The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1858-10-26

Il
snn11SUUpAOH ARE eUCKs
= ~ - j.. =: E Ea;E = :. A'''s.-
wSRavs heard IN oaf time . good many |
loS1H IAsh .storisA Ard among others that Of |
~ .asisaure -, !" rscsntly caught - Chieot |
- r Shss Seass, which Appeared to be .
.ronG betwesn the alliGatorgar ana shark,
"A he'd in his stomach Is II in small change |
oeether with stout bowie knife, . revolt |
ring pistol, and other articles Of . filibustsr
M character.
That many Of these tales were piscatory |
Rcions, Ne have always held since our arri- |
ri at mans estate, and now, that truth 10 |
Donsidsred stranger than fiction, We will pro- |
Ned, with due soberness, to show.
Afew days ago Jarvis Wright was one Of
he shrewdsss and best TRADERS" Of the |
Choctaw Nation. In early life he had left |
The granite hills Of New England and wend.
Cd mis- way towards the setting sun. His
money making instincts were pretty strong
" developed, and in his race for wealth he
forgot the strong affectional wants Of his ma.
ture, and %, while growing. rich he grew
old, and was known throughout the nation
% s.ths rich old bachelor.
Now it 60 happened that in things theolo
gical the heart Of Jarvis, during his wander
ings and money gatherings, became harden
Cd, and in matters of religious faith he was
voted heterodox. In fact, he was almost as
heretical a. the heather Choctaw, with whom
it was his boast to drive skilliul trades,
and for whose spiritual benefit missionaries
we're sent out annually BY the Heaven aiding
Christians Of the North.
Among the missionaries who visited the
Choctaw wilds during the year ls5--. there
was one who had daughter whom be loved
passing we'll Jarvis saw her, and he, too,
soon loved her with no common love. IL was,
indeed, strange to witness the effect Oh the
tender passion ON that hardened unbeiiever
Time, which was Supposed to have blunted
and deadsned all the finer sensibilities OF
human organism, had only been pertecting
their essential fires, even as the spirit In a
elder barrel 10 concentrated and strengthen
Cd by the frost which render its exteriors
cold and icy. So the love of Jarvis in its
vehemence, was . riddle to the men and
maidens of the Choctaw tribe, and even tho
traders wondered. Jarvis in lOvel SO strange
was the idea ~ to be considered ridiculous,
and most Of his old friends concluded that
his brain was getting turned. And so, as
the divers fates too often have it, Jarvis an
gel proved unkind The richly freighted
bark of his hopes was ehipwrecked, and
rooted sorrow" settled on his soul Fair
daughter of that missionary! She never for
a moment thought that her nilsson was to wed
the rough and hsretical, though rich old
bachelor, while younger and more attrac
tive galianis were suing for the favor of
emile She refused him and he became in.
contiuently crazed, and moped and wander !
ed, still talking about her
At length his friends concluded to bring
him to this hayward city of New Orleans,
where several ef his relatives reside, and at
ter spending few months there, the demen-
ted lover began to be in some measure forget
full of his grief. Occasionally, indeed, he
would DO a. sane az any man in existence,
but with the changes Of an honr, his fit Of
love-lunacy would return, and he would be-
~ wild and wandering as ever.
As he was perfectly harmless, even when
the fit was strongest on him, he was trans
ferred to plantation at Terrs Beuf where
he was allowed the privilege of hunting.
And in due time hunting alligators among
the bayous and lagoons became the favorite
pastime of the love-lorn Jarvis, and it was
hoped shat eventually he would wholly for
get how unsuccessful he had been hunting
for Z wife. But now q new monomania
seemed to seize him OF killing alligatorS
he ha became tired, but to catch and tame
one was his new idea, the mission of his life.
lie thought if he could only catch and tame
live alligator, tho star Of his fortune would
again rise in the ascendant and in the am
phibious creature he would find guide,
philosopher, and friend.
" in al the method Of madness he set
about the realization of his wild idea; and
one day, about SIX weeks or 30 ago. he captur
ed n juvenile monster of the class he usht,
and commenced at once to cultivate with 1t a
kindly social intimacy No more did he Wis
1t the distant bayous for, to the wants OF
his new found friend, he devoted all his time
and attention. Scarcel y, indeed, did he speak
to any one else; but when he did it would be
the same parrot phrase
"The man that's lucky enough to catch
and tame live alligator, can draw prize
in the Havana lottery !"
This he would repeat not only to the PEG
pie of the house where he resided, but to
his aligatorship q thousand times, and
thousand times again.
After severel days consultation with his
scaly friend, Jarvis determined one fine
morning to visit the city, buy lottery ticket,
and prove his luck. So he engaged pas
sage for himself and alligator on the Mex-
can Gulf Railroad cars and came. After ar
irving, he went straghtvay to mercantile
house, where his money is deposited, drew
$40, and commenced his search around the
city for q ticket that his saurian councillor
would he satisfied with Long and weary
was the search. To a hundred shops the al
hgator was carried, and the wares of hun
dred ticket vendors were Submitted to him
before he manifested his appreciation by an
approving wag of caudal appendage. As
soon however, as the ticket with the mystic
numbers displayed, the mysterious reptiles
eve frightened, ard tail wsgsed wisely
And Jarvis interpreted the cabalistic wag as
. sign to buy, and forthwith he bought the
ticket and went home rejoicing
Two days aiterward, the drawing tableau
of the Havana Lottery arrived, and, strange
as it may appear, the ticket selected by the
approving was Of the alligators tail was
appear Improbable, bnt Il isno more strange
than true, us several respectable merchants
on Carondelet street. who are familiar with
the facts, and the members of the CONNER
cial firm on Camp street, where the money
has since been deposited, can attest. In
deed we have the story from the lips of one
nearly related to the unluckey yet luckey
Jarvis, Nor did the luck of the alligator
hunter end with the drawing of the prize -
Recently, as is well known, exchange On
Havana has been commanding handsome
premium, and Jarvis through one Of mis- rela-
tives, received for his ticket not only the
$20,oOo it called for but premium of $3.50
besides.
Who will not hereafter say that the tail Of
an alligator is not thing of wisdom? With
this philosophic quer7 our tale shall end.