me that five hens together will yield more eggs than fifty- 
 five together will in the same number of months. 
 
 I honestly assert, to-day, that of all the humbug that 
 exists, or which has been made to exist, on this subject, no 
 part of it is more glaringly deceptive, in my estimation, than 
 that which contends for the profit that is to be gained by 
 breeding poultry — as a business by itself — for market 
 consumption. The idea is preposterous and ridiculous, 
 and no man can accomplish it, — I care nottvhat his facil- 
 ities may be, — to any great extent, iipon a single estate. 
 The thing is impossible ; and I state this, candidly, after 
 many years of practical experience among poultry, on a 
 liberal scale, and in the possession of rare advantages for 
 repeated experiment. 
 
 I do not say that certain persons who have kept a few 
 fowls (from twenty-five to a hundred, perhaps), and who 
 have looked after them carefully, may not have realized a 
 profit upon them, in connection with the farm. But, to 
 
 have seen it tried, I never knew a large collection of several hundred 
 fowls succeed in a confined place. I have known sundry of these enter- 
 prises tried ; but I never knew one permanently successful. They were all, 
 in turn, abandoned." The thing is entirely impracticable. 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 305 
 
 make it a business by itself, I repeat it, a mass of domestic 
 and aquatic fowls cannot be kept together to any advan- 
 tage whatever, their produce to be disposed of at ordinary 
 market value. 
 
 The fever for the " fancy " stock broke out at a time when 
 money was plenty, and when there was no other speculation 
 rife in which every one, almost, could easily participate. 
 The prices for fowls increased with astonishing rapidity. 
 The whole community rushed into the breeding of poultry, 
 without the slightest consideration, and the mania was by 
 no means confined to any particular class of individuals — 
 though there was not a little shyness among certain circles 
 who were attacked at first ; but this feeling soon gave way, 
 and our first men, at home and abroad, were soon deeply 
 and riotously engaged in the subject of henology. 
 
 Meantime, in England they were doing up the matter 
 somewhat more earnestly than with us on this side of the 
 water. To show how even the nobility never l i put their 
 hand to the plough and look back " when anything in this 
 line is to come off, and the better to prove how fully the 
 poultry interests were looked after in England, I would 
 point to the names of those who, from 1849 to 1855. 
 patronized the London and Birmingham associations for the 
 improvement of domestic poultry. 
 
 The Great Annual Show, at Bingley Hall, was got up 
 under the sanction of His Royal Highness Prince Albert, 
 26* 
 
 
806 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 the Duchess of Sutherland, Lady Charlotte Gough, the 
 Countess of Bradford, lit. Hon. Countess of Littlefield, Lady 
 Chetwynd, Hon. Viscountess Hill, Lady Littleton, Hon. 
 Mrs. Percy, Lady Scott, and a host of other noble and 
 royal lords and ladies, whose names are well known among 
 the lines of English aristocracy. 
 
 But, as time advanced, the star of Shanghae-ism began to 
 wane. The nobility tired of the excitement, and the people 
 of England and of the United States began to ascertain that 
 there was absolutely nothing in this " hum," save what the 
 ' ' importers and breeders ' ' had made, through the influence 
 of the newspapers ; and while a few of the last men were 
 examining the thickness of the shell, cautiously and warily, 
 the long-inflated bubble burst ! and, as the fragments 
 descended upon the devoted heads of the unlucky star-gaz- 
 ers, a cry was faintly heard, from beneath the ruins — 
 " Stand from tinder ! " 
 
 I had been watching for this climax for several months ; 
 and when the explosion occurred, as nearly as I can " cal- 
 'late," I was n't thar ! 
 
CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 THE DEAD AND WOUNDED. 
 
 I have never yet been able to ascertain, authentically, 
 all the exact particulars of the final catastrophe ; but, basing 
 an opinion upon the numerous " dispatches " I received 
 from November, 1854, to February, 1855, the number of 
 dead and wounded must have been considerable, if not more. 
 I received scores of letters, during this last period men- 
 tioned, of which the annexed is a fair sample : 
 
 "G. P. Burnham, Esq. 
 
 "Dear Sir: I'm afraid the jig is up! There's 
 a big hole in the bottom somewhere, or I am mistaken. I 
 think the dance is concluded ; and if it is n't time to 
 1 blow out the lights ' and shut down the gate, just let 
 us know. — will you ? Where 's Bennett, and Harry 
 Williams, and Dr. Eben, and Childs, and Ad. White, 
 and Brackett, and Johnny Giles, and Uncle Alden, and 
 Buckminster, and C bickering, and Cofiin, and Fussell, 
 and Chenery, and Gilman, and Hatch, and Jaques, and 
 Barnum, and Southwick, and Packard, and Balch, and 
 
308 THE HISTORY 01 
 
 Morton, and Plarsted, and Geo. White, et id omne genus ? 
 Where are they all ? S-a-y ! 
 
 " What has become of Piatt, and Miner, and Newell, and 
 Hudson, and Heffron, and Taggard, and Hill, and Swett, 
 and M'Clintock, and Dr. Kerr, and Devereux, andThacher, 
 and Haines, and Hildreth, and Brown, and Smith, and 
 Green, and their allies ? Are they dead, or only ' kilt ' ? 
 Let me know, if you can, I beseech you ! 
 
 " '• 0, where, tell me where,' is my bonnie friend 
 John Moore, and mine ancient frere Morse, and my loved 
 chum Howard, and the wily Butters ? And where 's Ped- 
 der — the immaculate Pedder ? And Charley Belcher, 
 too, and bragging Cornish, and Billy Everett, and our good 
 neighbors Parkinson, and George, and Sol. Jewett, and Pres- 
 ident Kimball, and know-nothing King, and the reverend 
 Marsh, and Pendletonian Pendleton of Pendleton Hill, and 
 their satellites? Have all departed, and left no wreck 
 behind ? I reckon not ! 
 
 "Seriously, friend B , what does all this mean? 
 
 Has the fever passed by? Can't we offer another single 
 prescription ? Has the last man been heard from ? Has 
 there been found ' a balm in Gilead ' to heal the wounds of 
 the afflicted sufferers ? Is the thing finished ? Are they 
 all cured? Did you say all? D under and blixen ! Is 
 anybody hurt ? What are we to do ? : Speak, or die ! ' 
 
 "Where are the 'Committee,' and the 'Judges,' and the 
 
THE HEN FEVER. oUtf 
 
 ' Trustees,' and the ' Managers' ? Where is the ' Society ' 
 ■whose name, ' like linked sweetness long drawn out,' I 
 have n't time to write ? Where is that balance in the 
 Treasurer 's hands,' — and where is that functionary himself? 
 Did he ever exist at all ? What has become of the premi- 
 ums that were awarded at the last show in Boston ? And 
 when, in the language of the enthusiastic Mr. Snooks (at 
 the Statehouse in 1850), will that Association begin ' to be 
 forever perpetuated,' — eh? 
 
 "I have got on hand three hundred of the Shanghae 
 devils ! What can I do with them ? There is a neighbor 
 of mine (a police-officer), who has got stuck with a lot of 
 1 Cochin ' chickens, which he swears he won't support this 
 winter ; and he has at last advertised them as stolen prop- 
 erty, in the faint hope, I suppose, that some ' green 'un ' 
 will come forward and claim them. You can't get rid of 
 these birds ! It is useless to try to sell them ; you can't 
 give them away; nobody will take them. You can't 
 starve them, for they are fierce and dangerous when aggra- 
 vated, and will kick down the strongest store-closet door ; 
 and you can't kill them, for they are tough as rhinocer- 
 oses, and tenacious of life as cats. Ah ! Burnham, I have 
 never forgiven the man who made me a present of my first 
 lot! Do you want what I've got left? Will you take 
 them ? How much shall I pay you to receive them ? 
 Help me out, if you can. 
 
310 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 "lam not aware that I ever committed any offence, that 
 this judgment should be thus visited upon mypoov head! 
 I never sold fowls for "what they were not ; I never cheated 
 anybody, that I know of; I do not remember ever having 
 done any unjust act that should bring down upon me this 
 terrible vengeance. Yet I am now the owner of nearly 
 three hundred of these infernal, cursed, miserable ghosts in 
 ' feathered mail,' which I cannot get rid of! Tell me what 
 I shall do, and answer promptly. 
 
 "Yours, in distress. 
 
 I have smiled over this document, so full of feeling and 
 earnestness, so lively and touching in its recollections of the 
 days when we went chicfcen-ing, long time ago ! But I 
 have never been able to reply fully to my ardent friend's 
 numerous inquiries. I don't want those "three hundred 
 Shanghae devils," though. I have now on hand nine of 
 them (only, thank Heaven !) myself; and that is quite 
 enough for one farm, at the present current price of grain. 
 
 What has become of all the friends about whom my cor- 
 respondent so carefully inquires, I don't know. Not jive of 
 them are now in the hen-trade, however ; and there are not 
 ten of them who got out of the business with a whole skin, 
 from the commencement. 
 
 The engine has collapsed its boiler. There was alto- 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 311 
 
 gether too much steam crowded on, and the managers were 
 not all "up to snuff." The dead and wounded and 
 dying are now scattered throughout New England and New 
 York State chiefly, and their moans can occasionally be 
 heard, though their groans of repentance come too late to 
 help them. 
 
 They recklessly invested their twenties, or fifties, or hun- 
 dreds, and, in some instances, their thousands of dollars, in 
 this hum, without any knowledge of the business, and without 
 any consideration whatever, except the single aim to keep 
 the bubble floating aloft until they could realize anticipated 
 fortunes, on a larger or smaller scale, as the case might be. 
 But the " cars have gone by," and they may now wait for 
 another train. Perhaps it will come ! 
 
 Poor fellows ! Poor, deluded, crazy, reckless dupes ! 
 You have had your fun, many of you, and you will now 
 have the opportunity to reflect over the ruins that are piled 
 up around you ; while, for the time being, you may well 
 exclaim, with the sulky and flunkey Moor, 
 
 " Othello's occupation 's gone ! " 
 
CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 A MOURNFUL PROCESSION. 
 
 I WAS sitting before my comfortable library fire in mid- 
 winter, 1854, and had been reflecting upon the mutability 
 of human affairs generally, and the uncertainty of Shang- 
 hae-ism more particularly, when I finally dropped into a 
 gentle slumber in my easy-chair, where I dozed away an 
 hour, and dreamed. 
 
 My thoughts took a very curious turn. I fancied myself 
 sitting before a large window that opened into a broad pub- 
 lic street, in which I suddenly discovered a multitude of 
 people moving actively about ; and I thought it was some 
 gala-day in the city, for the throng appeared to be excited 
 and anxious. " The people " were evidently abroad : and 
 the crowds finally packed themselves along the sidewalks, 
 leaving the wide street open and clear ; and I could over- 
 hear the words " They 're coming ! " " Here they are ! " 
 
 I looked out, and beheld an immense gathering of human 
 beings approaching in a line that stretched away as far as 
 the eye could reach, — a dense mass of moving mortality, 
 
THE HISTOKY OP THE HEN FEVER. 313 
 
 that soon arrived, and passed the window, beneath me. I 
 was alone in the room, and could ask no questions. I could 
 only see what occurred before me ; and I noted down, as 
 they passed by, this motley procession, which moved in 
 
 the following 
 
 Order of March. 
 
 Escort of Indescribables. 
 
 Hatless Aid. [ Chief Marshal in Black. ] Bootless Aid. 
 
 Police. Two Ex-Mormons in White Tunics. Police. 
 
 Calathuinpian Band. 
 Whig ( The "Know Nothing Guards," with guns ) Democrat 
 Office-holders. ^ enough for all useful purposes. ) Ex P eotant3 - 
 
 The " Ins." [ Collector and Postmaster. ] The " Outs." 
 
 U. S. Marshal. 5 The " National " Democracy, two deep, > ^ g _ Dist _ 
 £ in one section. y 
 
 Banner. 
 
 Motto — " We know of Burns that Russia Salve can't cure." 
 
 " Aids to the Revenue. " [ Marshal. ] Drawbacks on the Revenue. 
 
 Kaleb Krushing. [ The Man who Fainted in Mexico. ] Jorge ah ! Poll. 
 
 " Fanny Fern," 
 
 Flanked by a company of disappointed Publishers, 
 
 twenty-four deep, in twelve sections. 
 
 Banner. 
 
 Motto. — "She 's a brick ! " 
 
 Aids. [ Marshal. ] Aids. 
 
 President of the " N. E. Mutual Admiration" Hen Society. 
 
 Fat Marshal. [ The Great Show Man. ] Lean Marshal. 
 
 Band, playing the " Rogue's March." 
 
 Marshal. Ghost of Joice Heth, Marshal. 
 
 Aids, ( A Fejee Mermaid, astride ) Aids, 
 
 of Quaking Shakers. £ the Woolly Horse. J The Ha PPy FamU y- 
 
 C Invited Guests. } 
 
 Their 'readers S „ The Three Historians, ? "admirers." 
 
 £ Burnham, Prescot, and Bancraft. 3 
 
 Escort in the rear, with charged bayonets. 
 
 Police 5 A ff enuine " Cochin-Chim. " Rooster, > police 
 
 " \ succeeded by the man who knew him to be such ! ) 
 
 Marshal. £ The entire United States American National ) Marshal. 
 
 Pea Wilder. \ Agricultural Society, in a one-horse buggy. 5 w - ESS kin S- 
 
 27 
 
314 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 [The good this association had accomplished was borne along by a stout 
 "practical farmer," in a small thimble; the records of its doings were 
 inscribed on a huge roll of paper, 16,000 yards long, carried upon a truck 
 drawn by twelve yoke of " pure " Devon oxen.] 
 
 Banner. — Motto : " Ourselves and those who vote for us." 
 Aid, C An ex-U. S. Navy Agent who left that office } Aidj 
 
 Naval Store < without having made money out of his place ! > U. S. 
 Keeper. £ Banner. — Motto : " Poor, but honest." ) Sub-Treasurer. 
 
 The Mass. Hort. Improvement Society, "* 
 en masse, with several full bands of 
 music, on " seedling 
 ments, etc. 
 
 Banner. 
 
 Motto : " Cuss the Concord Grape." J 
 
 The man who voluntarily gave up his office under the 
 
 National government, solus, on horseback, with 
 
 Banner. — Motto : " Few die, and none resign." 
 
 "The Young 'Un," 
 The defunct in his own barouche, drawn by four " superb 
 New England -j dapple-grey Shanghaes." 
 
 Hen Society. Banner.— Motto : } „ C Banner.— Motto 
 
 I "JVotthis child! "\ 
 
 One hundred and 
 twenty-five < 
 Marshals. 
 
 No 
 Aids. 
 
 Twenty-five 
 accompani- I hundred and one 
 "old-inedal 
 
 Nc 
 friends. 
 
 His 
 
 vanquished 
 Com- 
 petitors. 
 
 , r Music, 
 "Who s afraid? ) 
 
 C Hen Men who had Mistaken their Calling, > p 
 
 ( twenty-eight deep, in four hundred sections. 5 
 
 C Grain Men, with their bills, J 
 
 nt n Aid \, < iu seventy sections, > , ,, A 11 * 3 ' „„ 
 
 24 Constables. } . , „•' , ' i All in a row 
 
 £ sixty-lour deep. ) 
 
 Band, playing " Hope told a flattering tale.." 
 
 'The great-grandson of the man who set"| 
 
 out an orchard of dwarf Pear-trees 
 
 \ (in a barouche). He was 102 years > 
 
 old, and believed he should see fruit on | 
 
 those same trees " next season " ! J 
 
 Pall Bearers. [ HIS COFFIN, BEHIND. ] Heirs to his estate. 
 
 ,«T> Aids ' t .. (Believers that Cochituate Water is) _ „ A "? S ». 
 12 Respectable < ,. , . s > isoaid ot 
 
 Physicians. ( WHOLESOME (in a chaise)., ) Commissioners 
 
 ( Chicken Fanciers who did n't buy their eggs of 
 
 Tree-venders 
 and Horticulturists, 
 
 with thumbs 
 on their 
 noses. 
 
 15 Marshals. 
 
 Aids, 
 the Conductors 
 
 me, and who expected they would hatch ! 
 (Four thousand strong.) 
 
 {A body of Express Agents, who never shook" 
 up the eggs intrusted to them (though 
 they occasionally shook down their em- 
 ployers). 
 Band. — Air : "O, I never will deceive you ! ' 
 
 15 Marshals. 
 
 Aids, 
 the Brakemen. 
 
THE HEIST FEVER. 
 
 315 
 
 Flanked by 
 
 the Subscribers 
 
 for that 
 
 " Double Harness 
 
 " My friend The President," 
 
 In the carriage presented to him by 
 
 " the people," drawn by that 
 
 " superb pair of 01500 horses " 
 
 which we read of in 
 
 the papers. 
 
 Motto: ( Rl „ irao > Motto 
 
 I'll see you in the Fall." { • DANNERS - ] « 
 
 Full Band. 
 
 {The Hatch Grey Shanghae Express Co.,"} 
 with the latest news from Nantucket | 
 and ' ' Marm Hackett's Garden. ' ' 
 Motto : " Important, if true ! " J 
 ["Holders of Second' Mortgage R. R. Bonds, 
 j 24 deep, in 2400 sections. 
 
 } Banner. 
 
 (^ Motto : " There 's a good time coming." 
 C The owner of the first " Brahma Pootra " 
 < fowls in America, with a map of India 
 £ on the seat of his pantaloons. 
 
 The original members of the 
 "Women's Rights Convention." 
 Band. — Air : " Why don't the men propose? " 
 ("The " wreck of Burnham's character ""] 
 
 and the 
 mourners " who 
 did n't obtain 
 fat offices. 
 
 Aid, 
 Brass & Co, 
 
 Aid, 
 Two Presidents. 
 
 Aids, 
 6 Regular 
 Doctors. 
 
 Aid, 
 Lucy Brick 
 
 Save me from my friends ! " 
 
 Aid, 
 The "Colonel." 
 
 Aid, 
 One Treasurer. 
 
 Aid, 
 Abby Fulsome. 
 
 Aids, 
 The First Premium i cause J l b F the Powerful newspaper \ The "Porte- 
 Fowls I assaults of one fMonnaie I owe 'em 
 [ Tee Bee Minur, A.SS. J Company. 
 Banner. — Motto : "Don't he feel bad ! " 
 
 No 
 aid for 
 him ! 
 
 The Poultry Fancier who had found out the exact " 
 difference between a "Cochin-China" and a 
 " Shanghae." 
 Unpaid ( Delinquent subscribers to northern Fanners, ) Disa 
 Compositors. £ twelve deep, and three miles long ! 5 " Pre 
 
 Marshal. [ The " editor," suffering from a severe attack of roup. ] Marshal. 
 Dr. Bangit, with the unsold copies of his Poultry-Book, 
 in a huge baggage-wagon, drawn by 14 horses. 
 (A battalion of victims to the Hen Fever, who hacH 
 bought eggs that " did n't hatch," and who I 
 were waiting patiently to have their money f 
 returned ! J 
 
 My legal friend (on a mule) who promised ~) 
 
 to spend a thousand dollars in prosecuting I JaiI Keeper 
 me for selling him Shanghae eggs for [ 4 Constables. 
 Cochin-Chinas'. 
 
 Aids, 
 
 15 Sisters of 
 
 Charity. 
 
 Marshal and 
 Deputy Sheriff. 
 
 Too far 
 gone ! 
 
 isappointed 
 ress Gang." 
 
 Goliah. 
 
 Aids, 
 15 friends 
 to the 
 Insane 
 Poor. 
 
316 
 
 THE HISTOEY OP 
 
 Aid, 5 ^ a * J°h nn y Jiles, with the head of a pure " Black ) Aid 
 
 Barnam. > 
 
 JBv 
 
 Marshals. 
 
 Aids, 
 A "Cabinet" 
 of Curiosities. 
 
 Aid, 
 
 Editor of the 
 
 Northum Farmer 
 
 Aids, 
 The Sellers. 
 
 Marshals. 
 
 Aids, 
 His own 
 \ Opinions ! 
 
 Aid, 
 
 Gen. Baxgit, 
 
 of the 
 
 ■ Nauvoo Legion." 
 
 Aids, 
 The Victims. 
 
 Marshals. 
 
 Spanish ' ' crower on a salver. 
 The men who did n't take the first premiums" 
 (when I was round) at the Poultry-Shows 
 (in deep mourning). 
 ' The political remains of Frank Pierce, in a } 
 toy wheelbarrow, with Banner, on a > 
 "sharp stick." Motto: " Veto." J 
 
 ("Victims who purchased Minor's ^ 
 J "Patent Cross-grained Collat- 1 
 eral Beehives," with Motto : | 
 [ "Burned child dreads the fire." J 
 Customers for "Ozier Willow" 
 in two sections, one man deep. 
 __ Banner. — Motto : " J rather guess not ! 
 A huge concourse of " Copper Stock " and " Agewuth 
 Land " owners, in deep sables. 
 Full Band. — Air : Dead March. 
 Banner. — Motto : ' ' You 're sure to win — if you don't lose ! ' ' 
 |y A smooth-skinned pure " Suffolk " Pig, imported. ^1 
 Twenty-four Sewing Machines, " war ranted." 
 
 Aid, (President of the " Porte-Monnaie I owe 'em) Aid, 
 Secretary. £ Company," as Richard III. on horseback. ) Treasurer. 
 
 Nine " Bother'em Pootrums," rampant. 
 
 The identical lot of " pure-bred " fowls that Bangit, ' 
 
 Plarsterd, Minor, Humm & Co., imported (over] 
 
 the left) " for the Southern market," in 1853 ! 
 
 The Hen that lays two eggs a day ! 
 
 Treasurer of the " Mut. Adm'n Society." 
 
 Defunct Hucksters, in a tip-cart. 
 
 Four empty Hen-Coops, on wheels. 
 
 jgp" Breeders of pure Alclerney cattle ! .JP 
 
 who furnish Pedigrees with long tails. 
 
 An effigy of the Last Man that will buy Shanghae chickens 
 
 (in a strait-jacket). 
 
 Police C Purchasers of Live Stock who bought of my competitors ; ~i sheriff 
 and < with Banner. > and 
 
 Aids. 
 
 Motto : " We got more than we bargained for ! ' 
 
 The Hen-Men who " pity Poor Burnham." 
 
 My Own Cash Customers, 
 
 10,000 strong ! 
 
 Cavalcade. 
 
 "THE PEOPLE," 
 
 Music, 
 
 And the rest of Mankind, 
 
 etc. 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 317 
 
 The scene was closing ! That immense concourse of 
 humbugs and humbugged had passed on, and I was alone 
 once more. But, a moment afterwards, I saw the head and 
 face of a comical and good-humored looking Yankee (just 
 beneath the window), who was in the act of puffing into the 
 air a huge budget of bubbles, that danced and floated in the 
 atmosphere for a brief moment, and which, bursting, sud- 
 danly awoke me. Here is a sketch of the finale. 
 
CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 MY SHANGHAE DINNER. 
 
 I saw by the papers, one day, late in the year 1854, 
 an account of the return from England of my fat friend 
 Giles, who brought with him the poultry purchased 
 abroad for Mr. Barnum, and which proved to be a lot of 
 pure stock, of a remarkable character, as I supposed it 
 would be. 
 
 But, while John was absent in Great Britain, the know- 
 ing ones there shook him down, beautifully ! His theory, 
 when he left America, four months previously, was that 
 " hall 'at was wanted 'ere was to get hover from Hingland 
 pure-bred fowls, and such would sell." John brought over 
 "such," and they did sell; but Barnum was sold by far 
 the worst ! 
 
 An auction was immediately got up at the American 
 Museum, in New York ; and after a vast deal of drumming, 
 puffing and advertising this magnificent, just-imported, 
 pure-bred poultry, the sale came off, to a sorry company, 
 indeed ! And the gross amount of the sales of the fowls 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 319 
 
 thus disposed of, really, was insufficient to pay the freight 
 bills for bringing them across the Atlantic, to say nothing 
 of their original high cost abroad. The show-man has 
 since left the hen-business, I learn, "a wiser if not a better 
 man;" while John retired with the simple exclamation, 
 "Most extr'ornerry result I hever 'eer 'd of in hall my 
 life ! » 
 
 Soon after this little episode occurred, the second show 
 of the "National Poultry Society" (in January, 1855) 
 came off at Barnum's Museum, in New York ; which, 
 notwithstanding the best endeavors of the "President," was 
 a failure. The "Committee" shut out of their premium 
 list the Grey Shanghaes, altogether ; and the result of this 
 last exhibition was just what I had anticipated. But Mr. 
 Barnum can well afford to foot the bills ; and, as he is per- 
 fectly willing to do this, no objection will be raised to his 
 choice, I presume. This final exhibition at New York, I 
 have no doubt, closed up the business, for the present. 
 
 As soon as this last fair had closed, and when the 
 lucky and unlucky contributors returned to Boston, I 
 invited a party of my former confreres to my residence, 
 to dinner. I had been preparing for this little event 
 for several days; and the following was the actual "bill 
 of fare" to which we all sat down, at Russet House, 
 Melrose, on the fifth day of February, 1855 : 
 
320 
 
 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 tutur* 
 
 SOUP — A la Shanghae, 
 
 FRESH F ISH — With China Sauce. 
 
 BOILED FOWL — To ivit, the identical Grey Shanghae cock (two 
 years old) which took the premium at the first National Poultry 
 Show, in New York, in 1854 ; then valued at §100. 
 
 ROAST — Shanghae Cock, nine months old, weighing, dressed, 10J pounds. 
 Do. Shanghae Pullets, same age, drawing, dressed, 7i pounds each. 
 
 Do. Spring Shanghae Chickens in variety. 
 
 BAKED — Pure " Suffolk " Pig, with genu-wine " Mandarin " Sauce. 
 
 ENTREM ENTS. 
 
 Broiled Shanghae Chicks. 
 Stewed Shanghae Chickens. 
 Curried Shanghae Fowls. 
 
 Fried Shanghae Pullets. 
 Coddled Shanghae Stags. 
 Fricasseed Shanghaes. 
 
 Shanghaes Truffled, 
 
 and 
 
 More SHANGHAES, if wanted! 
 
 D ESS E RT. 
 
 Shanghae Chicken Pie. 
 Shanghae Omelets. 
 Shanghae Custards. 
 Chinese Pudding. 
 
 Pudding a la Shanghae. 
 Candied Cocks' Spurs. 
 Crystallized Pullets' Combs. 
 Shanghae Wattles, in Syrup. 
 
 SHANGH AE-QUILL TOOTH-PlCKS, 
 
 and 
 MORE SHANGHAES IN THE YAED! 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 321 
 
 To this repast, with thankful hearts, a company of five- 
 and-twenty sat down, and, as nearly as my recollection now 
 serves me, the friends did ample justice to my Shanghae 
 dinner. After two hours over the varied dishes (varied in 
 size and style of cooking only), the cloth was removed, and 
 the intellectual treat commenced with a song, written ' ' ex- 
 pressly for this occasion," by the Young 'Un, which was 
 delivered with admirable effect by "one who had been 
 there," and in the chorus of which the guests unitedly 
 joined, with surprising harmony and unison. The follow- 
 ing toasts were then submitted : 
 
 By the Man in the Black Coat. — The Memory of the 
 defunct Rooster we have this day devoured : Peace to his 
 manes ! (Drank standing, in silence.) 
 
 By a Successful Breeder. — The health, long life, and 
 prosperity, of our absent cash customers, — at home and 
 abroad. 
 
 By an Amateur. — Honor to the discoverer of the exact 
 difference between a "Shanghae" and a " Cochin- China " 
 fowl, if he shall ever turn up ! 
 
 By the "Confidence" Man. — The Continuity of the 
 beautifully-elongated Chinese fowls : May their shadows 
 never be less ! 
 
 By a Victim. — The Bother' em Wot-yer-call-'ems : 
 Dammum ! (Nine cheers for Doctors Bennett and Mi- 
 ner.) 
 
322 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 By a Disappointed " Fancier." — Barn-yard fowls and 
 white-shelled eggs, for my money. (Three cheers for the 
 old-style biddies.) 
 
 By the Youth in a White Fes*. — "Fanny Fern": The 
 hen that lays the golden eggs. (Six cheers for Fanny, and 
 the fair sex generally.) 
 
 By a Repentant. — The whole Shanghae Tribe : Curse 
 'em ; the more fowls you see of this race, the less eggs 
 there are about ! (This was deemed slightly personal, but 
 it was permitted to pass ; the gentleman spoke with unusual 
 feeling ; he had been only three years in the trade, and had 
 expended some sixteen hundred dollars in experimenting 
 with a view to establish a breed that would lay two eggs 
 daily.) 
 
 By One of my "Friends." — The Young 'Un : The 
 only hen-man who has put the knife in up to the handle 
 with a decent grace ! (Nine cheers followed, for the im- 
 porter of the only pure-bred poultry in America.) 
 
 This last sentiment called me to my feet, naturally 
 enough ; and, as nearly as I remember, I thus addressed 
 my guests, amidst the most marked and respectful attention : 
 
 " Gentlemen : I think I have seen it written some- 
 where, or I have heard it said, ' It is a long lane that has 
 no turn in it.' I believe, however, that, although the lane 
 we have most of us been travelling for the last six years 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 323 
 
 has proved somewhat tortuous as well as lengthy, we have 
 now passed the turn in it, and have arrived verynearly at 
 the end of the road. 
 
 "Few of you, gentlemen, have met with so many thorns, 
 en route, as I have ; none of you, perhaps, have gathered 
 so many roses. I am content, and I trust that everybody 
 is as well satisfied with the results of this journey as I" am. 
 The Shanghae trade is done, gentlemen ! We have this 
 day eaten up what, four years ago, would have been the 
 nucleus, at least, of a small fortune to any one of us who at 
 that time might have chanced to have possessed it. But the 
 fever is over ; the demand for giraffe cocks and chaise-top 
 hens is passed ; the ' poor remains of beauty once admired, 
 in my premium fowls,' now lie scattered about the dishes 
 that have just left this table ; and ' Brahma-pootra-ism ' is 
 now no longer rampant. 
 
 " Perhaps, gentlemen, as you entertain opinions of your 
 own upon this delightfully pleasing subject of poultry-rais- 
 ing generally, and of the propagation of Shanghae fowls in 
 particular, you would care to hear nothing of my views 
 regarding this point. Yet, I pray you, indulge me for a 
 single moment — in all seriousness — and permit me to say 
 (without the slightest intention of being personal), that we 
 have proved ourselves a clan of short-sighted mortals, at the 
 best, during the last half-dozen years, in our crazy devotion 
 to what we have deemed an honorable and laudable ' profes- 
 
324 THE HISTORY OF 
 
 sion,' but which has been, in reality, the most shallow, 
 heartless; unreasonable, silly and bottomless humbug that 
 grown-up men have ever been cajoled with, since the hour 
 when Adam was fooled by the accomplished and coquetting 
 E ve ! " (Cries of < ' You 're more 'n half right ! " " That 's 
 a fact ! " ' ' Exactly — just so ! " ) 
 
 "There is now living in Melrose, Mass., gentlemen, a 
 breeder who begun at the beginning of this excitement, who 
 has since followed up the details of this hum with a zeal 
 worthy of a better cause : and who has accumulated a hand- 
 some competency in this traffic, by attending strictly to his 
 own affairs, while he has uniformly acted upon the princi- 
 ple that this world is sufficiently capacious to accommodate 
 all God's creatures, without jostling. If you should chance 
 to meet this now retired fowl-fancier, he will tell you that 
 he has had, and believes he still has, many personal friends; 
 but the very best c friend ' he has ever known is the enjoy- 
 ment of his present income of eight per cent, interest, per 
 annum, upon thirty thousand dollars. But this is a digres- 
 sion, and I beg pardon for the allusion. 
 
 "I look back with no regrets at the past, gentlemen. 
 We have seen a great many merry days, and, in the midst 
 of the competition and humbuggery in which we enlisted, 
 we have often differed in sentiment. But here. — at the 
 close of the route on which we have so long been journey- 
 ing, — let us remember only the good traits that we any of 
 
THE HEN FEVER. 325 
 
 us possess, while from this point we forget the errors that 
 ourselves and our companions maj have committed, for- 
 ever." (Three times three, "and one more," were here 
 given for the speaker, his friends, and all the rest of man- 
 kind.) 
 
 " I will say no more, gentlemen. My stomach is too full 
 for further convenient utterance ; and I will conclude with a 
 sentiment to which, I am sure, you will all respond. I will 
 give you — 
 
 " 'The Hen Fever !'" — 
 
 "Don't, don't!" shrieked the crowd. "We've had 
 that disease once, and that is quite sufficient." 
 
 "Indulge me, gentlemen, one moment, and I will pro- 
 pose, then — 
 
 "'The Hen Trade: Though a fowl calling, it puts 
 fair money in the purse, when "judiciously" managed. 
 May none of you ever do worse, pecuniarily, in this 
 humble "profession," than has your friend — the sub- 
 scriber.' " 
 
 Another round of hearty cheers succeeded this sentiment, 
 a parting bumper was enjoyed, and the circle sepa- 
 rated, to meet again at Philippi, — or elsewhere, — 
 where the author hopes to encounter only friendly faces, 
 whatever may have been his business relations with 
 28 
 
326 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE HEN FEVER. 
 
 his acquaintances in the clays that are now passed 
 away. 
 
 The mania is over. I have frankly repeated to you 
 the humble history of this curious fever, and we have 
 reached 
 
 THE END 
 
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