The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-14

tribe The dog is generally dead, or so
bitten that he is knocked in the head. No
negro has any use for the alligator's hide,
since preserving 1t would Involve labor
The harmlessness Of the alligator, SO far
as humanity is concerned, is shown here
often by the whites, none of whom viii
hesitate to strip and 90 over the boats
side for a bath in sight of twenty Of The
monsters.
The surface of Lake Cocodrie is covered
for distance Of twenty yards from the
banks with giant lily pads. Some of them
are six feet in diameter. They are the
roosting places Of the bullfrogs. Hundreds
of them may be seen in a day sound asleep
with a furnace sun pouring down on them
When taken in this way, a 22-calibre rifle
is used. 1t requires craftsmanship. The
frog is wary, and he bears, apparently
as well asleep as awake. It is not often
that the boat, be IL padded ever SO gently
can approach nearer than thirty yards
If hit in the head, the frog goes dead
upon his pad. If not, there will be the
fash of a brown body in the air, describ-
ing a tremendous parabola, and a heavy
splash in the water a good twelve feet
away. Just how far a bullfrog can jump
when at himself and after a record has
never been determined. They rise from
the level, however, higher than six feet,
and the impulse of their powerful thighs
viii send them at least five yards maybe
more. II tho frog be hit in the back, the
chances are that he will die, but he sinks
and is not recoverable. The head shot ia
the only shot that counts. Sometimes
hunting parties from this place shoot
against each other, and the bags or
rather, the buckets, made are large. -Four
men have been known 10 kill more than
800 frogs in morning. Whatever the
manufacturers may say, it is found here
that the % short cartridge is more accu>
rate than the % long, and is Just as good
up 10 fifty yards. Beyond that distance
nobody wants to shoot at a frogs head
which is not larger than a silver quarter
When numbers of the frogs are killed they
are wasted as they cannot be brought If
teen miles TO this place over roads that
are no roads at all, and shipped with profit
The bulfrog is a bird of rapid growth
This seasons crop Is now seven to nine
inches long, which is nearly as large as
they will get to be.
Frog shooting at night is a sport much
practiced by campers on the lake. Pine
torches are used, and the eyes are Shin
ed" just as n deer's eyes are "shined. ."
The torch bearers with the % rifles pace
slowly. along the bank raising and lower
ing the lambeaux and peering into the
ooze and slime among the bullrushes and
lilies. All that is seen is little black
snout no bigger than nickel, and "a
twinkling black eye upon either side of it,
If the shot is a miss a huge body, SEEM
ingly two feet long, will develop from this
little point, and the frog, with a splash, is
away. The men wear rubber boots com
ing to their hips, for each dead frog must
be waded for through water, mud. and
rotting vegetation. There are few warm
er things than these rubber boots of a
louisiana night, and the man who gets his
frogs I'm this way earns them. He win get
in addition four or five hundredweight OF
malaria.
In torch hunting most men prefer to use
the spear 1t is not so sportsmanlil1e but is
more certain, and the boots are dispensed
with. The spear is made of three or four
wire tines, three inches long, and barbed.
This Is fastened to the end of a cane pole
twenty to twenty-five feet long. The wea-
pom is not cast as a jaVelin. When the
frogs eyes are "shined" the fisher jabs
the tines into him and brings him wrig-
Cling out of the mud with strong upward
heave, as If he were landing a catfish over
his head There is not much fun in this to
"a healthy-minded white man, but there Is
something about 1t which appeals so
strongly TO the negro that he would rath-
er do 1t than eat, which is saying a good
deal
Frog fishing on Lake Cocodrie is one OF
the queerest of sports. The narrow, sharp
ended sl1iff with two men in it floats laz-
lily along the CLASSY surface propelled by
the one in the stern, who does not lift his
paddle from the water. 1t is his object 10
avoid noise. The sun Is hot and the boat
keeps In the shadows OF the giant trees,
which fall far out. The man in the bow
has his brass rod, reel, and line Fastened
to the hook, and concealng it, Is bit OF
bright red flannel three inches long He
makes his cast and sl1tters the lure along
the surface. He is slow about it. for Al
takes the frog some time to come from
the depths. The small, black, wet head an
pears above the water two feet from the
flannel and the eyes gaze at 1t longingly
The boat is unnoticed or forgotten. The
frog says TO himself that here, at last. is
something for nothing. With a deep. gut
tural sigh, he remarks: "Ah-h-h-hr' He
springs at the cloth confidently and the
hook pieces his throat. He says "Oh-h-
h-hr' Lifted from the water, with his
| eighteen inches Of length dangling in the
air, he looks not unlike a small baby pen-
dant. He clutches at the barb with his
| tiny haEds as AZ to tear Il from his flesh
| Two tears are in his eyes. There are men
| here who win not fish for frogs. In the
center of the boat is a large tin pail or
two, filed with ice water The hind-quar-
| ters and saddles are quickly severed from
| the living body and tossed into the pail
| The remainder is dumped overheard and
slowly sinks. belly-up. 1t may be seen far
! down, growing smaller and smaller in the
| crystalline water. There is just a little
! blood.