Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1890-08-30

An Important Industry OF tine Fishing
hay (Md.) District.

An Important Industry Of the ElsIAlnl
hay (Md.) District.
: A visit to q Illustrating village. q
!. the scattering cabins OF the trapperi
along tho border of Fishing bay, Mary
!, land, are called, will be 0 revelation d
!. the stranger. The cabins are rude, and
|, have barely habitable appearance.
The occupants are squatters, and the
materials OF which their cabins are
/ built have been appropriated from the
nearest tract Of timber land The trap
pers and their families are q wild and
tattered race Of beings, but hardy and
God natured. One popularity Of q
m, 'skratting village is the large mum.
Der OF children that belong to each
cabin Another feature OF the com.
munih is species Of razor-back hog
that sw, Ills the population with its pres
ence. IT, us nondescript member of the
porcine IA, uily has an important mis-
sion TO per. 'orm in these settlements,
and he perfo rms 1t with q will. 1t is
the making aw. " with the hundreds Of
surplus muskrat carcasses that accumu-
late, although the mesh. OF the muskrat
forms an important article of food with
the trapper and his fl mily. AS forthat,
however, eaters Of nusA rat meat are not
confined to the trapping villages Of
Fishing bay, for 1t Is considered .
great delicacy by many an epicuTe in
that land Of terrapin and canvas backs
A remarkable thing about the razor !
back hogs Of the muskrat region is that, I
although they devour untold pounds Of
muskrat meat every day, they never
show the richness Of their keeping by
adding single pound Of flesh to their
cadaverous bodies.
The muskrat builds its house 80 that,
while it has couple of stories high and
dry on the ground, the entrance to it is
always under water. This entrance is
q long tunnel running from o point q
foot or more beneath the water at low
tide line to the ground floor OF the
house, which is always flooded. The
musk-rat's reason for having this sub
terranean entrance. to his dwelling
place Is that thereby he has an exit or
An entrance in time OF danger that will
not betray him to his enemies, either
in his flight from home, or in seeking
refuge within its walls. But his in
,tinct does not warn him against the
trap his most cunning and persistent /,
enemy places at this hidden entrance
10 his home, changing it from way to
safety into an avenue to certain death.
This trap Is woAlen box, three feet
ong and six inches in width and !
lepth. In each end is wire-door, hung
On hinges at the top. These doors :
Use at the slightest push ON the out
tide, but will not open from the inside. I
The trap is sunk in the water to the I
mouth Of the muskrat's tunnel and c
anchored there, and whether the musk !
'ate is going out Of his house or return I
ng to it, he is sure to walk into the I
rap If he had time, the captive rodent
Gould gnaw his way out Of the box, but .
,efore he can free himself he will v
Irown. A whole family of muskrats i
nay be taken in single night in one @
f these traps, and every trapper has t
tut as many traps as he can attend t..
There are other ways by which the o
nuskrat is pursued. In the daytime the t
Iunters steal over the marshes and jab n
spears with sharp barbed
ines down through the roofs of the
luskrat houses. Sometimes q spear O.
ill impale half dozen rats as they
10 cuddled together in their. cosy nests.
hunters with guns skirt the marshes at d
light looking for muskrats with the aid q,
jack lamps, hut that method of hunt n,
lg is followed more to indulge the Al
porting inclination Of the hunter than a,
, reap profit Times Of extraordinary n,
des on the marshes are times always al
elcomed by the muskrattor, for the IN
It's are then forced from their houses, OF
l spite of the iniallible instinct they hi
70 alleged to possess in foreseeing such 81
Ilamitous happenings and guarding si
yainst them by building their houses m
gher. They are compelled to fee to tv
10 open country and seek places Of wi
Ifety, which they rarely find, for the wi
appers and hunters have no difficulty
locating them, and so they are given dr.
'er to wholesale slaughter. -ClOthier de
ID Furnisher. Tn