Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-03-25
nun GID CRACKERS YARNS.
vorva,ous Stories About the Al
Some -H'' ii~0tOrS in Florida.

tIlI' W IN ,em. They ulster hiss, and
WIZ iY'1 boiler ontel you couldn't hear
ro'' II it.I,o or drink. I counted ninety
ytI'' ,om in that 'ar lake one AFTERNOON,
'. ID, s s;rb a cussin' an conusin' l never
al ''s ~, 7 don't b'leeve anybody else
seed an l,5 nuther. 1t seems that old
ever 'II;IIer's bob-tailed bull-whlch
DeekIi w. -l,' been chawed off by a bull
ms u" , .'''. he was alters a'swlmmln, IN
gator Nj 76adp't learned no sense by that
the ANY ;sban an he'd gone in agln. This
thar nlisli'!, tr,s WIS too many fur him
,T' kilt him right thar, ,.,,s n;no+,--si1 Of
ii" ~ said atore, thar WlS mn hlne t,, six Oh
.,o eaters. an only one . Oh Tue pum, ~
the F Tssn'r enough bull to so round,
thar W E| oach one OF them gators was toll
though orsayerin' likes in tryin' to GIT his
lady l lTaoro wus one trem ejus bull gator
shar' - M w WINS a sharp one fur keeps.
thar a l,I5 swim right smart faster nor thes
lie coulu .' -, an, ne .altueu lie deekln'
tut I,5., o tSo hjne quarters and swum to
bun D! wv, wv, inlet he knowed OF. When
little ie. ~ he backed in with hit, an
he Soy J,r' vinked as if ter say: This
then S - i've in. and thar's bitin' dogs
ar cle5A Tbe luther gators he'd tollered
a I.;n, inst ez as they could, an when they
I'M, ~ fer that pint they couldn't GIT no 1ur-
Y. tase ther wasn't room enuit ter pass.
T T.r.omeyer they all crowded Ground,
~, l~g ,,sr had ter help themselves ter the
l ~, 50. an neck. whilst the ole bull gator
n ~ his steak often the round. Don't tell
oa i'r,tors can't reason. tell you they're
bean sight porter than some men
81 WINS born an raised ermong the
,,,tors an many's the time when l wus
o7Gttla tov-heai cuss, only fit ter waste
sirup an help corn from keepin' too long,
has laid erlong the banks OF tibet lake
an, watched the funny doin's OF the ga
tors Gators is less like folkes, an the
ale NANNY 'gator'I take jess as much
loo of her children as folks will of thern.
Of coor,e. when | say folkes | mean mig
GER foikes. for they seem to sorter under
stand one another like, an you never
hear of no niger never bein' kilt by no
'yator. Eli YOU ever travelled much aroun'
here Sunday you'd see the Niger VIM
ming take Their children in ther arm airly
Snndv mornin' an comb Their har out ter
see eli any OF them onpolite animales has
been gittin' inter hit. Now Pm gwine
ter speak tair. | heven' saw the gators
do Exactly that. but I've seed 'em come
pretty clus ter hit, an I'll tell you how hit
wus
cone day my old pap was gwine tertek
bresh ter me, kaSe he said l war too
keerless in howing out taters, an l run
away from him, thinking I'd lay around
the lake until he sorter forgot all about
hit like. l lowed L wouldn't 90 back to
the house afOre night, so | tished awhile
then took a leetle nap an the balance
OF the time | jess looked around, an dog
NY skin eli l didn't see an ole NANNY
gator goin' through the dun funniest
proio'mance l ever seed. She were a
sittin' agin a tree on her hine quarters,
and ten leetle gators wus sittin' on their
hine quarters right in front OF whar she
wus sittin' on hern. Then she actily
beck0ned ter the first one in that Their
line, and when hit came up she Jess TUX
hit inter her arms and 'Zamined it all
over ter see ii Their war any insecks on
looked keerfully under hit TO see if any
OF them lake wums he'd got thar. She
Zamined every one on 'em. one arter the
utber. The last one of 'em in the perces-
sion appeared to be little bit sassy, like
I've seed some children in my time, and
didn't want ter come. She jess reached
out with her tail and fetched him wipe
that know helped him. | was SO full OF
laff that | haw-hawed right out, an then
Tor the fust time she seed me. | never
seed no gator so ashamed as she was
when she knowed l he'd been watching
Of her. I'll be logged eff she didn't fairly
blush, and she jess tux fur the water with
all them Young uns a bilin' arter her, an
Invent home and TUX my whippin'.
The biggest gator [ ever heard tell
On in all my horned days ulster live in
This here lake. The boys called him Ole
Nose, an he must of been over twenty
Tot long That was about thirty year
ago, or mebbe hit mout be fifty; anyhow,
hit was one or luther OF 'em. Hit don't
make sich a powerful sight of Difference
toer ole ';le me. Well, Ole Nose,
which 81. afore was the name OF
that 2 ~. hardly seldom KEN much in
sight, but seP hsself hid in the mud and
bushes ike A gret many of the felierS
tried to shoot him ut odd times, but Ole
Nose was too sharp or 'em. | low that
gator must heV zen oyer hundred
years ole, ier The IL MS ulster say their
gran'thers kuowed I'm long before we
Wus born. Iu ~ l.osr got laid out one
day an hit WIS . BOY as laid him out,
too. Ole Deekln MI .r ne sent his boy
Jake down ter the store JIG day after a
punt OF red liquor, fer the Gle man he'd
been out to class meetin' the night before
Ike; 'spect you've been along that
road sometime or other Yourself, colonel,
you know, when a felle1 wakes up in the
mornm' an reaches way out in the air
ai'er ms head. Wei, Jake got the pint
VI red hquor-hit vas only one bit in
ueil days-and started fer home. His
pam led right erlong whar Ole Nose, this
yer oIg gator, lister take a nap sometimes,
anu JAKE happening to see a russle IN
; ;n"I nidfSl grass, nuthin' would suit that
H Yll boy out ne must 20 thar an look fer
Mo W W illle ne was a-gapin' over the bank,
vida '' ', rlz right up, an with his mouth
wa 2iae open was starin' him in Their face.
ana % Gfh HS Jake SOS he lost his balance
tho 5 zen plum often the bank smack into
the "a, SS.or mouth. Jake had hilt onter
agip r t6o q Whisky, an hit happened to hit
is tbo "e critters teeth and bruk That
he woC OnIy thing that saved the boy, fer
The ,rI: way down in the gators innard's.
that il St| IDy was such powerful bad stuff
he ni, maze ~, the gator deathly sick, and
bow Jnsu IKE a buzzard. Out KEN the
Won 6ot I about ten foot up the bank, and
in oo ooS ne ~ Scooted fer home without say
with G,r 10y er howdy. Jake was all right
his eve ,e'e exception OF having mark over
agn = I winch was caused by his strikin'
the cro nsht nd chunk when he was in
seed ,,gg belly. asst Jake what he
he vo mIllie he was down thar, but he said