Rensselaer Standard, Volume 1, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 September 1879 — A Prize Chicken. [ARTICLE]

A Prize Chicken.

Bt. Louis Globe-Democrat. John H. Hagerty, of 945 Broadway, yesterday sold seventy-two dozen chickens under oircumstances that were out of the usual routine of trade. ' One of the 804 chickens sold and immediately killed was, for a few minutes, valued at S6OO. It occupied, as it were, the position of capital prize in a lottery. The circumstances were like this: Mr. Hawthorne, a sojourner In St. Louis, whose home is in Syracuse, N. Y., was strolling up Broadway yesterday morning, observing with interest the huge groportions of the poultry and game usinees of the city. A number of ooope of very fine chickens c imbered the sidewalk in front of Hagerty’s place. Mr. Hawthorne was and is the owner of a very fine diamond cluster pin of seven stones, and valued at S6OO. While leaning over a coop of chickens, playfully stirring them up with his cane, one of the fowls suddenly shot its head through an aperture In the top of the coop and, with a rapid, firm movement and grip, tore the glittering diadem from the snowy expanse of Mr. Hawthorne’s shirt front. The pin actually presented a front with the circumference of a dime. As a grain of

com it disappeared down the gullet of the voracious hen. Mr. Hawthorne at once became wildly excited. He ran Into the store ana loudly proclaimed his loss, |and then danced out onto the sidewalk and bewailed his bad luck. There were a number of hucksters buyiny chickens at the time. They were pulling the coops about, and somehow between tl e unfortunate man’s excitement and the handling of the coope by the hucksters he lost all knowledge of the identity of the partitular coop in which the prize chicken was strutting Hawthorne was In despair when Mr John Hagerty came to the scene. John explained that there were seventy-two dozen chickens in the ooope. v In order to surely recover the pin they must all

be killed. Hagerty sails more dressed chicken* every day to the hotel* that, and all he asked Hawthorne to *** P** oß of 25 cents per do*en for the actual labor of killing “ drB “to« birds. To this the owner of the miesing jewels consented. ISf«J?° al^i Were ta *® n back to the kifling and cleaning room, where seven work of slaughter begun. Mr. HawKi r '.?*® erty Bt °od by, carefully watching the examination of the craw of each bird. The women were notfsware that they were hunting for a premium bird, aad the one who disoovwed the cluster in the craw of a bird when there were but six more left to clean was thoroughly surprised. The Pluwas found uninjured, and, after a good washing, resumed its position on the owner’s shirt front. He very handsomely gave the woman who found the diamonds a $lO note, paid Mr. Hagerty $lB for killing the chickens, and set up the drinks, about $2 worth. He wifi not care to examine caged poultry too cloeely in the Aituie.