The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-24
RARE SQUIRREL HUNTING.
A GREAT CONTEST IN FIJI BACK
WOODs OF ARhcANSAs.

SAA ~ =
Three Days. shooting and Fun They Had
in Deciding n Wager on tho Result.
WALNUT HILL, Ark. July 14.-Any one IN.
tending to take q census OF the squirrels in
southwestern Arkansas should have begun
work a month ago. There has been O heavy
decrease in the population. Outraged farmers.
whose roasting ears OF corn have been de-
stroyed In acres, have risen and banded against
the common foo. They were headed by Jake
Stiggins OF Palo Alto farm. He named It "Palo
Alto because there is not a tree on 1t. and It is
in the bottoms. A long time ago some fellow
who had read "Plckwick Papers" and knew all
about the elder Weller and his troubles, called
stiggins the " Deputy Shepherd" and tho name
has stuck to him. Tho Deputy Shepherd
mounted his mule and went about the country
talking Of squirrels and their ravages. He said
that all the farmers needed was organization
against the sharks OF Wall street and the SOUR
rels Of Arkansas. He said that united they
stood and divided they fell. and, since they
could not get ct the Wall street people Just
now. the best thing TO do was to go out and
shoot squirrels. y
+, As the crops had been laid by and cotton
picking had not really begun. time hung heav-
lily upon the hands Of the farmer folk. and they
declared that Stiggins vas the man OF the hour.
For three days the massive. NOISY woods echoed
and re-echoed to the roar OF shotguns. rifles
and cap-and-ball revolvers Of the vintage OF
1853. Listening to the incessant splitter,
crackle and reverberation. Stiggins said it was
Santiago de Cuba over again. A daily paper
from Shreveport gets In here once q week. and
In that way the citizens have been informed
that a war is going on. ALI Richardson. whose
beard is down to his waist, who swears that
PETER Of Kansas Is the greatest Of tho great
and who left an arm In the Devils Den" at
natfysb,r0 aDiHn5 nnpfap, pt,,puoly opI
swered that it might be like Santiago. but 1t
bore not the slightest resemblance to that mael-
strom Of death. over which. savage and resonant
as the scream Of the eagle a thousand feet in
the air. scared the mutations Of the rebel veil.
II was standin' on top Of a fat tombstone
that kivered some dead Dutchman ernuther,"
said All, looking round. while he held his mug
Zle-loading double barrelled shotgun between
his knees and with his remaining fingers flxeda
cap on the right nipple. "an'I seen Piekett's
men go down the slope. with tn non-coms
calm Hepl Hep! Hepl' like 1t was dress
p'rade. An. by God. somethin' caught hold O.
me an lifted me three feet up In tn air an held
me thar. This amt like It,"
The Deputy Shepherd said: "F'r tn Lords
sake. less don't get talkin' bout tn war" and
the slaughter began again.
Devastation wrought by squirrels this spring
has been so great that it has threatened seri-
ously the corn crop Of this part Of Lafayette
county. The oldest inhabltant. who is Pop"
Weatherby. can remember that they were more
numerous the year that the stars fell" which
was some time in the thirties, but they have not
been a tenth so many since that summer. The
season has been exceptionally dry and warm.
favorable for breeding, and the heavy mast Of
last fall brought them through the winter all
right. Furthermore. there has been little shoot
ing OF squirrels in this region for i've years
past, since times have been hard. and am
munition costs too much to be wasted on
| such small game. Also. southwestern Arkan-
sas was visited late last winter by one OF the
! migrations peculiar to the squirrel family. By
tens OF thousands. seemingly, they came In
from no man knows where. One day there was
\ only the usual number to be seen while riding
through the woods: the next there were q half
dozen on every tree and another half dozen
scamperinG along the ground in whatever d.
traced by word Of mouth to a point more than
a hundred miles west OF here and it Is supposed
f indian ene T 8a9is5rsn' A anyhow the e'e visitors i fou rn2
as comfortably as if they had lived here al q
its initial point no man can say. mol, how many
individuals Joined the caravan on the way. but
cross in which hundreds. if not thousands.
must have been drowned.
When. swayed by. common. incontrollable
impulse, the. squirrel begins a march Of this
It's Leaders az rs NE He at sto sa' for for a no sne obs Enien l ii9lIeS os
big. II he cannot climb over it he cuts through
i. The manner Of crossing, rivers has never
monkey, the, squirrel swims a little. but it Is
very little: A century or two ago some fellow
huge pieces Of bark from trees, which they use
as boats and erect their tails for sails. and that
better. These stranger squirrels are ali Of the
gray variety, though migration Is common to
all sam kinds n k i9Edeed, the he's 6 aSGlt s S,arafdd 6 SRGe
self out OF human ken. Not more often than
once. in a season is an individual killed in
woods wherein they were once as plentiful as
Squirrel hunting, under ordinary conditions,
in this region Is difficult, because most of the
trees are swathed heavily in Spanish moss.
which not only affords hiding places too OBJ;
that no small shot will pierce. but almost ex-
artly matches the color OF the animal: More-
eyer; at this ,ha season the t a9ss are in full Leaf .seff
Nevertheless, there are so many Of them that
enormous bags were deemed certainties by
7. and ended at sunset on the Saturday follow.
m miles V west d OF here se on Ros se Creek at,; cs so csiled S'E se.
cause of the masses Of Cherokee wild roses
1 mSin i,o SItR t en- ss %esnk oaabi tnss TsFs p sRos:
guns. called here deer guns though a few
had rifles Of 22-calibre, the only sportsmanlike
weapon with which to destroy squirrels. Re,
volvers. OF old pattern were common. too. and
some Of the hunters were remarkably expert in
their use. 1t was characteristic of the, old cap.
and-ball iye-chambered pistols made by Sam,
uel Colt before andduring the war that they shoI
with an accuracy never approached by any one
Of the modern-cartridged tOrce.6all weapons
One-armcd ALI richardson is willing and able
to shoot holes in as many dollars as a man cares
TO toss up for him. using, a revolver that hC
took from the body of q Federal cavalrymaI
before he was sent back invalided. and one o
the sons Of this 65-year-old marksman laughs
at his fathers crude efforts. He, himself holds
no man to be worthy OF admittance to, tn
blood brotherhood Of the. rifle unless able 4
toss a brick in the air. break 1t, and smash boti
pieces before they strike the ground, or to, U.s.
a rife successfully upon hound-driyen deer
landing upon the neck or Just back of the fore
shoulder as the brown quarry whizZes like
bullet between the gigantic tree boles q hun
dred yards away.
The thirty men were divided into two partie
of fifteen. the Deputy Shepherd heading one o
them as organizer OF the expedition. though b
cannot shoot for shucks. and Richardson head
ing. the other. With him were all the riiemel
and pistolmen Of the crowd. twelve Up number
middling cotton. OF which eaeh OF the losinl