ISGl. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



161 



A CYIillMDIlICAIi MEAT-MASHES. 



"Is that thunder, Jane ?" 



"No, father, I think not — it seems to come 

 from the kitchen." 



"What can they be doing there, to make such 

 a noise ? I thought it was a succession of thun- 

 der-claps. It jarred the -whole house." 



"But it don't thunder often in the winter, 

 father ; besides, it's all bright sunlight now." 



"Well, child, go to the kitchen, if you think 

 the noise came from there, and inquire what the 

 matter is." 



So off went dutiful Jane to the kitchen, and 

 there found that "Biddy" had been pounding a 

 piece of a well-knitted beef creature in prepara- 

 tion for dinner, upon a large table, which was, 

 in itself, a pretty good drum. No wonder there 

 ■was a racket in the house ! 



Jane came back, reported the fact, and at the 

 same time handed her father a circular desci-ib- 

 ing WJiittemore & Broiher^s "Patent Cylindrical 

 Meat Masher," which he took, adjusted his spec- 

 tacles, and read as follows : 



"This machine is intended for mashing beef 

 steak, to make it tender for cooking. It pro- 

 duces twice the effect of pounding, makes the 

 toughest meat equal to the most tender, and will 

 do its work in one-tenth the time required in 

 pounding, one minute only being required to 

 mash eight or ten pounds. 



It meets the unqualified approbation of all 

 those who are using it, and the manufacturers 

 have as yet been unable to supply the demand. 



The first premium was awarded to this ma- 



chine by the Massachusetts Charitable Mechan- 

 ics' Association, at their fair held at Boston dur- 

 ing the fall of 18(30, with the highest recommen- 

 dation of the committee and the press." 



We are glad to learn that some means have 

 been devised to accomplish two things, viz.: 



1. To bring a beef-steak into such a condition 



that a person with good teeth can eat a 

 moderate slice in thirty minutes. 



2. That this may be accomplished without the 



aid of a lignumvitee pestle, a pine table, 

 and such a noise as would drive a sensitive 

 man out of the house. 

 We have not tried the Meat Masher, but from 

 turning it a few times, and contemplating the 

 sensation we might have if our finger were once 

 crushed between its iron teeth, we are strong in 

 the belief, that the muscular portions of all bo- 

 vine structures must become pulpy and tender 

 under its power. 



Hog Cholera. — A disease to which this name 

 is popularly applied, exists in this vicinity, and 

 is proving quite disastrous. One resident of 

 Cranston has already lost forty hogs and has 

 more sick with the disease. Another, a resident 

 of North Providence, has lost more than fifty 

 within a short time, and others have lost smaller 

 numbers. It is probably an infectious, epidemic 

 disease, and very little can be expected from treat- 

 ment or from precautionary measures. At the 

 same time, its severity and fatality are undoubted- 

 ly aggravated by the food, and local surroundings 

 of the animals. — Providence Journal. 



