Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-08-02
ALLIGATOR SKINS.
How They Are Procured and Pre-
pared for the Market.

pared for the Market.
From the Cincinnati Sun.
1--WE got fifty men dom nothin' but
KILN gators" said a tall, long-hsir-
ed, dark-complexioned brigadier gen.
eral from the cotton belt of Louisiana,
who sported huge black SLOUGH hat
and suit of clothes that looked rs
though they had been family property
! for the past ten generations. The gen
eral had come North to see about the
sale of his goods, and had just dropped
off an Ohio and Mississippi train when
nailed by the reporter. "Pay? Why,
doggorn it, the hull kintry's gone mad
on them var gators. | thought I'd
take run up and see whsr they was
goin'-makin' bags and boots and
kyard boxes. I've been squattin' on a
durn swamp down thar at the mouth
o. the Missippy for about ten years. /
have stuck to it like mud to ground
hog and raised cotton and children,
just enough of the first to Keep the lat.
ter agoin'. have had pretty close
call between the two, ledge, I'll be
logged if havn't. AS / was sayin', |
stuck II out fort ten years; had the chills
so bad 1t shook all my teeth out, and
when / got false set / he'd to have
them spliced in. Talkin' about chills,
why erasmus me! Injianny is nuthin'
to our kintry. Why, I've seen the
bark git "A trenholm on damp nights
and just shake right off. A friend of
mine he'd a hull oringe grove nigh
busted that way In 10. The chills
KEN on and the bark began ter split,
and the old man, getting skeered, went
for doctor.
"'Colonel,' said the doctor, II kin
save them var trees, but it'll cost a
heap
allow much? said the colonel
Fifteen hundred dollars, said the
doctor, kind o. chokin'.
"'Go ahead said the colonel. sthe
fruit is worth 100000
And so the doctor sot to, and reck-
on they didn't lose more'n a dozen or
so trees.
How did he treat them ~
"Oh, he gev 'em the regular thing.
GeV 'em hyperdemics of quinine. It's
a good thing. Try it-as l was sayin',
l stuck to 1t, and was havin' some
doubts two years ago as ter which was
goin' to come out ahead-me. the cot
ton, or the children-when along KEN
a chap and says: 'Alligators plenty
here"
" SO, so,' says 1; we uses them as
shingles yarabouts.'
"'How much air they wuth?' SAYS
he.
~ see then he'd been krinkin', 90 7
humored him, and said: Around
about two bits skim
"'I'll take all yer ken get at that. )
says he.
"By hevings! a~d the fellow was
real sober. He paid me in advance for
iorty or nifty gators, and whistled up
the BANK, while he stood there. | made
enough ter hire coons ter do the shoot
In and l moved up on ter dry land.
and now Pve got, as l said, fifty chaps
at work.
"les, j had some lively times.r he
continued, retlectively. "Thick, WHY
there was kind Of stream between
my house and the main land, and we
never spent cent on bridges walked
right over the floating alligators.
Tame Well, familiar's the name gen.
tlemen. On Friday we ALWAYS had
hog and fish. Yes. II was kind of a
curious compound, but we see nv wife
was Jew and I'm Catholic, and we
he'd sort OF wrastle tryin' to convert
each other, but ii ended up In her
sayin' that she'd eat meat on Friday ter
spite me; so just slowed in pork to
cheer her up, and made the Young
ones cieave to 1t, too. AS / was sayinp
on meat days these alligators KEN
from all sides, just filed up the place
some OF 'em leanin' on their elbows
and lookin' through the window
watchin' us at dinner. Tame was
nothin'. But when got this yer hid
there was a time on that var Hill. now
ye kin bet. We shot 'em nv the INN.
dreds, right round the place. and he'd
gang shootin, aud another gang SKIN
MN, and as fast as the skin was on we
packed 'em In brine and shipped ,em
the tanner. s'' W
we he'd some lively times. but
most OF my boys were dead shots
could take the cusses ia the eve every
line. Spite the skin ter hit 'sm any.
where else. so mans got ter hsv
some Qualifications even ter be a gator
'potter. he'd one coon that never
.uck rifle in his hand and III ha
logged II he couldn't git away with
more gators n any man in the gang
The weapon that he used was az IRON
wood club about four feet long, with a
'ig spike like turtle peg In It. and
led jam that yer spike inter gators
rain every time. l only see him miss
ne. We was out in the swamp. Iyin'
n the grass takin' a rest, when pete
90 u big feller ab.,nt about sixtaar
90. long a-iy,a' In the mud about a