The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-06-30
A WOMAN TRAPPER
She Supports Her Family by the
Sale of Her Captures.
During tho Trapping Season Sho SccurcN
Hundreds OF Skunk, Mink and Musk
rat Skins with IIcr Own
Hands,

LANDS,
Mrs Charity Hathaway is the only
woman trappcr and raw fur dealer in
Sullivan county, Pa. She is the widow
OF the late Charles J. Hathaway. and
she lives on Beemer Hill, in Forks
township, whcrc she was born in tho
woods forty odd years ago. Her only
son, Hiram, is fifteen years old, and sho
has two daughters younger than he.
Each fall and winter, says the New
York Sun. the Widow Hathaway is tho
busiest woman in the township. Last
season She cleared nearly four hundred
and fifty dollars from the sale of furs
and ginseng root The animals from
which the greater portion of the furs
was obtained were trapped and skinned
by Mrs Hathaway. The rest were
bought and shipped to market with
those that she had gathered, and tho
ginseng root was dug by the children.
as soon as the trapping season opens
in the fall Mrs. hathaway begins to
set traps for sliunlls, minks and musk
rats. 1t costs her nothing for skunk
traps because she uses fiat stones for
that kind of fur. She lifts one end of
l,
props it up with some slender sticks
that look like u figure 4, places Il bit of
any kind Of meat on the trigger, and the
trap is all ready for the stupid skunk to
walk under and get the life crushed out
of hiIa. If n stranger asks native of
Beemcr Hill, of Elk Creek. of Wildcat
Hill, or of SparrowhawlS Brook why SO
many fiat stones are tipped up here and
there, the native will look surprised for
second and then tell him that the
stones are the Widow IIathaway's
skunk traps.
fIrs. hathaway says that nowadays
she makes more money out of skunk
skins than from all the other kinds of
fur put together. For catching minks
and rlusllrats she has to have steel
traps, and the traps cost money in the
first place, require oiling and care later
on, and are heavy to lug around. Be
sides. skunk skin is now worth moro
in the market than n mink or q muslirat
hide. And she would sooner skin q
skunk, she says, than Il musllrat or n
mink, because She can do it good deal
quicker and the odor is rot ut all often
sivc when you know how to handle the
animal and get used to the smell.
After Mrs. Hathaway has set all her
traps she starts out the next morning
to sec ii anything has been caught dur
ing the night. She goes over the route
il the same manner that she cid when
she set the traps, and she takes bait
along and two sharp knives. Ii she
finds skunk under one OF the fat
stones, she pulls it out, resets the trap,
tics the skunk to Il pole, throws the polo
over her shoulder and goes to the next
trap. Whenever she has unusual luck
the burden of skunks soon becomes
heavy, and in that case she stops at
some brook, skins the animals and he's
nothing bat the hides to carry over the
rest OF her route. To make complete
circuit OF her traps sometimes takes the
best part OF day, she says. Up to tho
middle of December Mrs. Hathaway he'd
last season trapped two hundred and
ninety four slsunlss, twenty seven
Einl.s, forty-threc musllrats and one
Elarten.
When the first slelghing comes the in
dustr!ous widow let's Hiram look after
the traps, because he can wade through
the SHOW better than she can. Twice
each week She drives all around the
countryside and buys up fox skins and
other furs that the woo6smen have
gathered, paying fair cash price for
them. She is an excellent judge of
furs, and no one can fool her on the
quality of skins that she examines.
Mrs halfway is governed in the prices
She pays for furs by printed list of
quotations which q Philadelphia dealer
sends her once 4 month. All the furs
she traps herself or buys of other trap
pcrs she ships to the Philadelphia dealer
every three or four weeks. The skins
arc stretched, tackled up against the
barn, and dried thoroughly, and that is
ell she docs to them.
Gingseng root is also quoted In the frr
dealers list During the fall, before
the ground became frozen Mrs. Hath
eway's children dug several basiSctfuls
of ginseng root in the woods on Wild
cat hill. The roots were dried in the
oven and around the stove until they
were as dry as they could be,
and then Mrs. Hathaway found that
she had thirty-two pounds. a few days
ago she sent the root to the city
with Il batch of furs and got one dollar
and eighty cents a pound for it. Last
year, Mrs hathaway said, she cleared
two hundred and twenty dollars over
and above all expenses of keeping her
self and little family and that she ex-
pectcd to do still better next winter.
Tho Ghost Train.
"Tlie ghost train" is the unique name
oil the latest railroad novelty. 1t is q
train, says the New York Sun, of snow