The Bossier banner., 1891-08-13
WHERE woLFsKlNs COME FROM.
Some People Would Not Buy Them II
They KnaHH How They Are Obtained.


They Knew How They Are Obtained
"Where do you suppose these wolf.
skins come from that make such pretty
gray rugs, which only cost about So
apiece, although the fur is so hand
some?" said Prof. Otis T. Mason the
other day. $50 many people would not
buy them if they knew, fancy. They
are obtained from the animals by the
northern Indians, particularly in the
Hudson Bay region, and by the Esqui7
maux. These savages possess a fiend-
ish ingenuity in their methods of cap
turing game, and their way of applying
| it for killing wolves is sufficiently hor-
| rible to discourage me with this partic-
ular sort of peltry.
"It is beautifully simple. They take
fiat piece of flint foot or so long and
chipped to extreme sharpness at the
edges. This they fasten to a wooden
stake, which they drive into the ground
firmly, so as to leave the blade of flint
projecting above the surface. Then
they cover the blade all over with
good sized hunk of fat from a seal or
other such animal, which quickly
freezes. Now the wolf-catching appara-
tus is complete, so that the person who
sets the trap has only to come back in
day or two and gather in his prey with
out trouble
''The wolf has a mastering appetite
for blood, and it is of this weakness
that the hunter takes advantage. A
little while after the trap described has
been set, along comes the wolf. He is
hungry and he licks the hunk of frozen
fat. All, it is good! So he licks it some
more, and as it is thawed by the warmth
of his tongue is tastes better and better.
Presently his tongue comes into con-
tact with the sharp edge of the flint and
is cut. He tastes the blood, not know.
ing that it is his own, and the flavor
sets him wild. Eagerly he licks it and
licl1s it. lacerating his mouth and be-
coming more frenzied in his desire fol-
! his own life fluid.
5 Meanwhile other wolves have come
: up and have begun to lick at the fat
! cutting their own tongues and becoming
: in their turn wild at the taste. So pres
S emily the bait is surrounded by pacl
of ravenous and crazy creatures, who
r soon turn upon one another and fall tC
2 devouring each other, until the merci
less flint is the center of a struggling
e mass of ferocious combatants. 1t il
E like the struggle that followed th'
D planting of the dragons teeth of old
only that none of those who participate
! lives long after the fight is over, tn,
e last survivor bleeding to death. At hi
: leisure the hunter appears upon tn,
4 scene and skins the dead beasts for mar
4 ket. The pelts cost him nothing, saw
:. the trouble of removing them and tn
S value of the hunk of fat; the stake wit
e the flint blade is ready to be set agail
# for victims. That is the reason VIII,
e gray wolf rugs only cost three dollar
: each, with three skins to rug
e ''But that is only one of the diabolica
# devices employed for such purposes b
e these natives The hunter takes lon
: strip of whalcbone from the head of
e whale he has killed, just such as is use
to stiffen corsets He doubles it up int
u the shape of the letter M, and fasten
ID it compactly in that form with binding
Il of fine sinew. This he encloses neatl
S, in a wad of fat, and leaves it on the ic
;" to freeze. Pretty soon along comes
S, great white bear, shifts at the delicat
S, morsel so happily thrown in his wa,
m and bolts it without further considers
lie ton. The atquiclxly melts in his war
er stomach, and the sinew bindings al
es consumed by the action of the digestiI
g, fluids, so that before long the strip
n whalebone is released from its bel
ht shape and springs out at full lengt
ne across Mr. Bears stomach, and he di
ne within few hours of lockjaw in frigh
ne full agonies. Next day the noble p
OF hunter comes along and possesses hir
re self of big white robe, large 'enoug
to cover a small rooh and worth sever
ne dollars at first hand, or two or thr
a gallons of bad whisky.
k Nothing better illustrates the S
en- periority of man as an animal over /
al competitors in the struggle for exi
be ence than the ease with which he.
ny able to destroy by device the bigge
he and the most formidable of the Gre
les lures he encounters. There are no So
ng ages so low in the human scale as I
I5 lUii to find ready means for capturing a
-N'' killing the largest and most dangero
beasts. The time is not recorded in
err annals of the world when the nativ
ow of the lands inhabited by the elepha
lty and the crocodile did not take the f
10Y mer with a loop set for him to put
sst- foot into and the latter with bait
ue. stick sharpened at both ends. Unhe
he tatingly does the Polynesian attack
ere man-eating shark in it's own eleme
to diving beneath it and stabbing it in
ds. belly with knife. There is nothi
zed which man is afraid of or will not
ur- to catch In the primitive traditions
e a most races you will find accounts
f the tricks employed by their aneest
tie, for snaring the sun, the moon, and
n stars. IN. Y. Sun.
- Mixed Packages.
I'M Mrs. Dash-The handkerchiefs 1,
en- sent home were not the ones / order
|