The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-11-01
From the Pennsylranian
TNI ER NO COON

As natural h story has # late become quite study
in order to ascertain the characteristics Of the coon
and TO decide what does and what does not belong
the . Procyonh or coon family, the following anec
dote may not prove uninteresting. During the re-
cent political SIS, when like the valiant warrior
mentioned in the ballad Of Chevy Chase, men "fought
upon their stumps," Mr. Charles Brown 10 address
ing the people OF Spring Garden, took occasion TO H.
lus,rate an dea by giving account of his first
coon hunt" 1t appeared that during his younger
days, the member who now so ably represents the
First District, and who, politically speaking, is by
means slow al coon killing even now, lived for a
time down among the marshes Of New Jersey, At
that period coon hunting was some hat fashionable
thereabouts and Mr. Brown, hearing much of
achievements in this line felt ambitious the sub
ect He too would kill a coon, and accordingly
one moonshiny night, he set forth a hunting
expedition, accompanied by several other youths
of the mode OF thinking, but who knew as
little about the animal they in search of as
Mr.. Brown himself. The dogs soon began to beat
around and after brief search gave voice pursuing
some sort of Z" critter,n until it mounted a sapng
which grew askant the brook Is it coon ~ was
the query. "A coon to be sure--we oaIne out to
catch cocns, and coon il must be-besdes, the dogs
know coon well enough and there be no mis-
take about the matter" Such were the observa-
tions banded about by our Nmrods, who speedily
dslodged their prey and despatched II as eectually
as the hunters of Ohio did the hopes of Whiggery.
This was glory enough for nght-the coon was
dtau dlu, diNtI ltftIHlHS iiouiS III Triumph, WIN
much self-complacenoy as young Noryal, they
skinned the game in great gee and hung the carcase
up in Clubhouse that the frost might render it suf-
fciently tender 10 please their Epicurean family
On the following d5y, according to Mr.. Browns
account, the coon killers, including himself naturally
felt much elated they probably had sensations similar
to those experienced by Lord Byron, when he woke
up one morning and suddenly found himself a
great man--aud there was strong disposition TO
let the veterans of the service see that some
things could be done well others"--that the y
were not monoposts in the art of staying the coon.
We can easily imagine the picture that was soon
formed in the outhouse-theTe stood Mr.. Brown in
all the bushes OF unacoustomed victory pointing out
| the prize it hung dangling from beam the an
cient hunt stared at il with all his eyes and draw
ing his cuff significantly the lower part OF hls
countenance as he took of the paws Of the AMI
| NAL suspicously between his disengaged finger and
| thumb, he said, with a knowing wins, why, Char,
| ley, my boy, that's no coon ~ " What! exclaimed
| the astonshed Charley " no coon--that not coon
what the deuce is It then; ~ "Why,n responded Il
hunter it's neither more nor less than an cid grey
for" and an old gray fox it was, to The complete
discontinue Of those who had wearied themselves In
| its pursuit
The moral deduced by Mr.. Brown in hls speech
was that the Wing party had OF late met with pretty
much the same luck as he did IN his juvenile hunting
excursion Before the election, they assured every
| body that Mr. Tyler was coon" But now, when
they are trying skin him. they Discover that he u
an old gray for" very tough, and exceedingly di-
cult for them To digest,