Newspaper Page Text
ENOR DON TURKEY played a brilliant part in history even before the Spaniards discovered Idm, along with Mexico, In 1518. Long before that he had been worshiped by Aztecs. Later, i when his religious vogue was past, lie was given honorable men tion as a bird of honor at the marriage banquet of a king. So superior a viand was lie considered when first introduced to Europe that in a ‘‘constitution” set forth by Cranmer in 1541 ' turkey is named as one of the greater fowls, of which an ecclesi astic was to ‘‘have hut one In a dlshe.” But he speedily multiplied S to such «u extent that no Inter than 1555 two turkeys and four turkey chicks were served at a twist of the sergeants at arms In London. Turkeys at that period were mentioned In connection with cranes and swans as Important and rich items of a banquet. A little later, in 1573. turkeys were used on the tables of English husbandmen for the Christmas feast. In the meantime they were more than plentiftil in their home land, where turkeys continued to sell for about six cents apiece as late as the nineteenth century. For six cents In those good old days a turkey weighing about twelve pounds could be bought by a good shopper. If the family needed a turkey weighing twenty-five or thirty pounds It was necessary to pay ns much as a quarter. But it must be remembered that six cents In those days counted a good deal more than It does in this. The turkey that the Aztecs worshiped was probably either the Mexican wild turkey, which Is known b.v*the white touches on its tail covers and quills, or. more appropriately, the ocellnted turkey of Honduras and other parts of South America, whose brilliant plumage, spotted almost as gloriously with vivid colors as a peacock, somehow allies it particularly with that vivid early people. The turkey which strolled out of the forests of New England and furnished so marvellous a banquet for our Puritan forefathers was n handsomer bird than that of Mexico, in the opinion of some lovers of beauty, but not so brilliant a one as the Honduras turkey. The American wild turkey, which really belongs to Hhanksgivlng, was the North American wild turkey found throughout the eastern United States and Canada. Scientifically It Is known as the Meleagris Americana. Its plumage Is black, shaded with bronze. In the rays of the sun the bird gleams in a beautiful harmony of black, copper, gold and bronze. And the turkey !ikes the rays of the sun. He bates damp weather, not alone because it Is bad for his health, but because It obscures bis beauty. It Is generally believed at present that all the turkeys of the world have descended from tin* three forms known as the North American bird, which hus just been described: the Mexican bird and the ocellnted bird. Tin* turkey which was first introduced Into Europe may have been car ried there by the Spaniards from Mexico or the Jesuits may have taken it hack across the waters from one of their scattered stations In the great woods of Canada. In any event, one of Its representatives figured at the marriage banquet of Charles IX and was regarded us of sufficient importance to be mentioned Pi the reports of that festivity. The Mexican turkey Is the wild bird of Mexico, which also came over the line Into the southern part of the United States. Meleagris Gailopava is the name that Is generally employed to describe this turkey. It is somewhat shorter In the shank than the northern species. Its body color is a metallic black, shaded with bronze. This is thought to be the species that the early navigators first bore back to Spain and England. The white tips of Its plumage also have suggested that It Is to this bird rather than to the wild turkev of North America that most of the domestic fowls owe their origin. The ocellnted turkey, Meleagris Ocellntn, which Is smaller than the others, has a bare head and neck. Its body plumage Is bronze and green, banded with gold bionze and varied with spots or eyes of brilliant colors —blue, red and brilliant black. Why the turkey Is called the turffe.v when Its origin Is admittedly purely occidental is a subject that lias puzzled many persons. There are several reasons given by those who have delved deeply Into lids problem, and one Is privileged tc take his choice. In the first place. It is stated that the turkey was originally supposed to have come from Asia. Thus at . a time when a great stretch of territory on the Asiatic continent was called '‘Turkey” the bird derived its name from Its supposed origin. Another speculative chron icler records that the Indians called the bird “firkee” and that from this Its common name was created. Then, again, it is somewhat generally believed that the bird named Itself by Its peculiar utterances, which are translated as “turk-turk-turkee.” Again, still more* subtle philosophers have traced 'the naming of the bird to its kinship In the ihntter of polygumous habits with the Turks over the water. Certainly no turhuued subject of the sultan, even In the days when harems were considered an article of the true religion, was ever more tenacious of his privileges In this regard than the turkey cock of barnyard or forest. Turkeys wore also at one time supposed to have come from Africa and they were confused with guineas. The errors In their scien tific naming art* due to this confusion. When. In 1621, after making their first harvest, the pilgrims decreed that 1.1,,. r<> should he u three days’ festival, which was really the first Thanks giving, wild turkeys already had become known as a delicious food, and they furnished the mainstay ..f the feast. The old pioneers weren’t so badly off. Is seems. In some ways as we have been led to Imagine, for although they were deprived of the Joys of tinned meats and vegetables and cold storage and similar blessings, eurkeys were so plentiful that It Is recorded it was customary to refer to them as bread. Another chronicler sets forth the fact tlnvt the breast of th.* wild turkey when cooked in butter was esteemed by .-ven the epicures mn aig the explorers. But 111 spite of tlielr abundance tur keys were regarded *,Mtli favor even by the red men, it' one is to judge by the •,..Mowing |. layer wljeh they uttered: “O Great Being I thank thee that I hove obtained the use of my legs Again so that 1 am able to walk about and kill turkeys.” it was not alone In early New England that the bird wus regarded with fueh favor us an edble. Isaac lie Busierles In 1627 writes a description of How Turkey Redeems Himself as Food None Should Blame i flivinu Bird for Mental Incapacity A for All of His Efforts Go Toward the i Development of Flavor thk anm observes. the trukey and details the method of hunting them in the New Netherlands: "There are also very large turkeys running wild. They have very long legs and run so extraordinarily fast that generally we take savages when we go to hunt them, for when one lias deprived them of the power of flying they yet run so fast that we cannot catch them unless their legs are hurt also.” Turkeys have been called the greatest game bird of this country, and the methods of taking them have been many. John Hunter, who was captured by the Indians and spent some time in captivity, in his memoirs, written in 1824. tells how the Indians made a decoy bird from the skin of n turkey, fol lowed the turkey tracks until they came upon a Hock and then partially displaying their decoy and Imitating the gobbling noise made by the cock, drew oft first one and then another of the flock, who being socially inclined, came along to Investigate the newcomers. Among the Indians the children were exported to kill turkeys with their blow guns. These were hollow reeds, In which arrows were placed and blown out with such force that, being directed at the eye of the creature, k they often brought him down. Children as young as eight years k were successful at tills sort of shooting. Adrian Van der Donck says A that turkeys were sometimes caught by dogs In the snow during the “ seventeenth century, but generally they were shot at nlglit from trees. They slept in the trees In large flocks and often selected the same spot many nights in succession. At other times the Indians would lay roots of which the turkeys were fond In small streams and take the birds ns they were In the net of getting these roots. In Virginia the trap or pen was much used. This trap was built in the forest and lending to It was n long train of corn. The trap was a simple affair built of logs laid one upon another ami having rough rails laid across the top. There was n trench dug under the lowest logs which fenced In tho pen. In this trench corn was scattered and the turkey following the trail of this delicacy for some distance off would finally come to the trench, which seemed to he quite providentially strewn with an unusually rich supply. He followed the great bright path of rich food to his destruction. The turkey’s lack of Intelligence, when It comes to penning Him up, is one of tho reasons why a great many Americans have not been in accord with Benjamin Frank lin s Idea that the turkey and not the eagle should he the bird of our country. A writer, describing the shooting of turkeys in the latter half of the nine teenth century In Michigan, speaks of the use of the hollow hone of the turkey s wing, which In the mouth of an expert can he made to reproduce per fectly the piping sound of the turkey hen. Sometimes also turkeys were hunted on horseback. In Virginia, according to an old writer, tills was not uncommon. He says: "Though we galloped our horses we could not overtake them [the turkeys], although they run nearly two hundred and twenty yards before they took flight.” The constant practice of our forefathers In shooting game developed a great many fine turkey shots, and it Is recorded that in the latter half of the seventeenth century "a man was thought a had shot if he missed the very head of a wild turkey on top of the highest tree with a single hall.” To ‘‘pot hunting” and to the practice of luring the turkeys by Imitating the call of the hen In the spring, Sylvester D. Judd of the biological survey of the United States department of agriculture largely attributes the ex termination of the wild turkey In many parts of the United States where formerly It was especially abundant. Trapping the turkeys in pens also helped along the extermination. Although the turkey Is. generally speaking, not a particularly hardy bird, being subject to various forms of indigestion, etc., he Is varied in his diet and usually has a good appetite. Some of the things which the wild turkey likes best and which the domesticated bird will by no means scorn are grass hoppers. crickets, locusts, tadpoles, small lizards, garden seeds and snails. One turkey which was examined by a scientist was found to have partaken of a meal Including the following viands: One harvest spider, one centipede, one thousand-legs, one ichneumon fly, two yellowjnckets, one grasshopper, three katydids, wild cherries, grapes, berries of dogwood and the sorghum, two chestnuts, twenty-five whole acorns, a few alder calkins and five hundred seeds of tick trefoil. The domestic tur key’s habit of hunting grasshoppers and worming tobacco shows that , his delight in the primitive pleasures of the table has not altered in Ills more carefully provided for existence. The chicks both of the wild and the domestic turkey are delicate and especially must they he protected during the damp weather. Audubon says that the mother bird among the wild turkeys thoroughly understands the delicacy of her offspring ami that when it Is wet she feeds the chicks buds from the spice hush with medicinal Intent exactly as the mother of a brood of youngsters prescribes doses of quinine when Influenza has taken the family In Its clutches. As soon as tho young birds can fly well enough to take tlielr place on the roost with their mothers the most delicate period of childhood, what might he called the teething stage. Is thought to he over. But, according to a successful turkey farmer, the poults are throe months old before they can he taught anything. They are then taught that they should roost high so as to keep out of the way of night prowlers. Turkeys retain so much of their wild nature that they do not like roosting inside a house, and, Indeed, they do not care even for artificial perches. When pos sible they greatly prefer tall trees as u roosting place to any roost that has been especially constructed for them. This characteristic renders them espe cially easy victims for night raiders. In nddltlon to the human desperadoes of this description there nre the coyotes and hawks always to he guarded against In some parts of the country. In addition to Illnesses which come from digestive disorders. colds, the terrible scourge of blackheads, etc., and the depredations of the night raider, the turkey farmer always has to consider also the feuds among the members of his flock, which frequently rage high. Nevertheless, the careful turkey rancher lias found It possible to conserve Ills birds and make a large profit from them. A woman turkey rancher, who has had good experience In the business, lost In one season only twelve birds out of a flock of 1,500. At first the young turkeys nre fed on bread and milk, hard-boiled yolk of egg and perhaps some chopped alfalfa. Later they an* fed cracked grain, hut as soon as they are able to take to the rungc It is no longer necessary to feed them. The range supplies all that they need, both green and dry, and happy Is the householder who Is able to purchase for his table turkeys whose habitat lias been an oak forest. Nothing Is more delicious than a turkey which has fed freely on acorns. Although there nre many great turkey ranches and whole communities which live principally upon the mining of turkeys for market, such ns Cuera, Tex., whose annual turkey trade preceding Thanksgiving Includes thousands of turkeys hound for the New York markets, as a rule turkeys are raised In small groups on farms which are Interested In other commodities. They are often the sole dependence of the farmer's wife for pocket money throughout the year, and many a farmer’s daughter also has been able to make a shining appearance in her world of fashion principally through the successful market ing of the turkey brood. On the 5,000,000 farms of the United States there were, according to careful statistics taken some years ago, only 6,soo,ooo.turkeys. Texas led among the states, producing 050,000. The other states which were large pro ducers were Missouri, Illinois, lowa. Ohio and Indiana. The state of Rhode Island, noted as It Is for Its turkeys, produced only S,(MM). But the quality of the Rhode Island turkeys always has been excellent mid they usually bring prices vastly In excess of those from other parts of the country. Ami that ought to he enough about turkeys to get up a pretty good up petlte for Thursday's dinner! GERMAN FLEET TO SURRENDER ■HIPS LEAVE KIEL AND SUBMA RINES SAIL THROUGH CANAL BOUND FOR ENGLAND. FRENCH ARMY IN METZ LOTHRINGIAN IRON FIELDS ARE FREED BY AMERICAN ARMY OF OCCUPATION. Western NewapHpvr I’nlon Num Snrvtc* Copenhagen, Nov. 20.—The first section of the German fleot to l>c de livered to the allies left Kiel on Sun day for tlie North sea. The section of the fleet comprised the battleships Bayern, Grosser Kurfuerst, Krou prinz Wilhelm, Markgraf, Koutg Al bert ami Kaiseriu, and the battle crui sers Seydlitz and Moltke. London. —German submarines to be handed over to tHe allies have passed through the Kaiser Wilhelm canal on tlieir way to England, according to advices received in Copenhagen from Kiel and transmitted by the Exchange Telegraph Company. Paris.—French troops entered the German fortress of Metz Tuesday. The French were led by Marshal Pe tain and were received with the great est enthusiasm. (The French were compelled to give up Metz in 1871 at the conclusion of the Franco-Prussian war.) The entry into Strassburg, which will be headed, by Marshal Focli, will take place next Sunday and Monday. French advance guards Monday en tered the town of St. Ixiuis, opposite Basle, Switzerland. With the American Army of Occu pation.—American troops entered Briey, the heart of the Lothringiau iron fields at 11 o’clock Monday morn ing. There were arches across the main street and the town was be decked with flags. Fifteen hundred civilians greeted the troops. Well into Belgium and within a few hourd* march of the German frontier on the south, Maj. Gen. Joseph T. Hickman's army gathered itself Tues day for another jump into evacuated territory. As tin* Germans withdraw, the concentration of the army of occu pation is increased, and not for a mo ment has vigilance been relaxed. Tho railway yards at Montmedy and other places along the line that served the Germans as one of tlielr main arteries of communication during their last stand against the allied ad vance were filled with locomotives ail l cars ready for use, while great quanti ses of general stores not mentioned in tho terms of the armistice had been abandoned to the allies. WILSON TO HOLD REINS ABROAD. President Not to Relinquish Rights as Executive \tyhile in France. Washington, Nov. 20. —Democratic senators who conferred with Presi dent Wilson for two hours left the White House with the impression that the President now plans to remain in France indefinitely or at least until the major portion of the work of the peace conference lias been completed. Tlie President was understood to be especially interested in the applica tion, in the framing of tho treaty, of the principle of the freedom of tin* seas, which lie enunciated in his four teen terms, and on which the allies, in agreeing to discuss peace with Ger many, have reserved the right of free dom of action at the peace confer ence. The plan for a league of nations was another subject to which the Pres ident was said to have given much study. He was understood to regard this as essential for the maintenance of the peace of the world. During liis absence from tlie United States the President plans to continue to exercise all the functions of his of fice. lie will keep in communication with Washington by wireless while at sea, and by cable and, If necessary, by dispatch boats while he Is abroad. Besides discussing his plans for his trip abroad, the President was under stood to have taken up with the sena tors problems of reconstruction and necessary legislation. President of Mormon Church Dead. Salt Lakn City, Utah. Joseph F. 4mlth, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon), died at ids home here after it long Illness. Death was due Indi rectly to a paralytic stroke Buffered last April. Notwithstanding his illness President Smith attended the recent semi-annual conference of tin* church held the first week of October, and spoke strongly against polygamous marriages. He was 80 years of age. Fourth Liberty Loan Oversubscribed. Washington. Total subscriptions to the Fourth Liberty loan were *0,989,- 047,000. The overaubicrlptlon of *989,- 047,000 was 10.48 per cent. Every federal reserve illstrlet exceeded Its allotted quota. This makes the Fourth Liberty loon by far the greatest war loan ever flouted by this or any other government. Including the four Lib erty loans, all of which were oversub scribed. and war savings, the nation has raised |17,852.000,001i. Had to GiveUp Work Mr. McMurrmy Was In a Bad Way Until He Used Doan's —They Brought i Quick Cure. P. K. McMurrsy. 48 W. Hickoiy St., Chicago Heights, ill., suys: ‘*l was al ways a strong man until 1 was taken with kidney trouble. I worked many years as a blacksmith and this work brought the trouble on. When I stooped over there was a a grinding pain in *mv (♦>. la hack and I couldn't straighten up for four or five minutes. Some times it took me half an hour to put on my shoes. I got so bad, I had to lay off work for days at a time. Often I would have to get up a M M M dozen times at night to Hr. nenwray tin* j ( j,j nov secre tions, and they burned like lire. My feet swelled, and at times they burned so that it seemt'd l was standing on a hot stove. I had spells of gasping for breath and dizzy spells, too, and my health failed rapidly. I was told that my working days were over, but Doan'B Kidney Pills were brought to by attention and before 1 had used one box, l began trt feel relieved. I kept on and by the time I had used ten boxes. I was absolutely cured. All pains left my bark and other symp toms of kidnev trouble disappeared and T felt ns wefl and strong as ever ” 44 Subscribed and sworn to before me this 7th day of Julu I!)1 7.” DAVID 11 SHAPIRO, Notary Public. Get Doan's at Any Store, 60c • Bo* DOAN'S K P , I D I N I E S T FOSTER-MILBURN CO.. BUFFALO. N. Y. Appealing to Real Influence. “What Is your objection to me as a son-iii-low?” inquired the young man with the melancholy expression. “Who told you 1 didn’t like you?” asked Mr. Cuinrox. "Gwendolyn.” "Clever girl. She Is saying that so as to make you more popular with her mother.” Don’t climb so high that the world will not see you when it wants to re move tin* ladder. jtsa^lohg MoaNlk MONKEY IS THE BEST The dealer who has achieved big suc cess does not waste his time, energy and money trying to sell unknown accessories, lie knows that cheap accessories are u speculation, pure and simple, both for him and his customers, lie is not willing to put himself in the class with the maker; of products that are "Just as good.*’ He banks on a steady, consistent turnover. Moco Monkey Grip the one established patch, the one that Is universally accept ed ns standard. This famous tire patch has been tested by Impartial experts and pronounced perfect in performance. It withstands the frictional heat generated tinder ny conditions of service. If your dealer does not handle, order direct, pre paid if money accompanies order. Put up In two size cans only. 54 square Inohei $l.OO, 108 square Inches $1.75. Manufactured only by the Moco Laboratories, Inc. Oklahoma City. Okla. RTdkalkrs ask Voim Jodbbh ■>ok tells how% IN DENVER | rm mw fur*— a LB, Muskrat*, ■ da money her*. ■ f»3 bc*t market ■ item Tm opera ■ L STEPHEN* _ »>*• t mmmm ■ Kur«ln*h«woct4 B iilan--uTn r»| _ P»r**l po»t . and ■ • lutiaraqui-Bar, ■ - iTapa m\, racwiy Prices ■ STEPHEN* Bells traps. animal twits ■ and all trapper** aupnlicß at rock V I kattaiw jarioaa. Write today \ ■ sod Shipping Tags —ALL ERBBjX IB* A. STEP JENS A CO. I*2 Atepkeßß *tdg. _ Owner, Celerwde, O.Ti. ■yfH For Constipation Carter’s Little Liver Pills will set you right over night Purely Vegetable Small Pill, Small Dose, Small Price Carter's Iron Pills Will restore color to the facet of tboee who lack Iron in the blood, aa moat pale-faced people do. GOOD PHOTOGRAPH Copied and mounted on special holiday mount, •1.50 do*.; enlargements 11x14 made fort*each. Naaaau Studio, 1229 16th, Denver. KsL ttyaam W. N U., DENVER, NO. 47-1918.