West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1891-07-09
A WOMAN TRAPPER.
Sno Supports Her Family by tho
Sale of Her Captures.
During tho Trapping season sho Secures
Hundreds of Skunls. Niiak aud Musk
rat skins with Her own
Hands.

Mrs. Charity Hathaway IN tho ONLY
woman trappcr aud raw fur dealer In
Sullivan county. Pm she Il the widow
OF the late Charles j Hathaway, and
she lives on Bccmcr him. I'm Forks
township, whcro she was born In the
woods forty odd years ago. Her only
son, lliraa, is fifteen ycars old. md sho
has two daughters younger than he.
Each fall and winter, saws G,e New
York sun, the Widow Hathaway Is the
busiest woman I'm the township Last
season she cleared nearly fourl,undred
and nity dollars from the sale OF furs
and ginseng root. The animals from
which the creator portion OF tho furs
was obtained were trapped and sliinncd
by Mrs. Hathaway The rest wore
bought and shipped Co market with
those that she had gathered. and the
ginscng root was dug 10y tho children.
As soon os the trapping season cpcns
In tie fall MRS Hathaway begins to
set trars for skunlss, nlinks and muslS-
rats Ii costs her nothing for skunlS
traps, because she uses liat stoncs for
that lSlul OF FUR she lifts one end Of
the utcnc upright where sho finds IL,
props IL ap with some Slcndcr sticks
that look Ike Il igurc 4. places Il biz OF
any kind OF meat on tho triggcr, and the
trap Is all ready for the stupid sl,unlx TO
walk under and Set the life crushed out
of him. IL stranger asks native OF
Eeemer I'M, OF Elk Creek. OF Wildcat
Hill or Of Sparrowhnwk Brook why SO
many lint stones arc tippod up here ard
there, the native will look surprised for
n 81 4 4 81
stones arc tlio Widow Ilathaway's
slxunls traps.
t.rs. Hathaway says that nowadays
she makes moro money out Of skunk
| glSins than from all the other kinds of
FER put together. For catching minlSs
md muslsrats che has 20 have steel
traps, and the trcps cost money I'm tho
lrat place, require oiling and care later
on, and arc heavy TO lug around. BE
sidcs, slsunlS skin Is now worth moro
in tho market than mink or mussrnt
hide. And She would scoucr skin n
skunk, she says, than muslSrat or a
mink, because she can do Il n good deal
: quicker and the odor Is not at all often
siyc uAen You know how TO handle tho
animal aud .11Sset used to the smell
AfhSr-AiEs- Ifak6axyny has set all her
traps the starts ont the next morning
10 sec IL anything has been caught dur
ing the night. She goes over the route
la the naIpe manner that She did when
Gho not TIC traps, and she talScs bait
along and two sharp lmivcs If sho
finds skunk under one OF the fat
stones, Hhc pulls IL out, resets the trap,
tieD the skunk Go a pole, throws the pole
over her shoulder and goes 10 the next
trap. Whenever she has unusual luck
tho burden OF slSunks soon becomes
hcavy and ia that case she stops at
some brook, skins the animals and has
nothing but the hides TO carry over tho
rest of her route. To mako a complete
circuit Of her traps sometimes takes the
best part OF day. she says. Up 10 tho
middle of December Mrs. Hathaway had
last season trapped two hundred and
ninety four slSunks. twcnty seven
minlSs, forty-thrse muslSrats and one
mnrtcn.
When the first sleighing comes the in
dustrious widow lets Hiram look after
the traps, because he can wade through
the snow better than she can Twice
each week she drives all around tho
countryside and buys up fox skins aud
other furs that the woodsmen have
gathered, paying fair cash price for
them. She IL mn excellent Judge of
fur5, aud no one can fool her on the
quality II skins that She examines.
HRS. Halfway is governed i'm the prices
she pays for furs by printed list Of
quotations which Philadelphia dealer
sends her oocc month. All the furs
Gle traps herself or buys ~ other trap
pcIs she ships TO the Philadelphia dcnler
every three or four weeks. The skins
arc stretched. tackled up against The
barn, and dried thoroughly, and that is
oil she does % thcm.
Gingscng root Is also quoted IN the fur
dealers list. During tic foil, before
the ground became frozen Mrs. Ilath-
away'B children dug several baslSctfuls
Of ginseng root IN the woods on Wild
cat bin. The roots were dried In tho
oven and around tie stove putil they
wcro as dry as they could DO,
end then ilrs. IIathawpy found that
she bad thirty-two pounds. few days
ago size sent thc root to tie city
with batch OF furs and rot ono dollar
and eighty cents pound FOR IT, Last
year, Miro Hathaway said, shc cleared
two hundred and twenty Gollars over
and above on expenses Of keeping her
self and litllc family aud chat sho cx-
peciod g. DO f.ill better ucEt winter.