104 



FANCIERS' JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by Joseph M. 

 Wade, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



JF ANCIERS' JJOTONAL AND JpOULTEY (j^XCHANGE, 



JOSEPH M. WADE, Editor and Proprietor. 

 Published Weekly at 39 North Ninth Street, Philadelphia. 



SUBSCRIPTION. 



Per Annum, $2 50 



Sir Copies, one year, 12 00 



Specimen Copies, by mail 10 



ADVERTISEMENTS 



From reliable parties, oa any subjects interesting to Fanciers, will be 

 inserted at 10 cents per line, set solid ; if displayed, 15 cents per line of 

 space will be charged; about 12 words make a line, and 12 lines make an 

 inch of space. 



1 inch of space, set solid SI 20, displayed SI 80 



1 column, about 108 lines, setsolid 10 80, " 16 20 



1 page, 216 lines, solid 21 60, " 32 40 



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(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



THE CONVENTION AS I FOUND IT. 



Friend Wade : 



I confess to some misgiving on leaving my parish home 

 to attend the meeting of the American Poultry Association, 

 convened at Buffalo. Even admitting that my fears were like 

 the ripples on the surface of the sea, yet they had some rela- 

 tion to the deeper water. For myself, I had seen enough of 

 the poultry business to know that intelligence coupled with 

 refinement could be profitably employed in the enterprise, 

 the inevitable tendency of which would be to elevate, and 

 not debase, the mind. 



By the power of steam, generated from pure water, I 

 reached the Queen City of the Lakes, breakfasted at the 

 Bonney House, and soon after entered the Exhibition Hall 

 of the Western New York Poultry Society, of which 1 

 would like to say much, for it is truly deserving of the 

 highest commendation. Apart from their ample hall was 

 a kind of Senate-chamber, where I was soon to meet the 

 Fellows of the Royal Society. In the meantime, mental 

 curiosity was playing pranks ; but I was not to decide 

 prematurely upon character. Justice to my brother man 

 demanded a more careful deliberation; for there were men 

 there of journalistic fame, as editors, contributors, and ad- 

 vertisers, some of whom I had corresponded with ; but how 

 they would look and act I could not tell, although I could 

 conceive a possibility of a person being genteel with the 

 pen, but really swaggerish in manner. But when the char- 

 acter of the Convention opened out before me, like clustered 

 photographs, I felt rebuked even for my mental cogitations. 



Then came the formal introduction, the hearty hand- 

 shaking, by gentlemen from the East, the West, the North, 

 and the South, each seemingly striving to excel in cordiality 

 to their newly-made acquaintances ; and yet these men were 

 competitors in business, rivaling each other in opinion, but 

 with all so noble that, to all appearances, they would sooner 

 lose a right arm than knowingly wound another's feelings. 



Soon the especial business of the Convention, viz.: the 

 Revision of the Standard, was entered upon; and, in view of 

 the various and varied interests bearing upon that one trans- 

 action, it tested the merits and integrity of that body of 

 men as but few assemblages are tried ; and yet they rose 

 superior to it all. The grand magnanimity of the presiding 

 officer found a hearty response, or else infused itself into the 

 minds and purposes of the members, until harmony, despite 

 every contingency, was the crowning element of each, 

 session. 



The moral type of the Convention — contrary to the 

 opinion of some who know very little of the facts — the 

 moral features of the body were of a high order, infused in 

 no small degree with a Christian consciousness. I was 

 present at all of the meetings of the Convention, and min- 

 gled freely with its members during each recess, and I 

 heard not a vulgar word nor an unchaste expression; neither 

 was there an utterance in my hearing verging upon pro- 

 fanity ; and I venture the assertion that a nobler set of men 

 were never convened in the interest of any secular enter- 

 prise. One landlord at a popular hotel in Buffalo, where was 

 gathered the largest number of delegates, complimented his 

 guests as men who drank no rum ; and this one fact alone 

 speaks volumes in honor of the men and the measures they 

 labored to promote. Indeed, all selfishness seemed to be far 

 removed from every mind. The public presentation of sub- 

 stantial tokens of regard and friendship to acquaintances so 

 recently made, called forth personal congratulations to the 

 recipients of such favors, and appeared to gladden the 

 hearts of all. 



Just here I would like to digress from my purpose, and 

 speak of individuals as I met them; but I must not presume 

 upon the columns of your most excellent journal. Suffice 

 it forme to say that I found myself invariably associated with 

 gentlemen of sterling worth — men tried and true — who were 

 earnestly laboring to promote the public welfare ; and in the 

 good time coming the fact will be heartily acknowledged, and 

 that ignorance and bigotry done away which would indis- 

 criminately sweep the entire fraternity of poultry fanciers 

 into the cock-pit, just as though they had no higher than a 

 brutal, debasing purpose to subserve. I know that there 

 are a large class of game fowls, but it must be admitted that 

 they are creatures of beauty and most excellent in their 

 way ; and further be it said of those who are most familiar 

 with the breeding of them, that, like true naturalists, they 

 have studied their nature and propensity, and would repel 

 with noble scorn the idea of testing their pugnacity, and 

 calling it sport. 



In fact, no man connected with the American Poultry 

 Association need feel for a moment that he is required by 

 any relation or rule to compromise a good moral standing. 

 The day has passed when sneers and jeers are to doom an 

 honorable business to disrepute, for, with the degree of 

 enlightenment already possessed upon the subject of poultry 

 raising, withering epithets, from any quarter, are only signs 

 of ignorance, and exposes the weakness of those who conde- 

 scend to use them. 



If I mistake not, the populace, in their intelligence, do 

 not claim that cattle-men who convene to promote the 

 enterprise of stock-raising are necessarily masters of the 

 arena for bull-fighting. And why not the public mind 

 everywhere be disabused in reference to the purposes and 

 intent of the American Poultry Association. For one, I 

 can confidently assure them that the very character and 



