The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1889-09-19
BILL ARP.
a Match Between Bill Arp and a
Friend:

a Match Between Bill Arp and
Friend:
z1itdnta Consultation.
Captain Dick was traveller and had
seen hard service in his youth while
wandering in the far west among the
Indians. He was Our guest for awhile
before we moved to town, and knowing
how retieehths vas about his youthful
adventures, Nabor Freeman and I de.
termined to draw him out one night, and
as ne sat smoking on the great veranda I
told about killing the big crane with my
long English gun that / had had for forty
years, and how t measured the range and
it was exactly 15v yards. "Good shot,"
said Captain Dick. Then Nabor Free.
man told about 6oaehwhip that came
out Of a fockpile in his field and run him
and the negroes for half an hour, and they
finally killed him and stretched him out
By fence rail and he was three feet
longer than the rail. "Long SNAKE" said
Captein Dick. Then told about going
with Cicero Strong to rob bears den on
Sawnee mountain, and how ne got her
cubs while she was away fron home, and
| run with them four miles to town; how she
overlook US in the suburbs and killed two
| ofour dogs, and We had to drop one Of
the cubs to save the other and she came
back again that night and We killed her
in the back yard. and Cicero raised the
cub as a pet and sold him to show for
ten dollars. "Good tradei" said Captain
Dick. Then the nabor told about the big
rattler that was killed at Rowland Spring
that had 72 rattles and FIVE buttons and
skin held two bushels Of wheat bran and
his fangs we're three inches long "Long
fangs," said Captain Dick. Then I told
my famous wolf story about how Judge
Trippe was holding court at La Fayette
in 1850 and Joe Wardlaw and Newt Gar.
meny and lot of neighbors had run
| she wolf for two days and nights with
forty hounds and finally treed her under
| mill dam close to town and the judge
adjourned the court to take part in the
frolic, for the wolf was the terror of the
neighborhood and had lived on calves
and lambs and young niggers for several
years and as how the dogs couldn't be
persuaded TO go under the mill dam after
her, and finally Joe Wardlaw shucked his
clothes and took q hatchet in his hand
and butcher knife between his teeth;
and like old Isreal Putnam, went behind
the waterfall alone and killed her in a
hand to hand fight, and dragged her out,
and she measured six feet from the end
of her nose to the end of her hind legs
and tail.
"Smart wolf" said Captain Dick. We
stopped awhile to rest--the nabor and I.
Captain Dick looked round at the chill
dren with sympathetic glance, and
knocked the ashes out of his pipe.
"shooting that'crane," said he, reminds
me of some good sport I had on the South
Plate river before that country was ex-
plored. We were camped in a beautiful
valley on the border of lake that was
about FIVE miles long and half as vide.
When the wild geese began to come they
always came in V shaped columns With
big old gander in the lead. For awhile
they would circle around and round. to
reconnoitre, but soon would become sat-
isfed there was no danger, and then
the leader would dip his course, and
one by enc the rest would incline down
wards, but always keeping the lines per.
fectly straight. I had long bored rife
that was made to order in London, and
my sport was to get the old gander in line
With one or the other of the rows Of geese
behind him and put a ball through the
whole column and drop them all in the
water. When the other half of the flock
would reform and make second V, aud
sail round awhile aud seeing their com.
panions down on the lake would begin to
dip down again, and I would catch them
in line again and fire and drop another
half in the water. 7 would keep on that
way until I got the last goose of flock.
But we soon tired of that, for it was just
waste of powder and ball. There was
another lake about five miles away, and
it was kind of intermittent geyser.
About ten days in month there vas q
slight commotion in the water and soon
it began to warm up and in twenty. four
hours got hot, not boiling water, but
nearly SO, hot enough to scald goose
and loosen his feathers so that he could
not fly. fused to get awful sorry for the
poor things when / saw them by the
hundreds settle down in the deceitful
waters and givs wild scream and try to
rise and would get up little and drop
back and finally give up the ghost aud
float off with the current, down into the
Platte. One night it struck me that this
was an awful waste of goose lives, that I
knew vas worth two dollars a case in st.
Louis, and I conceived the idea of making
some money out of it. The liver of a
goose boiled alive would make just as
good "Pate de fol gras" as if roasted alive,
and so wrote to friend at St. Louis
about the chance Of speculation. l sent
the letter by Wells & Fargo overland
pony express and in due time got an an.
swer from my friend saying that he had
sent me train of ten wagons loaded with
tin plate aud solder and two timers with
all the necessary apparatus. The wagons
came along in the rear of an emigrant
wagon that protected it from the Indians,
and, after two months trip, reached us