The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-05-04
KANSAS ALLIGATORS.
Whole Family OF Them Found In Barber
County, Near kiowa.


ducing rival at the worlds fair, but it will
| also find there au alligator producing
| rival. 1t may seem strange to some that
there are native born alligators in the
! state, but it seems to be fact, neverthe
less. They are not only native born, but
| they are actually larger and better devel-
oped for their age than are the southern
born variety.
gentleman who was up from kiowa
Barber county, yesterday gave the EAGLE
man information concerning this hereto
fore unheard of Kansas product, that
was certainly news, if not startling
| news. According to his story-and
the gentleman vouches for the
| truth of 1.-THE well known stock
farm of Hon. w. T. Campbell is the home
of these animals. Mr.. Campbell's farm is
called Rosewood and is also the home Of
the sensational colt, Campbelrs Election
eer, who made the record of 2l133 When
Mr. Campbell bought the 80, 900 acres off
land surrounding Kiowa he reserved
about 10000 acres of it for homestead
and immediately sought TO improve it, 1t
| contained lake of some dimensions, or
| rather slough, and he conceived the idea
of improving it for the raising of carp.
After few years trial he found that carp
raising was failure and he allowed the
| lake to go into decay. About this time
the sugar producing fever broke out aud
! like many others Mr.. Campbell
caught bad case of it.
| He took such an interest in
the subject that he made a pilgrimage
| to Louisiana of a months duration study
| ing the sugar industry of that state.
| While visiting well known planter be
| found that his plantation contained q
number of alligators and the idea flashed
| into his ever thinking brain that it would
not be bad idea to capture half n dozen
young alligators for his lake H did SO
and arriving at his home he dumped the
entire lot into his former carp pond and
left them rustic for themselves. He &C.
/ casionally visited them to see how they
were getting along and they were seem
! ingly doing all right. The novelty soon
wore off and Mr.. Campbell almost forgot
his alligators until Il few days ago, when
a party went to the pond from Kiowa for
days fishing thinking, perhaps, that
| there were still some stray carp there.
! One man sat on an old disused fence with
his line in the water while wait
ing for bite he kept dang
ling his legs over the mirror
like pond. He heard IA peculia
splash in the water, and looking IN the
direction from whence the sound eme-
mated he beheld, to his holy horror, the
open jaws of monster alligator. reaching
for one of his legs. He dropped his fish
ing rod like hot potato and yelled muir
der. His agitation caused him to lose his
| balance OH the fence rail and he fell into
the water, where he had lively en-
! counter with the alligator. He sue
! ceeded in getting away, hut he left
his coat tail with the alligator.
as a sweet morsel to chew
| upon. When the much frightened indi
vidual reached his comrades with his
clothing wet and torn he related the story
| and an investigation WAS made. They
saw that portion Of the lake literally
swarming with alligators of every age and
size and they tried TO kill some of them.
Expert marksmen shot at them, but the
bullets would glance off the allgator's
heavy coat of mail while the animal him
self would dive into the water only to
reappear soon aud grin sarcastically
at them. There was an eX-
pert cowman in the party aud
lie suggested that perhaps one
or two of the alligators could be lari-
| ated, and accordingly rope was procured.
The cow-man's aim was perfect, and at
the first swing of the rope a large female
was caught and pulled to the shore where
he was bucked and gagged. After two
| or three efforts another was caught and
| both of them were carried to town where
| they are now on exhibition in the ware
house of the rk-Draper Nerchantile
company. IL is not to be wondered at
that the presence of native aliigators at
| kiowa caused a sensation. Kiowa is
| always alive to everything that would tend
| to advertise the city and the Commercial
club took the matter up at once and de
| cded to make au exhibit of them at the
worlds fair. \ large tank is being made
| for that purpose and in a few days the ami
mails will be on their way to Chicago.
| When Mr.. Campbell came home and made
| the discovery that some of his alligators
| had been captured be was hot, but the idea
of exhibiting them at the worlds fair
Gained him and he is now glad of the oc-
| currence.
When the boomers who are waiting to
| get slice of the fine land in the Cherokee
strip south of kiowa heard of the alligator
| pond, they sought TO turn an honest penny
! by capturning some of them for museum
| purposes. and it is said that Mr. Campbell
is compelled to keep them away from the
| POND at the point Of a shotgun.
| Mr. Campbell himself. it appears, by in
| vestigations made in the lake found
another very strange variety Of water
animals there. They have, he states, very
| large heads and mouths, four eyes, four
! legs and can travel on land as well as 10
water No one down there. he states,
| knows anything about them or where they
came from. but the idea prevails that the
| eggs were brought there by some southern
water fowls and deposited iii the lake,
where they afterwards Matched ont. Such
water animals have never been known TO
| exist in the United States. and the eggs
were probably brought from South Amer
| ica or the Pacific islands by some rowing
| pelican.
| SHELTON THG SINNER.
| One of the late arrivals at the city bas-