Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-03-16
Old Times.

V40 4xMCOs
Ed. Register-A few days ago, I was
down to see my old friend, Isaac Smith,
and of course we drifted on to the old
subject of our hunting days, when the
mountains, the hills and the valleys
were full of all kinds of wild animals
with each and all kinds of game; what
things we had seen in our hunt, and of
the habits of each as we happened to
think of them. I never met with an
old hunter but his thoughts were al
ways on the woods. Like sailors who
have spent their lives on the ocean,
they are never satisfied on land, they
always want to go back to the sea-.
just so with man who has followed
a life in the woods, he is always hungry
to get back in the solitudes of nature
where there is rest.
This morning feel restless; want
to go to some wild mountain country
where the footsteps of man have never
trod, and where the country is full of
game. Oh, feel as though / would
give all the worldly comforts for a few
more years of wild life, where I could
kill my game, and at night build me up
a fire and roast me meat. and lie down,
wrapt in my blanket, and sleep the
sleep that comes of a good days hunt.
Oh, give me back once more the scenes
1 have seen. and I I'would die contented.
One of the things spoken of, was ev-
cry hunter knows squirrel never
lays up food for future use, but goes
whenever he is hungry. That squirrel
comes out of his hole, and if in the
winter with the ground covered with
snow, he does not stop for that, but
with slow, easy jumps he hops along
on the snow, every now and then stops,
sits up and looks around After care
full survey he stops, and with his paws
digs hole down through the snow in
to the leaves, and here he brings a
nut or an acorn to light, and he never
makes a mistake. I have stood many
and many a time and watched them to
see if they would find nut or an acorn,
and I never saw squirrel make mis-
take. Now how did that squirrel know
just where to look for that nutP Did
he smell it through all that depth OF
snow? A great many people think a
squirrel lays up winters supply OF
nuts and other kinds of food. If they
do, never saw it, nor never heard of
any one that did see it. Sometimes
there comes a snow, then sleet, which
covers the ground with a covering so
thick and hard, no squirrel can dig
through the covering. / have seen at
such times, where they go to some
dead tree (and there are always plenty
of dead trees in the woods); under the
outside bark of such tree, a fungus
or mushroom grows that squirrels are
very fond of. / have seen the snow
covered with the dead bark where it
has been pulled off while in search of
that food. / have often tasted those
things and l found they were good.
Now chipmunk is different from a
squirrel; a chipmunk never comes out
of his burrow in the ground, during
the cold months of winter. But he is
not asleep all this while, for he has
been very diligent all the fall gather
ing nuts and acorns, and drying apples,
for he is fond of variety of food. /
have, in the dead of winter, seen the
stores laid up by those little fellows
torn open, and how carefully he had
laid them up.
I remember one winter when was
small, father had q piece of woods
chopped off, as he wanted to cultivate
the ground. In Telling q very large
tree, one of the limbs when the tree fell
broke and went in the ground and tore
up the ground for quite q large place.
Unfortunately, the limb happened to
hit the place where . chipmunk had
laid by his winter store, and such q
sight. There nicely packed away in
dry moss and dry leaves were about six
or eight quarts of chestnuts, beachnuts
and acorns, and those nuts were just as
dry and nice as could be. The beach