The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1892-10-07
A WILD HOG TRAP.
How Two Boys Made Money to
See tho Centennial

Yesterday | heard one farm boy say
10 another: Come and see my tive
calves. I'm going to keep them til
they're two-year-o.d steers. and theT
sell them and 20 u the COluIn bian expo
sition on the money. They'll bring fifty
dollars 10y that time
But I've got a colt that'll bring scv
enty-ive by that time" rcioincd his
companion. triumpaantly.
Maybe replied the first lad. com
po,edly. But tell You. Frank. there's
Il good deal more risk on colt, than GA
steers"
Their carncstncsS wildly recalled -
me IA time, fifteen years ago. when /
was a boy Of sixteen. and lived in thc
Arkansas back y GODS" ! was making
similar plans Ia visit the centennial cN-
hibition of 1876 at Philadelphia.
\ young neighbor Benton Arhuckle
by name. was equally DESTROYS OF at
tending the exhibition; hat, like my
self, he was in painful doubt where the
dollars were To come from for railway
fares for "a new suit of clothes and for
other necessary matters.
often we raised Il little money 10y
gathering pecan nuts in the woods and
>rliing them at the store two niles
away; but the pecan crop was light
that year. and our hopes suffered
blight with il. We knew that seventy
dollars apiece was the least possible
sum that would suffice 10 transport as
To Philadelphia and return ns 10 our
native country. The case looked hope
less.
We studied hard To- think Of some
other means. Wild turkeys were get
ting scarce in the woods. Formerly a
good many had been shot and market
ed every fall. Deer, too, were far from
plenty.
After a careful canvass Of the situa-
tion. Benton and | decided that our
only chance to raise money lay in the
wild hog. which were still To he found
Ia considerable numbers ia the river
bottoms in our part Of the state.
These Wild hogs are descended from
ordinary sw inc brought into the conn
try hv the earlier settlers. ln several
generations of wildncss they have de-
Veioped the haractcristic- pf the Wild
hogs Of the Old world. They run swift
~ through the brush upon the slight
est alarm. and are always difficult 10
approach.
shooting iS not the best method Of
hunting wild hogs. for unless shot
through u vital part they squeal
frIghtfully, and often ran long dis
tance. The squealing NAV frightrn the
drove away. and cause them Ia desert
the locality for another tract II forest.
My companion and proposed To trap
them, and 50 far a. possible to conduct
a stilI hunt We intended 10 make
bacon for which we were reasonably
surc of obtaining eight cents pound.
We fitted mp dIsusrd log->haTty as
smoke-houSc, and arranged t. bring
home the carcasseS on mules from our
traps.
Benton. who had more time than !.
spent several days in looking about for
Il good place in which TO set trap. and
chose one upon Sugar creek. At a
point where a high bank had been
washed ont we set stakes and built Il
strong corral eight feet high. in such "A
WAY that the bank formed one side of
the inciosure, and the fence sllirting
the margin of the stream formed the
other sides.
The yard thus formed included
space fifty or sixty feet across, which
on one side was ovcrhung hv bank
from twelve To fifteen feet in height.
cts, so that the roots of the brushw ood
above hung down in Struggling
fringe.
trap gate was constructed to rise
and fall between posts on each side Of
AN opening 1--WE feet wide. To spring
the gate a Ene was attached 10 il. wi hich
ran across Ia oar hiding place on the
otner side of the stream.
We did the work very quietly. for we
heard hogs moving about in the swamp.
Carefully removing all the chips, we
masked the corral and the gate with
brush. causing il to look like Il thiciIet.
For bait we had bought fOur bushels
of corn on the cob. This We bro Ie into
short pieces, which we strewed on trails
leading To the trap. We also gathered
several bushels of acorns, and these
and the corn trails were sown to
"A distance Of half mile in three direc-
tions-all leading to a generous heap of
the provender inside.
We laid these trails very early the
morning after the trap was completed.
We were to take turns watching, day
by day. Benton undertook To watch
the trap the first day. and went home
We hoped to capture At least one hog
every lay.
Before eleven o'clock that forenoon