Crate

“ One crate of chickens can encase more suffering than I [20] want endured for me. There is first the terror in capture, then the suffering of being thrust, legs often tied, in the small over-crowded crate, then the journey in the shrieking train, and the thirst-tortured hours in the sun before the final twist of the neck or the blow of the axe, given in many cases just before natural death would render the fowl unfit for sale. And such food, poisoned by fear and suffering, is considered the most delicate, and thought fit to feed to invalids! ”

“ The deeper we go the darker it gets. A man has been scouring the neighborhood all day in quest of the carter who delivered the crate to the docks, but so far without results. I consider it a very important point that we should learn not only how and when the crate was collected, but when and by whom it was delivered at the garage. ”

“ And all this could be done by one man.
As French closed his eyes he seemed to see the reverse process being carried out—a crane-lorry arriving on the Loughor bridge, stopping, backing at right angles to the road until its tail was up against the parapet—the road was wide enough to allow of it; the driver getting down, taking a tarpaulin off a crate, swinging the crate up to the pulley of his crane, lowering the jib until the crate swung suspended over the rushing flood beneath, then striking out some type of slip shackle which allowed the crate to fall clear. ”

“ French became deeply impressive. “That crate that I was enquiring about was sent from here to Swansea. There it was called for by a man who took it on a lorry to a place called Burry Port and threw it into the sea. A fisherman chanced to hook it and it was brought ashore more than a month later. And when it was opened the dead body of a man was found inside.” ”

“ Equipping the house is easily and cheaply accomplished by the use of egg crates turned on the side, with opening facing out. These should have a three-inch strip nailed across front at bottom of crate, to keep the squabs and eggs from falling out, or better still, make an inside rectangle of three-inch lumber that just fits inside the crate. By this, I mean a draw three inches high and eleven and one-half inches in width and length, but without a bottom, as the lower side of the crate completes the bottom. ”

“ Men arrive in the morning with something that looks like a magnified crate. It is inverted over the pit’s mouth, earth is thrown in, the floor rises and with it the captive,161 until the animal is forced into this temporary cage. Bamboo crosspieces are then slipped under and secured, and very shortly he is en route. If the destination be a zoölogical park or menagerie, it is said that the beast will live longer and develop physically more completely in captivity than it would in a state of freedom. ”

“ Henry took Anna to the canal-entrance, because the buildings looked best from that side.
'Now how much is a crate worth?' she asked, pointing to a crate which was being swung on a crane direct from the packing-house into a boat.
'That?' Mynors answered. 'A crateful of ware may be worth anything. At Minton's I have seen a crate worth three hundred pounds. But that one there is only worth eight or nine pounds. ”

“ When the crate was finished, they packed excelsior around the jars and in every inch of space. That done, José carried the crate over to the house across the road, for safe-keeping.
With a wide smile Jo Ann remarked, “We’ll have to get an early start tomorrow morning to take our crate to the city. We’ll have to promise to make the trip there and back in one day, I know.”
[209]
When they were riding horseback on the mountain trail, they met the rurales taking their prisoner to the village. The girls urged their horses close to the cliff to allow room for them to pass on the narrow trail. ”

“ If a crate is constructed it should be 4 or 41⁄2 feet long, 21⁄2 feet high, and 20 inches wide. The slats on one end of the crate should be securely nailed, and on the other they should be arranged to slide into place, so that they can be removed easily after each weighing.
5. Arrangement for Weighing Pigs
The pig to be weighed is securely fastened in the crate and the horse placed over it so that the ring or hook of steelyards is nearly over the center. ”

“ Thus, a man in search of wild duck will mark down a flock settled on some shallow sheet of water. He will then put a crate over his head and shoulders, and gradually approach the flock as though the crate were drifting on the surface. ”

“ The ship reached Duluth at night and immediately was shunted into the slip at the ore docks [184] for loading. After the hatches were down a huge crate was hoisted aboard with a crane. A section of the deck was opened up and the crate was let down into the lazaret. The crate was consigned to one of the company's officials in the East. ”

“ Crating birds. Hold the bird with your thumb across its back and its legs between your first two fingers; place the palm of the other hand over the front part of the pigeon, extend fingers downward in the direction of the keel (fig. 15) , and guide the bird into the crate. Do not release until bird’s feet are firmly on crate floor. ”

“ French scrambled down the stone pitching of the bank and with some difficulty got aboard. The rope had been passed up to the bridge and was now worked across till the boat was nearly in midstream. Even with the help of the oarsmen it was all those above could do to hold on. Then the crate appeared rising slowly on to the parapet. ”

“ Accordingly he was forced to rest oftener than once before he gained the top, propping the crate each time upon his knotty crab-stick, in order to ease its oppressive weight, and wiping away the big drops of sweat that broke out from his forehead. ”

“ The air in these seventy bottles being immediately displaced by the water, a great bubbling of course ensued; but, in about twenty seconds, this having subsided, the crate was raised; and, while seventy more bottles descended from another arm of the crane, a fresh set of girls curiously carried off these full bottles, one on each finger of each hand, ranging them in several long rows upon a large table or dresser,—also beneath the shed. No sooner were they there, than two men, with surprising activity, put a cork into each ”

“ In such a cradle they lay & tie in the Infant, without any linnen clothes or sheets, instead of which they lay him on a sort of soft moss, of a red color, which they dry in Summer, and have great plenty of it. When the Infant is to be rocked, they let the cradle hang by a rope from the roof of the hut, and by thrusting the cradle and tossing it from one side to the other, they lull him a sleep. ”

“ Still, it would be well for me to leave this miserable pool and go to the other one which is so much larger and more comfortable. The crane must carry me, but I must run no risk. And if he has deceived the others, I must avenge them.' The bird approached the crayfish. 'It is your turn, now,' said the crane. 'How will you carry me?' asked the crayfish. 'In my bill, like the others,' replied the crane. 'No, no,' said the crayfish; 'my shell is slippery; I might fall out of your bill. Rather, let me hold on to your neck with my claws; I shall be careful not to hurt you.' The crane agreed. ”

“ During this period the cradle serves many purposes—as a mere nest for the helpless infant, as a bed so constructed and manipulated as to permit sleep in either a vertical or horizontal position, as a vehicle for carrying the child suspended on the mother's back or from the saddle-bow, as, indeed, a cradle to be hung on the limbs of trees to rock, as a playhouse and baby-jumper, and as a kind of training school whence the child emerges little by little till it leaves it altogether. ”

“ They were rats—shore rats. The last designation is necessary, for there are rats and rats, all bad, but the shore rat is the worst. How many sleeping birds, wounded, tired, or unalert, die at his hands, or, rather, his teeth, in the course of a year would amaze anybody if known, and the shell-fish he relieves of life are legion.
The hard, horny carapace of a retreating crab scraped, in the dead silence, against the rock-bowlder on which the skua sat. He made no move at the sound, the suggestive sound; but his feathers were shut down quite tight, and he looked far smaller than usual. ”

“ In the background is a cradle with a child, watched over by a placid cat, a cow and a number of yellow chickens, which trip close past the cradle: a deliciously homely and delightfully-painted slice of life, enlivened by the rays falling from the skylight upon the cradle and deepening all the colours in the foreground, so that the blue becomes bluer, the green real, mellow grass-green, and the scene of the cradle, the cat, the cow and the chickens, with a few objects around, placed in the full light, forms the centre of the picture. ”

“ So I was thinking, 'What in the world will these fish do now?'"
"Yes, indeed, sir! what are we to do?" said they.
"If you will only do as I bid you, I will take you in my beak to a fine large pond, covered with all the kinds of lotuses, and put you into it," answered the crane.
"That a crane should take thought for the fishes is a thing unheard of, sir, since the world began. It's eating us, one after the other, that you're aiming at."
"Not I! So long as you trust me, I won't eat you. But if you don't believe me that there is such a pond, send one of you with me to go and see it." ”

“ A cradle stood in the place which formerly the toilet-table had occupied--ah, what a cradle--a dream of a cradle! A basket with a canopy of green silk, hung with a long, transparent lace veil, a costly nest for a young bird whose little eyes must be shielded, by all kinds of tender devices, from the bright light, which perhaps later would pain him so! ”

“ When the crake remains a long time in one place, uttering the call continuously, the illusion disappears, and there is no more difficulty in approximately fixing its position than that of any other bird. One summer a crake chose a spot on the ‘shore’ of the ditch of the highway hedge, not forty yards from the orchard ha-ha. There was a thick growth of tall grass, clogweed, and other plants just there, and some of the bushes pushed out over the sward. ”

“ Strewn with crabs, horse-shoes, and razor-clams, and whatever the sea casts up,—a vast morgue, where famished dogs may range in packs, and crows come daily to glean the pittance which the tide leaves them. ”

“ I THE LURE OF KARTABO
A house may be inherited, as when a wren rears its brood in turn within its own natal hollow; or one may build a new home such as is fashioned from year to year by gaunt and shadowy herons; or we may have it built to order, as do the drones of the wild jungle bees. In my case, I flitted like a hermit crab from one used shell to another. This little crustacean, living his oblique life in the shallows, changes doorways when his home becomes too small or hinders him in searching for the things which he covets in life. ”

“ A rock completely isolated like the Douvres attracts and shelters creatures which shun the haunts of men. It is a sort of vast submarine cave of fossil coral branches—a drowned labyrinth. There, at a depth to which divers would find it difficult to descend, are caverns, haunts, and dusky mazes, where monstrous creatures multiply and destroy each other. Huge crabs devour fish and are devoured in their turn. Hideous shapes of living things, not created to be seen by human eyes, wander in this twilight. ”

“ I have many times found Hermit-crabs out of their Shells in the mingled mass of a dredge-haul, and on three occasions have watched the method in which the houseless creature domiciliates himself. These were the only occasions on which I endeavoured to observe the operation: they always seem willing enough to exhibit their housing performance.
My plan of observation was simply this:—I put a naked crab into a large glass jar of sea water with one shell, the latter of size about proportioned to the former; and then I contemplated. In each case the crab proceeded in the same way. ”

“ One of them, a young fisherman, saw the cradle and cried: "A baby must be in that cradle, because the dog would not bother about an empty cradle. Up, brothers, up, let us try to save the child. Let not the fidelity and bravery of a dog put us to shame."
Notwithstanding the threatening danger of being crushed to death by the rushing ice-floes, the men launched a boat and jumped into it. They reached the cradle and discovered the child in it. They placed cradle and babe in their boat and brought them safely to land. ”

“ A little in advance of the proper season, I transfer each family into a short glass tube, which will represent the natal cell. A good, thick cork, quite a centimeter deep, is the obstacle to be pierced for an outlet. Well, instead of the mad haste and the ruinous lack of organization which I expected to find, my broods show me in their glass prison an exceedingly well regulated workshop. One insect, one only, works at perforating the cork. Patiently, with its mandibles, grain by grain, it digs a tunnel the width of its body. ”

“ The land-crabs however, did not molest the shore-party to any extent, and it was only now and then that a man found one of these unpleasant creatures in his bed. It was the custom for the men to sally forth every evening, just before dark, and kill, with sticks, every land-crab they could find in the immediate neighbourhood of the camp, each man slaying his sixty or seventy. This afforded an abundance of food for the others during the night, so that they had no need to stray into the tents. The crabs, I was informed, were excellent scavengers, and consumed all the cook's refuse. ”