ANOTHER DETROIT WEIGHT YARN.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1271, 29 November 1884, Page 3

ANOTHER DETROIT WEIGHT YARN.

It is not so very long since two men, which subsequent enquiries showed were Detroiters, arrived in a town about fifty miles to the west of Detroit, leading a pig. It was perhaps big enough and heavy enough to be called a hog, but they termed it a pig, and as they turned it over to the care of the landlord at whose inu they proposed to stay the night one of the men explained : "Be awful careful with that pig. He's a daisy—a new breed just from Scotland. We've sold him to a farmer out here for 50 dols. and we don't want anything to happen to him. The landlord locked the pig up, und then began to think and cogitate and suspect. When the strangers had .gone to bed he called in some of the boys and si id :

" I've twigged the racket ; them two fellows are sharpers, and that's a guessing pig. To-morrow they will give you a chance to guess at his weight at ten cents a gue-is, and you'll be cleaned out, only you won't ! As the fellows sleep we will weigh their pig, >ind boat their game." Nobody slept until the pig was taken over to the scales and weighed. He pulled down 170 pounds to a hair, and the villagers went i>oui« and hunted up their nickels a no 1 dreamed of pigs and scales and sharpers through the remainder of the night. Next morning the pig was led around in front, but before starting off on his journey one of the "owners remarked to the assembled crow;d : " Gentlemen, I'm going to weigh this pig directly. Maybe some of you would like to guess at his weight 1 I'll take all guesses at ten cents each, and whoever hits it gets fifty cents." This provoked a large and select slock of w.'nks and smiles, but no one walked up until the pig man said that any oue person could guess as many times as he cared to, provided a dime accompanied each guess. Then a rush set in. Three or four merchants put fifty guesses each. A justice of the peace took thirty. A lawyer said about twenty would do him. Before there wa6 any let up in tha guessing about 600 had been registered and paid for. Every soul of 'em guessed at 170 pounds. It was curious what unanimity there was in the guessing, but the pig men didn't seem to notice it. When all had been given a chance, the pig was led to the scales, and lo ! his weight was exactly 174 pounds. "You see, gentlemen," explained the spokesman, " while this animal only weighs 170 pounds along about 11 o'clock at night, we feed him on abont five pounds of corn-meal in the morning before weighing ! You forgot to take this matter into consideration."

Then somebody kicked the landlord, and ho kicked the justice, and the justice kicked a merchant ; and when the pig men looked hack from a distant hill the whole town was out kicking itself, and throwing empty waliets into the river.