Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-11-19
ALLEGATIONS.
Some Stories About the Reptile.

ALLIGATORS.
Some Stories About the Reptiles.
from the st. Louis Glcbe-Democratl
Mr.. Will Smith, who was for long
period keeper at the jetties when they
were in course of construction, tells
some curious stories about alligators,
which were very numerous there and
through the marshes The men be-
came SO accustomed to them that they
would hardly turn aside to avoid the
largest, and on Sunday it was quite q
common amusement to shoot them,
sometimes half dozen or a dozen be-
ing secured in an afternoon. It is -
mistake to suppose that rifle ball will
not penetrate an alligator's hide, as one
from Winchester striking it in the
head, the toughest part, will generally
take the whole top Of the skull Off.
Northern people visiting the jctties
were anxious to see alligators, and one
immense fellow, apparently seventeen
feet in length, was encouraged to stay in
the river in the vicinity, and was known
as Col. Andrews pet. The Colonel
was quite incensed at one time by tho
fact that one of the men fired ut his IA
voritc with revolver, aud by discover
ing on another occasion that Walker.
who is said to have hooked whale, had
made preparations to capture the a!li-
gator by means of a rope, q huge shark
hook and twelve pounds of beef Al
though the bait was showed invitingly
under the reptiles nose as he lay on the
bank in the sun, he was too shrewd or
not hungry enough to be tempted.
"The pet" remained about year or
two, and may still be there. One. even
ing as some men were unloading barge
of rock huge alligator arose out OF
the water alongside, and one Of the men
pitched a fifteen-pound stone ut it,
which, from height of twelve OF four
teen feet, landed directly on its head.
The head must have been smashed,
hard as it was, for the sa,lrian, after
turning half dozen somerseti
and going through number of
antics, sunk slowly, and seemed dead.
Mr.. Smith was coming down the river
one Sunday in perogue with another
man, late arrival, when they saw an
enormous alligator asleep on the bank
Smith proposed having some fun with
him, and, without disturbing his slunl-
bers, pulled up alongside, and. crowding
the boat ashore, stood up in it and be-
gan vigorous attack on the sleeper
with paddles. Contrary to their expect
ations, the sluggard started toward
them in his hurry to reach the water,
and, crawling over the boat, upset them
in the mud knee deep and filled the
boat with filth and water. Their
clothes were ruined, and they were
pretty thoroughly Disguised on ascer-
tanning that the alligator had lost an
eye. They had attacked him from the
blind side, and he had rolled over them
before he found where the trouble
started.
There are numerous individuals in
the South who make living by killing
and catching alligators: The hide of Il
large one is worth from 81 to So; Int it
is very hard work to take it off. and is
almost days task. From the flesh a
very strong and quite valuable oil is
made, which is used for many purposes,
but principally as remedy for rhcu-
matism. Ut has, however, most I'M
pleasant smell unless properly treated
Many fishermen have been known to eat
portions of the meat, that of the tail
being said, when cooked, to have much
the appearance of veal and taste some
thing like pork. Quite Il lucrative bust
ness is that of capturing alligators
alive to send away for exhibition Col
Williams, when Spanish Fort was made
a summer resort, made contract with a
fisherman to fill the hole known as the
alligator pond for him, and in the course
of n couple of weeks he had it stocked
with thirty or forty, ranging in length
from six inches to seven Or eight feet The
man who caught them showed no fear
in handling the huge reptiles, and for
So offered to get into the hole and throw
the largest one out over the paling by
which it was surrounded They are
said to exhibit wonderful alacrity in
"going for" colored person, and dogs
are their favorite diet, while they Will,
as a general thing, endeavor to avoid a
white man. The man who supplied the
pond and his companion have been
known to bring into camp in small
skiff all alligator sixteen feet long and
furious with rage.
The manner of accomplishing this feat
was, as he explained, quite simple. The
old are savage and will fight for their
young, and this fact is taken advantage
OF. Some of the young are caught out
Of the spot in which the old one is lying,
and stout-noosed rope is then placed
where to emerge she must thrust her
head through it. When all is ready the
young are allowed to cry out, and the
old lady thrusts out her head to have
her neck caught in the moose. She is
dragged around in the water until pref
ty well choked, when another moose is
secured on her tail, and she is firmly
strapped, stomach downward on wide
board, which she cannot break, Us her
powerful muscles in the tail act only in
a lateral direction. Her head is then
fastened to the boat, the moose about
her neck is removed, and she is towed
away after her young have been placed
in the skiff. Young ones are bought
by dealers for from s. to 81 dozen,
u not over a foot in length. When
they sell them they get much higher