Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-03-12
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EFsorsaa CIR s. s4a
Tae uasa 80 hsat alGss s.gss fcr rhsir
aids aad teesh ars no~ re4pfnz tesT
harvest. The warm ss@E hef ~ 1sess great
suInbsrs - slhgaters q fFeQasni to
Enarshv baaks Il tne rivers, and ths al
sencs n sgortsmsh dsrihz ttts season
mikes t6saa comparatively fearless The
most success VI uQnters huut ohiy IA darN
nixbts fe~ nights ago / lad nay
un1Befs broken several times - TIE ais-
charge II guns Ga repairing - Tue
tanks Of the river tie us * morning 70 -
csrt4sn he causes u t-s noises l found
t~o yoanz men occupying hastily ooa-
structed palElett9 fan camp slA dead Al
hgztors we're lying around tie camp.
yaryinz Ia length from four e. eight feet
The hunters had killed them ths previous
night. Ons of the young men Was busy
skinning the alligatOrs, while TIE etnef'
~ith the aid of a single cooAlng utsnsh.
which answered the purpose Of baking
oven ami coffee pot, was preparing
frugal morning neal The skin h removed
from the belly. the under part OF the jaws
and the inside Of the legs. Tue skin On the
back is worthless. As soon as the skins
are removed they are salted and packed
in barrels, which are shipped 10 New
York frm. The hAuters receive one dol
lar apiecs Tor all hides four feet long and
upward
After the skins are removed the hunters
cut on the heads. and place them on the
edge Of the river, where they remain Tor
about 4 wee-.. AT the end OF that tim, the
teeth become so loose that they can DO
readily pulled out with the fingers The
teeth from half a dozen large slligators
weigh about pound and are worth four
dollars.
The two Young men killed fifty alli-
gators in the week that they hunted IN
this neighborhood. They begin hunting
a. soon as it becomes thoroughly lark.
Their hunting outfit consists OF bulls
eye lantern, in camp language called
.look,em-up," double-barreled shot
gun, or .'kill-'em-sure." and hatchet
+ with which they split tue alIigator's skull
and 10 whicss they have given tho very ex'
pressive name OF dynamite" The man
who is 20 do the shooting for Il g nigh
fastens the lantern 10 his forehead, and
take, his place in the bow OF a small boat
His partner paddles the boat cautiously
along the stream, wnlle the man In ths
bow keeps sharp lookout f)r ailigator's
eyes, which under favorable circumstances
ne can "shine" with his lantern at dis
tance OF two hundred yards. AS soon AS
they discover pair of eyes they paddle
cautiously up 10 within couple of feet oi
the alligator's head and discharge a load
of buckshOt into il. As soon as the shot Is
fired the paddler catches the alligator by
the jaws, which he holds together with
one hand, while he cleaves the skull open
with his hatchet
Sometimes the alligators retain consid
ersbe power of action. When such is the
case, IL is rather exciting work getting
them into the boat. Sometimes very large
alli.ators turn the boat over. Ii an ALI
gator is not handled at once after beinl
wounded hs sinks to the bottom and il
lost.
asked one Of the hunters. who has kill
ed mOre than a thousand alligators, VIVA
was the szs of the largest one he eve
killed, and he told me l3is feet long. II
said that his father killed one on the 81
Johns River IL. feet long, the head o
which when placed in -four barrel pro
jected two inches over the top. He sold
to a museum for six y-fve dollars.