The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1879-10-01
SKUNK SKIN HARVEST IN 1xDrANA.

When strolling along Pearl street ycs-
.er,iay afternoon, between Meritlian and
illinois streets. Ncars reporter, in a
dusty, cohweb window, saw a piece Of
card-l,oard, four or five inches sauare.
gu which was written, "Pure skunk -oil
aud 'coon-oil.' A moth-eaten, weather.
ieaten coon skin hung above the daor.
which the reporter eitered, follow ing
his nose, which Immediately put ITSELF on
the defensive. "What do Won people
buy skunk-oil for ?" s,ii the prophet ,r.
in his answer repeating the question.
Why, they buy it for rheumatism. and.
sny, it never fails to cure"
The reporter desired {, see some pure
skunk-oil. having heard there were many
worthless limitations abroad. and was
shown pint flask OF an oily liunil Of
the color of liaseed-oil. He applied his
fingers to the cork, and his noss rose i,
apprehension. The finid hal no m re
and no worse odor than hri-oil, and the
alarmed organ came down again. g We
sell it to all sorts If p.s,ple white
black and yellow, the richest and the
poorest" the proprietor continued
The oil we get from the skins th t's
as much OF the skunk as I get-and ths.
y Ji@Ass 20 A'h ht'otiU lottI oiiH. tS v . EIf
skin. > ,mctimes we g.t half pint
and sometimes, though s5l tom, as much
as pint t, tie p.lt Tll,.re ia not more
than one skin to the tn usani that viii
yield a pint 4 skuuk-oil. The animal is
thin in flesh in summer. ut very fat ir
vi ter. Sunk hi,'os Iost year, the hes,
quality, were worth from Sl.T5 to s2 .0C
each. They will not be wo til much
fl,o,, ho1f Il,
handled 10000 skunk ski $ last year.
nearly all OF which were caught in Indi-
ana. The nniinal abou tis ia southern
and central Indiana. There are n few in
this county, not many. The slins have
lever See that price a4uin-not very soon
at least
How are the Sims classei ?'' "Wel.
first comes the A No. star skunk, sell
ing at Sl.75 last wint-.r. This skunk
Las a star shaped white spot on the top
of the head, and no more white about
him. The next quality, at 81 .25, we call
the short stripe This iias q long, mar
row white streak that rms ing eacl
si,le OF the backbone (Which has a black
stripe) B., the root of the tnil. This sort
of skin brought forty ce.t,. The fourth
side, the entire len,th f the body, three
inches or more in with, anl is worth
only Twenty cents.
= l. there any dan er If the sku k
erap Of this st to bee ming extinct 2"
. Not at all. A skunk will have from
three to seven yenag i'll n l,tter-u >nally.
about five. I've been fGr-buyer for
forty-two years. ana there are more
skEnKs in this State NV than ever there
was. T ere is II prejudice against the
animal which makes it necessary t, sail
the fu. to the la,ii who wear 1t, un Ter
several pretty aliases. among which are
fifth AMI 'Ain rican sable Besides
eiu made Ito uluifs af,d trimniu gs,
skuuk-skins are exte sivoly used iii maxi
ing tinH carriage robes.
Mr.. Lewark snid there hasln't l'een a
skunk iii tie house for mouths, the trade
only eolttiulIin duri..4s the winter lint
the nnfpnitlc o tsfr. like the scout of r,st's
round the shattered vase. chung lovingly
a ont the place during the entire year.
Indianapolis Ne,Os.