The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1880-08-06

A CORRESPONDENCE q the New York
Sss writes from Florida:
once visited Lake JcsSup with
Judge Enmons. a Jacksonville The
judge vaS wonderful mArksman- -
1oll u ma ~ > maybe; bur Ne was
getting old and his eye-sight vas fall
ING. One dsy we killcda monster slliga-
tor on the edge % marshy cansbrake-
He had splendid teeth and the Jud e
wantet % secure t1em IS mementoes.
The painter o. the boat wss tied to the
reptiles ley. and We towcd him across
"A arm Of The lake % solid ground A
small Ak was borrowed from the house
of :. cracker " near o.. and We con
Guided % de,apitafe the rv.ze. boil the
head. and remove the teeth The body
was 50 large that We could not draw il
upon the shore A STAGE was cut and
pointed and driven through the Jaws
OF the reptile. pinning him into the
mud The water Was probably two
feet deep. The Judge drew out =
sheath knife. AMI was about TO make m
incision- when he Was cautioned By =
bare-footcd negro. who stood on the
bank watching the operation with curl
Gus eyes
!. Better cit shut o dat Al gatah.
shuah." said be, -twell he done gone
dead
sOh. good heavenr' exclaimed the
Judge. -he's been dead an hour IL
he was alive. do YOU reckon he'd allow
Us 20 drive . stake through him.
No gafah an dead tlll de sun am
gone down." the dzrkie observed.
The Judge laughed. and passed me
the knife I inseted the blade in =
bullet hoe near the shoulder. and cut =
cash in the desh. following the trend Of
the diamond shaped scales beneath the
skin Judge Emm,ns stood near the
monsters tail The knife penetrated
the qnivering flesh and was stained
with blood As quick IS > flash TIE
tail shot from she water and the Judge
was Knocked fully ten feet. The rep
tile raised its head. stake and all. AMI
sailed out into the lake like . submarine
battery. Judge Emmons lost his glasses.
but Was fortunately unhurt The Incl
dent. however. convinced him that il
was dangerous 10 fool with dead ALI
gator until after sundown-
In the winter Of 1875 Twas encamped
in the great Turnbul swamp. ninety
miles south Of St Augustine hunting
deer. bears wildcats. cougars and wild
turkeys- There was = great drought.
and the ssyznnss and swamps were
dry Scores Of aIligators psraded the
dry savannas in search Of water. One
day Captain Frlnk Sans and Tom MUIR
raw tao well-knoEn guides. rode past
the encampment- They were looking
for sour orange stamps. with the inien-
tion Of transplznting and grating them
A hundred yards from camp they
refined in their horses on . burnt 81
wanna and began 10 shout Scratching
. double-barreled gun ran out on The
savanna Their horses were prancing
around an enormous bull all;g Ifor. VINO
had cr2wied out Of the dry swamp.
and who Was headed for the HILLSIDE
rough River. He vas confused By the
shouts Of the guides and the prancing
Of their horses. and | approached him
unseen Stealing behini him. / ran
: long palmetto splinter into his eve
He turned sumberingly over the black
cned stubble. and the guides struck n
him with COW whips. Driven TO war;
ness. be crouched close to the
ground pulled out his throat opened
his czvernous mouth. and made
> noise like the rushing Of . wind A
afserward I discharged load
Of buckshot into each ere The mon
ster shuddered. and stretched himself
in the agonies q death Captain Sans
and buried his AZ in the
reptiles tail The yer-ebra was sew
cred. and he was no longer dsnyerous.
there Was still life in the tail
IL moved slowly and uueasily like the
tail Of > wounded snake. and the guides
declared that Il would not die until the
setting Of the sun Al intervals the
cayman r0ared like : Central PARK
lion Toward night 1 went to the
swamp 20 mark the roosts OF wild tur-
keys The day Vas progressively hot
/ Was returning toward camp long after
dark. when found myself On the burnt
savanna To M surprise. the whole
savanna seemed alive and moving
Nearly worn out with exhaustion.
fsncied that my head was reeling. =
sure sig1 Of malaria fever. The phe-
nomenon was quickly explained A
thousand buzxxrls were IN camp near
the great alligator. awaiting the light
Of day % secure their prey A year
afterwsrd ! found the skeleton Of this
s>urian- and Knocked out is teeth The
savanna vas then covered with water :
foot Deep