The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-06-15
GLn GttsQiaslGer.
once, Nos. IS and ~ Eourtoonth street.
YRNrUoKY MoUNrAINFARs.
Some Of their Ideas UonOsrniDE CO0nS, Dogs
aud wild TuTkSyS.

Some Of their Ideas UonSsEniDE OOOns, Dogs
aud Wild Turkeys.
HGEpsrI Aa0asiRr for june
When the railway was first opened
through this region, young man estab-
lishsd iiuit store at one Of the stations,
and as part Of his stock laid in a bunch
Of bananas. One day native mountaiuesr
entered. Arrangements generally struck
him with surprise, but everything else
was soon forgotten in an adhesive con-
temptation Of the mighty aggregation OF
fruit, Finally he turned away with this
note; "Blsme me II them amt the darn
eldest beans ever seenW
While here we had occasion to extend
our acquaintance with native types, Two
young men came to the hotel, bringing a
bag OF small hard peaches TO sell. Slim,
slab sided, stomRchless, and serene, mild
and melancholy, they might have been
lotus-eaters, only the suggestion Of poetry
was wanting, and they had probably never
tasted Sny satisfying plant whatsoever.
Their unutterable content came not from
opiates, but from their souls. II they
could sell their peaches, they would be
happy; ii not, they would be happy.
What they could not sell, they could as
well eat; and since no bargain was made
on this occasion, they took chairs on the
hotel yeranda, opened the bag, and fell to.
One Of us tried to catch the mental atti-
tude Of the Benjamin OF his tribe, while
the other studied his bodily pose.
"Is that a good coon dogP"
"a mighty good coon dog. hain't
never seen him whipped by a varmint
Are there many coOns in this cOun,
tFy.SS w., ...,,. y
us this good year for CoonsP"
"a mighty good year for coons. The
woods Is full o. Yarmlnts."
"Do Coons eat corn?"
"Coons Is bad as hogs on corn, when
they git TUX to It,"
care there many wild turkeys in this
countryW
Several wild turkeys."
"Have you ever caught many coons2'
"l'ye CotChed high as five coon out O.
one tree"
"Are theremany foxes in this country"
"Several foxes"
"What is the best way to cook coon2"
"Ketch him and parbile him, and then
put him In cold water and soak him, and
then put him in and bake him."
"Are there many hounds in the Coun-
typ
'several hounds"
Here, among other discoveries, was
linguistic one-the use OF Several Ia
the sense Of great many, probably an
innumerable multitude, as in the case Of
the Coons.
1t appears that in part they are sprung
from the early hunters who came into the
mountains when game was abundant,
sport unfailing, and living cheap. Among
them now are still hunters, who know the
hsunts OF bear and deer, needing no dogs.
They even now prefer wild meat-even
"possum" and "Coon" and ground hog
to any other. In Bell county spent tho
day in the house OF an aged woman-S0
years old, In iact-who was q lingering
representative Of a nearly extinct type.
She had never been out Of the neighbor-
hood Of her birth, knew the mountains
like garden, had whipped men in single |
handed encounter, brought down many
deer and wild turkey with her own rifle,
and now, inarm, had but 10 cit In her
cabin door and send her trained dogs into
the depth Of the forest 10 discover the
wished.for game; ferCer woman l never
looked on.