The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1892-04-14
every effort IS throw and ierouf i

every cHort 10 throw ana 1ey0nf ~.
jockey.
II Is possible to ride an alligator some
distance overlani by tying its muzzle.
as II does not attempt to do any injury
uiitil 1t can throw its open 10 ruth aud
long tail together by sudden sweep
to one side. Mr.. Stafford who Is,
believe, native Of Florida, veteran
hunter and an expert alligator jockey.
relates an ane ID ,te which shows th at
saurian riding is as dangerous as Irish
steeplechasing when the mount is
sulky or wounded He had ridden an
alligator ashore during one Of his hunt
ing trips, AMI as it, was rather large
and its skin, as n consequence uriusus
ally valuable, he decided to kill and
fay it near the pond
After emptying the contents Of his
rifle into its head and assuring himself
of its being dead, he drew his knife to
fay 1t; but he had hardly touched the
head ere the alligator returned to life
with vigor that La5artis never APP
preached, and, Selling him by the coat
sleeve, commenced rolling over and
over.
The second or third roll took the
sleeve off his coat and dislo~ ated his
arm, and on being set free in this un-
expected manner it did not take him
long to scramble out of reaf a of the
furious reptile. A physician who was
hunting with him set his arm 10 a few
moments, and when that was done the
jockey poured lead into his lase mount
until he was sure that his ierocious
spirit had fled to join its ancestors. A
man who has shot alligators Tor their
hides, told me Afattthey were harmless
in winter and inc ined to avoic q contest
with man at all times unless they were
wounded or defe nding their young.
They are worse in the pairing season
than at any other, the bulls being then
unusually petulant, more than ord-
narily stupid aud stubborn and inclined
to resent any intrusion en- their
grounds. Yet by boldly facing them
they can be forced to turn tail andrun
ashore, provided there are no females
in the vicinity
He once .tried@to ride an old bull
towards Landmark that doomed above
all other objects on &c fat shore OF a
lake on a dark night, and wondered
why his steed tried so hard t0 tirn
away from it whenever the thum bs
were lifted off the eyes, but be was
able to account for it readily fe " mo-
ments later when an enragei female
that was guarding the landmark. which
was her nest, rushed open-mouthed
and grunting like an insane grizzly at
them and sent her conqueror fleeing
precipitately to the rear and its jockey
deep into the mud.
Fortunately for him the assatiant
was more enraged at the bull than at
the jockey, and followed it several
hundred yards charging at intervals
and thrashing it vigorously with her
tail whenever she got an opportunity
The male was driven almost across the
lake before she decided to return and
attack the man, but he was running on
shore for dear life long before she had
given up the pursuit of the steed.
The rider said he had seen many
desperate charges during the civil war,
but that he never was in one that so
completely benumbed his faculties as
the charge of that "big~moathed sqpaw
gator" He thought he could ride a
a male saurian at anv time of the year,
but that no man living could retain his
Deat for any length of time on the back
of female that was defending her
nest or was accompanied by her young
He once succeede in keeping his seat
on the back of female while she was
hastening to her crying offspring, but
was thrown off the moment she reached
the mouth of the nest by sudden
sweep: of her tail and and downward
motion of her head.
Managing to fall on his legs on hard
sand, he attacked the reptile with his
hunting knife and killed her before she
could infiict any, injury upon him, by
avoiding her rushes and delivering his
blows in her eyes ere she could get out
of range, Having dispatched her he
called the young out of their deep hole
by initiating the grunting of tho
mother, and had sixty of them in sack
in about as many minutes. As he re-
ceived ten dollars for the mother and
twenty-five cents each for her proge ny
he concluded that his adventure had
paid him very well.-St. Louis Re-
public.