Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Vernonia eagle. (Vernonia, Or.) 1922-1974 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 12, 1946)
- - t t'p 'Hawg Killin' Time’ KONA MORRIS WORKMAN ROCKING W RANCH A The other day when I was in the butcher shop I saw a folom looking half of a small ham lying in the show case, under lock and key with an armed guard standing watchfully by. Speaking in an awed whisper, I asked the price. As proudly as if he were the cus todian of the crown jewels, the guard answered that it was nine ty-five cents a pound. I bowed politely to the ham and bought a hunk of hamburger, then I went home and made my way out to the domicile of the once-lowly pig. “They who were humble have been made great”—and how! The pigs grunted sleepily at me, unknowing the thoughts in my mind as I looked at their fat backs and considered their weight. The Big Boss came out with a bucket of feed and we stood in silence, then he said, “They’ll be ready next week.” I nodded in agreement and their doom was sealed. The gods of their destiny had spoken. Now I don’t know just how much it cost to feed those pigs so they could attain their present satisfactory condition, because I am afraid if I figure it all up, the total will be so staggering that we won’t enjoy eating their hams and bacon, and I like to enjoy my victuals. It is getting so that every particle of food you put into your mouth tastes just like a dirty dollar bill. If you raise the food, it costs too much to eat, and if you buy it, it still costs too much to eat, so what the heck is a person going to do ? I remember when my father used to butcher in the fall—and that is one disadvantage of being fifty-two, you have such pleasant food-memories of the past in con trast with1 the present. Always enough hams and gacon and lard in those days to carry them through the year, and instead of being one of the luxuries of life, smoked meat was merely a com mon, unvalued, food of daily eat ing. Even the “poor-white trash” in those times had ham and ba con to waste, or to feed to the!r dozen hungry dogs, but hog feed in those days was hog feed and npt gold dust, which changes the status of things. Then there is all the work connected with butchering. “Hawg- killin’ time" when you are a child, and when you are one of the working members of the household, are two entirely dif ferent things. It was all fun and excitement when I was seven. The big fire to heat the water in the hog-scalding trough, the bustle and talk and the grunts of men heaving and straining to turn the huge hogs in the water so the hair would scrape off with out leaving unsightly patches of bristles, and the roasting cf the pig tails in the hot ashes. (I tried an ash-roasted pig tail after I was grown. Something had hap pened during the inte-vening years. The thing didn’t taste one bit good, and I was childishly disappointed. It is always a loss when a pleasant memory dies.) I learned something about the other side of butchering—the working side—when I was run ning this ranch alone. I decided I vould keep one of the fat pigs for home use. (I sold the others, and, because I couldn’t judge pig weight, I had let them get too fat, so I got “docked” on the price, yet at the time the radio was shouting to save every ounce of waste fats because there was a fat shortage. There are so many things about this economy of ours that I fail to understand. However, since this is a disserta tion on pig and not a treatise on government economy, I’ll refrain from further remarks on the sub ject.) Mr. Kirkbride came out, killed my pig and skinned it neatly—and I mean neatly—and split it down the back for me. I can’t remember now why I didn’t have him cut it up for me. Maybe he was too busy, or I wanted the new experience; at any rate, I tackled the job myself. Roy, our old hired man, helped me carry the carcass to a big ta ble, then he left me alone with the thing and departed swiftly to the farthest comer of the ranch. I looked at that huge mountain of meat, weighing almost three times as much as I did, and de cided that the Big Boss was ab solutely right when he contended that I was always biting off more than I could chew. That pig looked bigger than an elephant to me, and I knew just as much about cutting up a pig as I did about cutting up an elephant, but, since there is nothing one can do with a pig in that state except cut him up, I got out the book on butchering, picked up a knife and went to work. With desperate concentration I followed those pictures and instructions just as one follows instructions in knit ting, and some five hours later I had a dis-membered pig, an aching back, four cut fingers, grease from the top of my head to the soles of my boots, and was vowing by everything I held sa cred that never again, so long as I lived, would I ever touch a piece of pig meat. Oh, well, that was three years ago, and one can forget a lot of vows in three years, besides the r Thinking of Borrowing? THINK FIRST OF THIS BANK. MAKE US YOUR HEADQUAR TERS FOR.ALL YOUR CREDIT NEEDS Some of Our Loan Services: MORTGAGE LOANS REPAIR LOANS PERSONAL LOANS AUTO LOANS EQUIPMENT LOANS COLLATERAL LOANS BUSINESS LOANS VETERAN LOANS LIFE INSURANCE LOANS The Commercial Bank of Banks Banks, Oregon • Your Nearest Bank, Main Road to Portland 20 Yrs. Experience All Kinds of Cook Stoves Available a 1 1 * , - I ■ J •*» ’ f 1 I A .Li»**-« </.<ii;-,I I‘ir I U i THURSDAY, DEC. 12,'1948. & ------- see you slavzring at the pictures I am making; I even have my self drooling. Ah, the odor of frying bacon on a crisp cold morn ing! How on earth am I going to be able to wait until these pigs become bacon? ‘Give me strength.” On the basis of present figures it is estimated that one out of every 114 persons in the United States will be injured in accidents in 1947, tfith a monetary loss of $5,000,000,000, or about the amount required to service the national debt. *..................... 1 1 ■ 0 FOWLER’S TAKE THE EAGLE WITH YOU ON SHOPPING TRIPS. Protect yourself against rising prices! We Buy and Sell New and Used Radios PROTECT EVERY SIDE ZEMAN'S CASTLES were built for protection against attack from all sides. When you buy your au tomobile insurance be sure it will protect you from any financial loss when you have an accident. Ask this Hartford agency to place complete Automobile Insurance on your car. TAKE THE EAGLE WITH YOU 1 ■ Licensed Contractors REFRIGERATION RADIO SERVICE and Appliance Repairing STRONG’S RADIO AND ELECTRIC 969 Bridge St. Ph. 576 UZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZK H H H H H H H DO YOUR CHRISTMAS SHOPPING AT HOFFMAN’S H X H VERNONIA INSURANCE EXCHANGE 905 Bridge Street Phone 231 Vernonia Here’s freedom from toil—modern heat with oil. Standard Stove Oil for circulating heaters, and Standard Furnace Oil for furnace-type burn ers. They’re distilled 100% to burn cleanly and without waste. Every drop’s a full drop of heat! There’s uniform home-heating for you with Standard fuel oils—and it’s trouble free, clean, economical oil heat. Ask about it today! L.G. Hawken Ph. 502 Vernonia A STANDARD OF CALIFORNIA PRODUCT H H H f H SPECIAL— TOM AND JERRY SETS H Bowl and six cups........... ....... H COOKIE JARS—Colored Pottery While they last......................... H GLASS COFFEE MAKERS 8 cup Gen. Curtiss Flame Glass.......... H SCOUT HATCHETS H With Sheath ............................. H $460 H 75c H HOFFMAN HARDWARE CO Phone 181 Vernonia For Hardware — See Hoffman i ONLY / / ■ ’’-a-» CHEVROLET LOWEST PRICES GIVES BIG-CAR QUALITY AT In tact, Chevrolet has the lowest-priced line of passenger cars in its field! Moreover, the new Chevrolet is the only car in its field that gives Big-Car beauty, Big-Car comfort, Big-Car performance, BIG-CAR QUALITY AT LOWEST COST in all items of purchase price, oper ation and upkeep. Take it from any and every standpoint, Big-Car quality—low purchase price—low operating and upkeep costs—all tell you to choose Chevrolet! to this house warming every day! ■■ * STORE HOURS: 9 A. M. to 6 P. M. invited ■ I Quick, Guaranteed Service You k ' - , * Servicing Now at 714 3rd Street (Formerly Scott’» Studio) . .'T j TO . THE EAGLE, VERNONIA, ORE. HZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZHZK New & t’sed Store J. J. Zeman, Tech. Big Boss can cut up a whole pig in the time it took me to get one ham off and trimmed properly, eo butchering now means for me onlv the usual amount of wifely interference plus the rendering of the lard—beautiful,, beautiful lard -—and helping with the curing, which means galloping out to the smoke-house and putting on more vine-maple wood whenever the smoke stops filtering through the air-hole. Who wouldn't be willing to do that for the where-with-all of pies and cakes, of platters of juicy brown ham with cream gravy, of crisp crunchy bacon with your toast and eggs in the morning, of crusty roasted spare ribs, sputtering and fragrant? I know this is cruel of me; I can VERNONIA AUTO CO. PHONE 342 Vernonia Oregon 4