The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1895-02-02
AN EEL THAT LIKED MILK.
He Was slippery. But Dry Ashes Finally
Caught Him.

Caught HIM.
Abner IIammell is "A famous fisher
man of Irvington. y. J..whosc fish and
snake stories occasionally get into the
local papers, to the amusement of the
reader. The last story Abner tells is
N of the most remarkable. Con-
dcnsed from the lengthy narrative as
it originally appeared, the story is as
follows, in the old mans own language:
Dad A~pplegate got n fine cow last
spring-one of the best cows | ever see.
Fur a time she gave fofty quarts of
milk a day and kept fat. Long early
in the summer she kinder fell off on
the morning milkin'. and kept gcttin'
wuss and wuss as the summer run
along. She seemed to he all right dur
in the day, but didn't produce in the
night. Dad KEEP her in the little barn
down by the crick. and fur a while he
had an idee that somebody was milkin'
her durin' the night. ] don't know
but he spicioned me, for he put "a loci
on his barn door and then como
over the mex mornin' and asked me to
lend him my bunch of keys, sayin'
he'd lost or mislaid his. Foxy. warn't
nv. x ht loulu lHt toW tlitll I
done no better in the night. and he
wanted to find out whether | had Il key
to fit the lock. Things went on in the
same way for a month or two. and one
day | suggested to him that it might
be that his cow was gittin' milled regu-
lar every night by Il milk snake. and
that he orter watch her. | greed to
help him, but he said he'd do it alone,
and he went down hat night an set for
hours on a half-bushcl measure watch
ing the COW. Then he got tired and
went in the house and turned in. Mex
mornin' the cow didn't give down
morn two quarts OF milk. Dads got
patience, and he watched the better
part of the mex night and the one fol-
lorin'. and then he saw a sight that
s'priset Lin. though it warn't so
s'pris n 20 r.ir after was told about it.
"He th"rglt the COW was actin
kinder queer, and, pulling the lantern
up out of the nail keg he had it in, he
flashed the light on her and saw what
he thought was n big blacksnake
standin' on its tail an milkin' the COW.
The light scarf it an it drops off and
slips away in the dark corner. He
locked high and low for it, but had to
go to bed without gettin' another sight
of 1t. Mex night he got a shot at it
with n rifle. but missed it an it got
away. He didn't find out what it was
till the follerin' night. an then he hit it
fair with n Flobert bullet, and the ball
glanced off the slippery eel. If it he'd
been a snake it would hev killed it, but
it only dazed the eel long enough fer
dad to see what it was.
The eel looked to weigh about three
ana half pounds. an as dad was about
to pick it up an thinking what a good
breakfast it would make, gave a twist
and slid through a hole in the barn
and drOP't into the brook. Dad went
fishin' fer that eel mex day, and set up
all night nearly watchin' fer it with
an eel spear, but the eel was too cum
ming fer him, and mex mornin' the COW
gave fifteen quarts of milk, shown
what the eel had been in the habit OF
takin'. 1t went on hat way fer weeks.
If he wanted any milk in the mornin'
he'd hev to set up all night with the
cow, m if he didn't set up the eel
would come every time. He stop,
up all the holes, an the eel made
new one He tried pizcned milk. an
the eel wouldn't touch il. Then he
knuckled Under an came TO me fe,
advice. jest told him to put some
dry ashes under the cow an he'd ge,
the eel. He did it, an the next day he
found the eel layin' stiff in the barn
It had got the ashes all mixed up with
the slime and couldn't crawl. lie Gu,
the cells throat and skinned it, an
never saw a purifier eel. II was almos,
pure white, where other cells meat is
g%inerally blue, an he said it was the
best tastin eel he ever he'd. | know't
bout cells an ashes when / was a boy
There's times when cells ON out ont,
pasture land to feed on crickets a
night, an an old German told me how
to catch EN-. All he did was to make
a wide strip of dry ashes twixt the pas
ture and the water and the cells couldn'r
pass tn. Y. Sun.