OUTWITTING
by LIITENANT
= BAT BREN
©, /948, by FAT ALIA OBRIEIY
(Concluded from last week.)
SYNOPSIS.
CHAPTER I-Introductory. Pat O'Brien
tells of his purpose in writing the story
of his adventures.
CHAPTER II—Tells of his enlistment in
the Royal Flying corps, his training in
Canada and his transfer to France for ac-
tive duty.
CHAPTER III—Describes fights in which
he brought down two German airplanes
and his final fight in which he was
brought down wounded within the Ger-
man lines and was made a prisoner of
‘war.
CHAPTER IV-—Discovers that German
hospital staff barbarously neglected the
fatally wounded and devoted their ener
gies to restoring those who might be
returned to the firing lines. Witnesses
death in fight of his best chum, Lieut.
Paul Rainey.
CHAPTER V—He is taken to the of-
feory prison camp at Courtrai. There he
egan planning his escape. By great sac-
rifice he manages to save and hide away
two daily rations of bread.
CHAPTER VI—He confiscates a map of
Germany and just half an hour later is
ut on a train bound for a prison camp
n Germany. He leaps through a window
while the train is traveling at a rate of 30
miles an hour.
CHAPTER VII-For nine days he
crawls through Germany, hiding during
the day, traveling at night, guided by ths
stars and subsisting on raw vegetables
He covers 75 miles before reaching Lux-
emburg.
CHAPTER VIII—For nine days more he
struggles on in a weakened condition
through Luxemburg in the direction of
Belgium.
CHAPTER IX—He endures
hardships, swims rivers while delirious
from hunger, living like a hunted animal
and on the eighteenth day after jumping
from the train he crosses into Belgium.
CHAPTER X—When well on his way
through Belgium he is befriended one
night by a Flemish peasant, who féeds
him and directs him to a man in a Bel-
gian city who will help him to get a pass-
port.
CHAPTER XI-By mingling with Bel-
gian peasants he manages to elude Ger-
man soldiers and reaches the Belgian city
where he finds the home of the man from
whom he expects help.
CHAPTER XII—Huyliger forges a pass-
Fon for O'Brien and promises to assist
im in getting into Holland. Later Huy-
liger and his associates demand an ex-
orbitant sum for their services and
O'Brien breaks with them.
terrible
To tell the truth, I was spoiling for
a fight, and I half wished they would
start something. The man who had
lived in the house had evidently been
a collector of ancient pottery, for the
walls were lined with great pieces of
earthenware which had every earmark
of possessing great value. They car-
tainly possessed great weight. I fig-
ured that if the worst came to the
worst that pottery would come in
mighty handy. A single blow with one
of those big vases would put a man
out as neatly as possible and as there
was lots of pottery and only three men,
I believed I had an excellent chance of
holding my own in the combat which I
had invited.
I had already picked out in my mind
what I was going to use, and I got up,
stood with my back to the wall and
told them that if they ever figured on
getting the passport, then would be
their best chance.
Apparently they realized that I: |
meant business and they immediately
began to expostulate at the attitude I
was taking.
One of the men spoke excellent
English. In fact, he told me that he |
could speak five languages, and ‘if he
could lie in the others as well as I
knew he did in my own tongue, he was
not only an accomplished linguist, but
a most versatile liar into the bargain.
“My dear fellow,” said the linguist,
“it is not that we want to deprive you of
the passport. Good heavens! if it will
aid you in getting out of the country,
I wish you could have six just like it.
But for our own protection, you owe
it to us to proceed on your journey
as best you can without it because as
long as you have it in your possession
you jeopardize our lives, too. Don’t
you think it is fairer that you should
risk your own safety rather than place
the lives of three innocent men in
danger?’
“That may be as it is, my friends,”
I retorted, “and I am glad you realize
your danger. Keep it in mind, for in
case any of you should happen to feel
fuclined to notify the German authori-
ties that I am in this part of the coun-
try, think it over before you do so.
Remember always that if the Germans
get me, they get the passport, too, and
if they get the passport your lives
won't be worth a damn! When I tell
the history of that clever little piece
of pastebeard, I will implicate all three
of you, and whoever is working with
you, and as I am an officer I rather
think my werd will be taken before
yours. Good night!”
The bluff evidently worked, because
I was able to get out of the city with-
out molestation from the Germans.
I have never seen these men since.
f hope I never shall, because I am
afraid I might be tempted to do some-
thing for which I might otherwise be
S0rTYy.
I do not mean to imply that all Bel-
glans are like this. I had évidently
fallen into the hands of a gang who
LR a
were endeavoring to make capital out
of the misfortunes of those who were
referred to them for help. In all coun-
tries there are bad as well as good,
and in a country which has suffered so
much as poor Belgium it is no wonder
if some of the survivors have lost their
sense of moral perspective.
I know that the average poor peas-
ant in Belgium would divide his scanty
rations with a needy fugitive sooner
than a wealthy Belgian would dole
out a morsel from his comparatively
well-stocked larder. Perhaps the poor
have less to lose than the rich if their
generosity or charity is discovered by
the Huns.
There have been many Belgians shot
for helping escaped prisoners and other
fugitives, and it is not to be wondered
at that they are willing to take as few
chances as possible. A man with a
family, especially, does not feel jus-
tified in helping a stranger when he
knows that he and his whole family
may be shot or sent to prison for their
pains.
‘ Aithough 1 suffered much from the
attitude of Huyliger and his associates,
T suppocn T ovcht to hold po srudge
against them in view of the unenviable
predicament in which they are in
themselves.
CHAPTER XIIlL
Five Days in an Empty House.
The five days I spent in that house
seemed to me like five years. During
all that time I had very little to eat—
less in fact than I had been getting in
the fields. I did not feel it so bad, per-
haps, because of the fact that I was no
longer exposed to the other privations
which before had combined to make
my condition so wretched. I now had a
good place to sleep, at any rate, and I
did not wake every half hour or so as
I had been accustomed to do in the
fields and woods, and, of course, my
hunger was not aggravated by the
physical exertions which had been
necessary before.
Nevertheless, perhaps because I had
more time now to think of the hunger-
pains which were gnawing at me all
the time, I don’t believe I was ever so
miserable as I was at that period of
my adventure. I felt so mean towards
the world I would have committed
murder, I think, with very little prov-
ocation.
German soldiers were passing the
house at all hours of the day. I
watched them hour after hour from the
N
TT
7 +
ANN
1 Rummaged the House Many Times.
keyhole of the door—to have shown
myself at the window was out of the
question because the house in which
I was concealed was supposed to be
untenanted.
Because of the fact that I was un-
able to speak either Flemish or Ger
man I could not go out and buy food,
although I still had the money with
which to do it. That was one of the
things that galled one—the thought
that I had the wherewithal in my
jeans to buy all the food I needed and |
yet no way of getting it without en-
dangering my liberty and life.
At night, however, after it was dark,
I would steal quietly out of the house
+0 see what I could pick up in the way
of food. By that time, of course, the
stores were closed, but I scoured the
streets, the alleys and the byways for
scraps of food and occasionally got up
courage enough to appeal to Belgian
peasants whom I met on the streets,
| of this store window and look in.
| casionally a soldier on duty bent would
| hurry past, but I think nine out of ten
and in that way I managed to keep
body and soul together.
It was quite apparent to me, how-
ever, that I was worse off in the city
than I had been in the fields, and I
decided to get out of that house just
as soon as I knew definitely that Huy
liger had made up his mind to do noth-
ing further for me.
When I was not at the keyhole of the
door I spent most of my day on the tor
floor in a room which looked out on the
street. By keeping well away from the
window I could see much of what was
going on without being seen myself.
In my restlessness, I used to walk back
and forth in that room and I kept it ur
so constantly that I believe I must have
worn a path in the floor. It was nine
steps from one wall to the other, ang
as I had little ®lse to amuse me I fig-
ured out one day after I had been
pacing up and down for several hours
just how much distance I would have
covered on my way to Holland if my
footsteps had been taken in that direc-
tion instead of just up and down that
old room. I was very much surprised
to find that in three hours I crossed
the room no less than 5,000 times and
the distance covered was between nine
and ten miles. It was not very grati-
fying to realize that after walking all
that distance I wasn’t a step nearer my
goal than when I started, but I had to
do something while waiting for Huy-
liger to help me, and pacing up and
down was a natural outlet for my
restlessness.
While looking out of the top floor
window one day, I noticed a cat on a
window ledge of the house across the
street. I had a nice piece of a broken
mirror which I had picked up in the
house and I used it to amuse myself
for an hour at a time shining it in the
cat’s eyes across the street. At first
the animal was annoyed by the reflec-
tion and would move away, only to
come back a few moments later. By
and by, however, it seemed to get
used to the glare and wouldn’t budge
no matter how strong the sunlight was.
Playing with the cat in this way got
me into the habit of watching her
comings and goings and was indl-
rectly the means of my getting food a |
day or two later—at a time when I
was so famished that I was rem®ly to |
do almost anything to appease my
hunger.
It was about 7 o'clock in the even- |
I was expecting Huyliger at 8, !
ing.
but I hadn’t the slightest hope that he
would bring me food, as he had told
me that he wouldn't take the risk of
having food in his possession when
I was standing at the !
calling on me.
window in such a way that I could
see what was going on in the street
without being observed by those who
passed by, when I noticed my friend,
the cat, coming down the steps of the
opposite house with something in his ,
mouth. Without considering the risks ,
I ran, I opened the front door, ran
down the steps and across the street,
and pounced on that cat before it could
get away with its supper, for that, as
I had imagined, was what I had seen
in its mouth. It turned out to be a
plece of stewed rabbit, which I confis-
cated eagerly and took back with me
to the house.
Perhaps I felt a little sorry for the
cat, but I certainly had no qualms
about eating the animal's dinner. I
was much too hungry to dwell upon
niceties, and a piece of stewed rabbit
was certainly too good for a cat to eat
when a man was starving. I ate and
enjoyed it and the incident suggested
to me a way in which I might possibly |
obtain food again when all other ave-
nues failed.
From my place of concealment I fre- |
qently saw huge carts being pushed
through the streets gathering potato !
peelings, refuse of cabbage and similar
food remnants, which, in America, are
considered garbage and destroyed. In .
Belgium they were using this “gar-
bage” to make their bread out of, and
while the idea may sound revolting to
us, the fact is that the Germans have |
brought these things down to such a
science that the bread they make this
way is really very good to eat. I know
it would have been like cake to me
when I was in need of food; indeed I
would have eaten the “garbage” di-
rect, let alone the bread.
Although, as I have said, I suffered '
greatly from hunger while occupying
this house, there were one or two
things I observed through the keyhole
or from the windows which made ma
laugh, and some of the incidents that
occurred ‘during my voluntary impris-
onment were really funny.
From the keyhole I could see, for in-
. stance, a shop window on the other
side of the street, several houses down
the block. All day long German sol-
diers would be passing in front of the
house and I noticed that practically
every one of them would stop in front
Oc-
of them were sufficiently interested to
spend at least a minute, and some of
them three or four minutes gazing at
whatever was being exhibited in that
window, although I noticed that it
failed to attract the Belgians.
I have a considerable streak of curi-
osity in me, and I couldn’t help won-
dering what it could be in that window
which almost without exception
seemed to interest German soldiers but
failed to hold the Belgians, and after
conjuring my brains for a while on the
problem I came to the conclusion that
the shop must have been a book-shop
and the window contained German
magazines, which, naturally enough,
would be of the greatest interest to
the Germans but of none to the Bel-
gians.
night came I would go out and in-
vestigate the window. When I got the
answer I laughed so loud that I was
afraid for the moment I must have at:
tracted the attention of the neighbors,
At any rate I resolved that as soon as |
but I couldn’t help it. The window
was filled with huge quantities of
: sausage! The store was a butcher
shop and one of the principal things
they sold apparentiy was sausage. The
display they made, although it con- |
sisted merely of sausages piled in the !
window, certainly had plenty of “pull-
ing” power. It “pulled” nine Ger-
: mans out of ten out of their course and
! indirectly “pulled” me right across the
street! The idea of those Germans be-
ing so interested in that window dis- |
play as to stand in front of the wir- |
dow for two, three or four minutes at
a time, however,
funny to me, and when I got back to
the house I sat at the keyhole again
and found just as much interest as
before in watching the Germans stop |
in their tracks when they reached the
window, even though I was now aware
what the attraction was.
One of my chief occupations during
these days was catching flies. I would
catch a fiy, put him in a spider's web
(there were plenty of them in the old
house), and sit down for the spider to
come down and get him. But always I
pictured myself in the same predica-
ment and rescued the fiy just as the
spider was about to grab him. Several
times when things were dull I was
tempted to see the tragedy through,
but perhaps the same Providence that
guided me safely through oll perils
- was guarding, too, the destiny of those
flies, for I always weakened and the
flies never did suffer from my lust fqQi
amusement.
The house was well supplied with
books—in fact, one of the choicest li-
braries I think I ever saw-—but they
were all written either in Flemish ox
French. I could read no Flemish and
very little French. I might have made
a little headway with the latter, but
the books all seemed too deep for me
and I gave it up. There was one thing
though that I did read .and reread
from beginning to end; that was a
New York Herald which must have ar-
rived just about the time war was de-
clared. Several things in this in-
terested me, and particularly the buse-
ball scores, which I studied with as
much care as a real fan possibly could
an up-to-date score. I couldn’t refrain
| from laughing when I came to an ac-
count of Zimmerman (of the Cubs)
being benched for some spat with the
umpire, and it afforded me just as
much interest three years after it had
happened—perhaps more—than some
current item of world-wide interest
had at that time.
I rummaged the house many times
i from cellar to garret in my search for
| something to eat, but the harvest of
i three years of war had made any suc-
| cess along that line impossible. I was
like the man out in the ocean in a boat
and thirsty with water everywhere but
not a drop tc drink.
{ I was tempted while in the city to
| go to church one Sunday, but my better
. judgment told me it would be a useless
i risk. Of course, someone would surely
| say something to me and I didn’t
. know how many Germans would be
| there or what mig . nappen, so I gave
. up that idea.
! During all the time I was concealed
in this house I saw but one automobile
“and that was a German staff officer’s.
That same afternoon I had one of the
: frights of my young life.
(I had been gazing out of the keyhole
i as usual when I heard coming down
| the street the measured tread of Ger-
. man soldiers. It didn’t sound like very
many, but there was no doubt in my
"mind that German soldiers were
. marching down the street. I went up-
stairs and peeked through the window
. and sure enough a squad of German in-
fantry was coming down the street
| accompanied by a military motor
| truck, I hadn’t the slightest idea that
: they were coming after me, but still
| the possibilities of the situation gave
{ me more or less alarm, and I consid-
i ered how I could make my escape if
by chance I was the man they wire
after. The idea of hiding in the wine
cellar appealed to me as the most
practical; there must have been
| plenty of places among the wine kegs
and cases where a man could conceal
himself, but, as a matter of fact, I did
not believe that any such contingency
would arise.
The marching soldiers came nearer,
I could hear them at the next house.
In a moment I would see them pass
the keyhole through which I was look-
ing.
“Halt!”
At the word of command shouted by
a junior officer the squad came to at-
tention right in front of the house!
I waited no longer. Running down the
stairs I flew into the wine cellar and
although it was almost pitch dark—
the only light coming from a grating
which led to the backyard—I soon
found a satisfactory hiding place in
the extreme rear of the cellar. I had
had the presence of mind to leave the
door of the wine cellar ajar, figuring
that if the soldiers found a closed door
they would be more apt to search for
a fugitive behind it than if the door
were open.
My decision to get away from that
front door had been made and carried
out none too soon, for I had only just
located myself between two big wine
cases when I heard“ the tramp of sol-
diers’ feet marching up the front stoop,
q crash at the front door, a few hasty
words of command which I did not un-
derstand, and then the noise of scur-
ryiug feet from room to room and such
| a banging and hammering and smash-
| ing and crashing that I could not make
| out what was going on.
Continued next week) .
Lawyer—Was the deceased in the
| habit of talking to himself when
alone?
| Patrick Mahoney—I can’t tell ye
that, sor. I never was wid him when
he was alone.—Puck.
certainly seemed |
—
INDUSTRY.
Let us work on!
Truly and wisely; ever persevere. . .,
Let us work on!
| Work bravely; prove our faithfulness by
deeds.
Sow wide the seeds
i Of toil, if we would reap!
on!
Let us work on!
| Work through all barrenness,
the cost:
No toil is lost;
Work prophesieth triumpk; en, aye on!
W. J. Linton.
Let us work
nor count
{
|
i
| The Dollars I Am Proud Of.
| I any man on earth today is enti-
| tled to hold up his head, it is the far-
| mer who with his own hands and on
| his own land, has brought a good crop
i through to the harvest. There is a
| solid satisfaction in that, greater
! than any man may guess who has not
done it himself. The satisfaction is
not in the reward that is to come; it
is in the actual performance. To look
; out across an October cornfield in the
| shock and say to myself, “Eighty
{ good bushels to the acre!”—there is
| the satisfaction that I mean, and not
| the stolid feeling that comes when the
| surplus grain is sold and the money
| put in bank. I have made good mon-
| ey out of “deals,” at odd times—trad-
(ing in cattle or horses, or taking a
| profit out of a piece of land I have
ought and sold, or something cf that
sort; but the pleasure I have got
| from those profits has not amounted
i to much. I have never put anything
into my trading beyond a little
shrewdness, a little cold, calculating
cleverness. Those trades of mine
have not added one penny to the
world’s wealth. . . . They have mere-
ly shifted dollars from some other
man’s pocket to mine. The world is
not any better off, in any way, on ac-
count of them.
The dollars I am proud of are those
I have made growing my crops. . . .
When I have planted a bushel and a
half of wheat in a well-prepared
acre and have made it give me thirty-
five or forty bushels of increase, I
have done something. I am not
ashamed of owning the dollars that
are earned in that way. I am proud
of them. The long and short of it is
that I would rather own one dollar
made by crop-growing on my farm
than ten dollars made out of a shrewd
trade. Does that sound to you like a
piece of crazy sentiment? All right;
i that is just the way I feel about
it.
Why? Because in growing my
wheat I have contributed something
to the world’s welfare. . . . I have
tried both ways, and I think I am en-
titled to speak my mind in the mat-
ter. The man who is to feel himself
a man must earn his way in the world
by definite service. I am not saying
that farming is the only way open to
him; but it is a mighty good way.
There are not many better.—William
R. Lighton, in “Letters of an Old
Farmer.” ]
Non-Essentials.
Washington dispatches relate that
the Community Labor Board of the
District of Columbia is the first body
to announce a list of non-essential
employments. Employers are called
upon to release their unskilled labor
for war-work, and community boards
are being organized throughout the
country by the Department of Labor
to work in co-operation with local
draft boards. The industries stamp-
ed non-essential by the District of
Columbia Board are listed as follows:
“Automobile industry, accessories,
drivers of pleasure cars, cleaning, re-
pairing, and delivery of pleasure cars,
sight-seeing cars, automobile trucks,
other than those hauling fuel or do-
ing government work, teaming other
than delivery of products for war-
work, bath and barber-shop attend-
ants, bowling, billiard, and pool-
rooms, bottlers and bottle supplies,
candy-manufacturers, cigars and to-
bacco, cleaners and dyers, clothing,
confectioners, and delicatessen estab-
lishments, builders and contractors
not engaged in erection of structures
for war-work, dancing academies,
mercantile stores, florists, fruit
stands, junk-dealers, livery and sales
stables, pawnbrokers, peanut-vend-
ers, shoe-shining shops, window-
cleaners, soft-drink establishments,
soda-fountain supplies.”
——By an ingenious house-moving
operation the Pacific Coast is to have
an accurate reproduction of Mount
Vernon, the home of George Wash-
ington. The Virginia building at the
Panama Exposition, it will be remem-
bered, was an exact reproduction of
the historis mansion on the banks of
the Potomac, and recently this build-
ing was placed on a barge and float-
ed across the water of Santa Venetia,
a distance of about two miles, where
it will become the home of the Wash-
ington club. In its new location the
house faces a body of water, and has
a background of hills and forests
much the same as the original man-
sion, and the grounds have been ter-
raced and otherwise made to resem-
ble those near the national capital.
Tons of Chewing Gum for Thirsty
American Soldiers.
Washington, D. C.—More than two
million packages of chewing gum
have been ordered by the War Depart-
ment to help the army keep off thirst
during long marches. Lemon drops
made from a special formula, and
canned tomatoes also have been or-
dered in large quantities for the same
purposes. More and more open war-
fare in France is increasing the de-
mand not only for thirst-quenchers,
but also for hard bread for marching
rations.
——The most important minerals
known to exist in the Arctic are coal
.and iron. The former abounds in in-
calculable quantities in situations
where further exploration may make
it of service, but meantime it is sys-
tematically worked only in the Faroe
Islands and Spitzbergen. The rapid
exhaustion of iron deposits elsewhere
is causing anxious eyes to be turned
to those within the Arctic, and more
than one expedition recently sent out
have had their examination as a main
object, ; cas tial
orm—
—Subscribe for the “Watchman.”
FARM NOTES.
—Can your cockerels and put a row
of good chicken dinners on your pan-
try shelf for winter days, when the
price of poultry is still higher.
—Poultry manure is more valua-
ble than the manure of any other
common farm animal, its analysis
shows, and is particularly well adapt-
ed to gardening. Poultry raisers
should either use it on their own gar-
dens or sell it, thus increasing the
profits of their flocks.
—Sweet cloverseed weighs the
same as red clover or alfalfa when it
is free from hulls, that is 60 pounds
per bushel. It is a hard matter to
take the hulls all off in a common
threshing machine, and many sow
hulls and all, as it grows just as well
that way. When seedsmen handle it
the hulls have to be taken off.
—Good breeding will not make
well-developed heifers unless they are
wel fed. Itis absolute folly to expect
that heifer calves will develop into
first-class cows if they are stunted
when they are young. It is perfectly
legitimate to get a good ration at as
low a cost as possible, but nothing
but failure can come from trying to
save money by feeding a poor or in-
sufficient ration.
—Fruits should be served in some
form to children at least once a day.
Fruit juices and the pulp of cooked
fruit, baked apples and pears, and
stewed prunes are safest. Whether
the skins should be given depends
partly on the age and health of the
child and partly on the way the fruit
is prepared. If the skins are very
tender, they are not likely to cause
trouble, except with very young chil-
dren. When apples and pears are
baked the skins can be made tender
by frequent basting.
—A common way of testing the age
of dressed poultry, as described by
home economic specialists of the U.
S. Department of Agriculture, is to
take between thumb and finger the
end of the breastbone, farthest from
the head, and attempt to bend it to
one side. In a very young bird, such
as a “broiler” chicken or a green
goose, it will be easily bent, like the
cartilage in the human ear; in a bird
a year or so old it will be brittle, and
in an old bird, tough and hard to bend
or break.
Tricky dealers have been known to
break the end of the breastbone be-
fore showing the bird, thus rendering
the test useless.
—At this season of the year when
the supply of fruits is at its highest
and large quantities have been made
into preserves, the combined use of
preserved fruits and cottage cheese
as a food-saving system should not
be overlooked. The U. S. Department
of Agriculture points out that cot-
tage cheese with fruit preserves, such
as strawberries, figs or cherries pour-
ed over it, and served with bread or
crackers, makes a most appetizing
and sustaining dish. If preferred,
cottage cheese balls may be served
separately or eaten with the pre-
serves. A more attractive dish may
be made by dropping a bit of jelly in-
to a nest of the cottage cheese.
—That mutton and wool production
in this country can be increased
greatly admits of no doubt. This can
be accomplished by developing sheep
husbandry on farms, especially in the
Eastern and Southern States. Steps
should be taken in the East and South
to do away with the sheep-killing dog
menace by State or local action.
Large results can be secured by im-
proving methods of breeding and
management on the range; by secur-
ing the restocking of improved farm
lands with sheep; by the larger use of
forage crops and pastures; by encour-
aging sheep and lamb clubs; by the
elimination of parasites; by protec-
tion against losses from predatory
animals; and by having lambs ready
for market at from 70 to 80 pounds
weight, thereby requiring a minimum
of grain to finish them and making
possible the maintenance of larger
breeding flocks.
—The surest way to keep a house
free from ants is to leave no food ly-
ing about on shelves or in open places
where they can reach it. Ants go
where they find food, and if the food
supplies of the household are kept in
ant-proof metal containers or in ice-
boxes, and if all food that may hap-
pen to be scattered by children or oth-
ers is cleaned up promptly, the ant
nuisance will be slight. Cake, bread,
sugar, meat, and like substances are
especially attractive to the ants and
should be kept from them.
Roaches will not frequent rooms
unless they find some available food
material, and if such materials can
be kept from living rooms and offices
or scrupulous care exercised to see
that no such material is placed in
drawers where it can leave an attrac-
tive odor or fragments of food, the
roach nuisance can be largely re-
stricted to places where food neces-
sarily must be kept.
—Many sheep and cattle are lost
from eating poisonous plants and oth-
er material. In many instances a lit-
tle foresight on the part of the own-
er would have prevented losses. To
cite one specific plant, most stockmen
in the eastern part of the country
know that laurel is poisonous, and
yet they will pasture their animals in
a woodland pasture in spite of the
fact that laurel abounds. Sometimes
a few, at other times many, animals
are poisoned.
Other poisonous plants abound in
both the eastern pastures and the
western grazing lands, many of
which are definitely known and easily
recognized. A little precaution
through fencing and selecting pas-
tures would materially lessen the
deaths due to plant poisoning. Lark-
spur, lupine, water hemlock, darnel
grass, wild cherry, loco, white snake
root, wilted sorghum, and oak brush
(shinnery oak) are the more common
plants which exact a heavy toll.
Inorganic poisoning of farm stock
is also far from being of rare occur-
rence. Common salt is definitely
known to be very poisonous to hogs
and chickens in comparatively small
quantities. Soap powder in swill has
been the cause of death of swine. An-
tiseptic tablets and rat poisons also
have caused deaths among farm ani-
mals. Patent rat pastes, and even
fireworks, have been eaten by fowls,
which later died from the effects of
phosphorus poisoning.
id