The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-06-25
Col. PUryear's Reputation as an An.
gIer Defended.

| HARDISoN'S STORE, June 10Th, 1875.
| On my way to Nashville a few DAYS
ago, called in at Col. Puryear's and
spent the night with him. He lives on
the Lewisburg pike, four miles from the
thriving and progressive town OF
Franklin. The Colonel is a longtime
friend OF mine. After talking an hour or
moro on various subjects, the conversa-
ton turned upon fishing. l asked him
II ne had seen an account in the CoLUMN
BiA HERALD of his fishing party at Har-
| dlsOn's Mill? He said he had not: told
him l had the HERALD in my pocket
and would read it to him. After | read
the item, asked him what he thought
OF it; he said it was very prettily writ
| zen, but there was more of the ideal
than fact in it. He then said, Next TO
Old Williamson, Maury county is the
land L love best. My father emigrated
| to that county in the year 1911; it is
there that my mothers dust mingles
/ with her parent earth; it was in that
| county that | learned to read my A b
| CPS, under the tuition of Reuben Smith
| and Duncan Brown, whose spirits live
to-day in the land of sunshine and flow-
ers. love her deep rolling Duck; |
love her babbling brooks; the first fish
ever caught was in Rutherford creek
with pin~hoOk and cotton line;-I
have been fisherman ever since" The
writer in the HERALD says the reason
we did not have better luck was that
we had neither Gault, Priest nor Mil
Ter along. Your correspondent deposes
from hearsay: therefore his testimony
is incompetent and void. The fact is
that Miller was with US two DAYS and
one night; he was there the evening the
old Colonel caught the pound red
horse. When the old man came to
the camp and saw a Water-dOg on the |
shore, he asked; "Boys, who captured
this amphibiOus animal? | see he has |
legs for travelling on land" Squash |
Nicely answered, "Jack Miller; that is all |
he has caught to-day" Now is it not !
strange? how the idea could enter any |
mans Uranium, that d man who tished |
two days and caught nothing but wa |
ter@dog could give an old fisherman |
luck or teach him how to catch game |
fish. The old Colonel said Dick GauJt |
was an energetic and industrious fisher
man; that he fished with Dick one day
at Hardison's mill at night; Dick out
numbered him, though he had the ad
vantage in weight in game fish. Dick
caught the night previous twenty five
pound cat on adead line. That he had
fished with Priest at more than one
point in Duck, and on one occasion they
and the cook constituted the party. The
old fellow said on every excursion he
bagged the largest trout. The old man
went to Buffalo; Miller and Priest made
two of the party-six in all. They went
to Skeggs' old mill, a taYorite place
with the lamented Parson Green, to
fish. They reached their destination
about o'clock in the evening. Priest
and the old man pitched the tent, the
boys went off and caught a fine lot OF
of minnows. In the morning early
they put out two together; Priest by se~
lection was the old mans companion,
They crossed the river, the old man &C.
ing about midway the dam halted, ia
king his position on a large rock lust
below the dam and fished in water
twelve feet deep. He had not been fish
ing more than ten minutes before he
hooked huge trout; he talked to his :
fish, sang "Telisha' so loud, that the
natives on the bank asked DIR. Lee Zone
Of the Colonels dearest triends) if that Z
Did man was not crazy. You could
have heard the doctor shout halt a
nile. After long struggla the Colonel
anded his fish. at night on summing ]
Up the days sport, the Colonel had more
n weight than any two of the party;
his gave Priest the blues: he said Buffa~ !
o was not as good a place to fish rs 4
1ardison's mill. The water down /
here, or something else, made Jack |
Miller sick; so he and Priest put out for I
home the next morning. Now is it net j
eally ridiculous to talk about such fisI,- +
= =
y, Doctor smith CT Uncle Mord. lnck9 I
The Colonel and three friends remained =
wo weeks, had fine sport, caught many =
rout and jack, taking home more than Il
ne hundred pounds which thew distrib- b
ted among their female friends The y
;olonel says he never takes his exhilaS =
atlng and life preserving beverage in a G
1g, he carries it i'll a willow covered in c
demiiohn, and drinks out of his extern Z
ion cup; he never fishes for suckers =
hat live in the water-hs angles only q
DR. game fish. In ante >beIlum times. G
1hen Little Whit would be running in @
match Or sweepstakes race over the q
laury and Williamson course, the -
riZe seat in the State Legislature, he q,
Iould sometimes go out in the cedars G.
t Maury county and fish for land suck q
rs, but he never carried his bait in a ~
lg-he always had it in a Mexican | a.
oUrd, and he thinks had your cores O.
ondent been of age to take bis bait he ID
Tould have captured him sure. AS to D
i'm buying fish from little Jake Shires ~
Who is as clever fellow as livesl or any ID
Their person, TO eat ON the river bank, D.
r take home, is mistake, for he ID
-ould not give two bits tor every fish -
lat swims between Hardison's mill ID
nd Columbia, as he never eats fresh ID
sh, May each one of that party's davs ID
9 many and full of pleasure. ID
JAMES JENKINS ~