Jasper County Democrat, Volume 6, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 February 1904 — “Barker, Barber, Shave a Pig.” [ARTICLE]

“Barker, Barber, Shave a Pig.”

In pig killing there is no more exciting moment than that of removing the bristles from the carcass. With such haste does the operation sometimes have to be accomplished that in a certain country family it was begun one day with a pair of fine brass candlesticks before the usual utensils could bo found. When Salmon P. Chase was at Kenyon college, which was then presided over by bis uncle, Bishop Philander Chase, he encountered a similar difficulty and cut the knot with unhesitating decision. The bishop and most of the elders went away one morning, and young Salmon was ordered to kill and dress a pig while they were gone. He found no great trouble in catching and slaughtering a fat young “porker,” and he had the tub of hot water all ready for residing. This process should have loosened the bristles, but either the water was too hot or the pig was kept soaking too long; at any rate, when the boy began scraping the bristles not one of , them could be started. In pig killing phrase, they were "set” What could he do? Then he bethought him of his cousin’s razors, a fine new pair, Just suited to the use of their owner, a spruce young clergyman. He pilfered them and shaved the pig from toe to snout—Youth’s Companion.