The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-03-06

nine out of every thousand men admll- | ted that the Maine wolfe was as dead as Pharaoh's army. The thousandth man-about dozen of him-said there was pack of wolves around the aban- doned extract works near Duck Lake, and was willing to prove it. if anybody would pay him.
 A whole lot of men wanted chance to kill wolves, or anything else, TOT | days pay and keep, but when the otfer
 was made recently to pay ten dollars q | head for dead wolves, and no wolf no pay, there were only three men who were willing to take the risk. The sto-
 ry of this hunt, which occupied three
 weeks, is full of interest. The first
 week they put up in the abandoned camps of the men who had boiled hem 1 lock bark for extract, putting out blts of fresh meat among the clearings to take the animals to the neighborhood. The meat was untouched for two nlghts. The third night the invaders came, eat- ing up all the meat and killing and de- vouring the horse which was in hoVel close by the camp where the men stayed The next night twenty steel traps were, put out and carefully bait ed. The catch consisted of one skunk,
 one half-starved fox and four lean and
 shaggy dogs. The dogs were larger than wolf, of a grayish-brown color
 and might be mistaken for wolves by those who did not know. the distinction
 between the two animals. Three of the
 bodies were skinned and the pelts were
 stretched and treated to salt and alum for preservation. The fourth was frozen to show what kind of animals
 ran loose in eastern Maine. Then the
 party moved on to Great Pond, carry ing their goods on their backs, because the horse was dead.
 Since the wolves came to Great Pond
 the farmers of the neighborhood have
 made money at sheep raising. The state pays for all the sheep killed by
 wild animals. As the. township asses
 sors fix the value of the slain animals,
 and as those officials don't have to pay
 the damages out of their own pockets,
 the price is made to satisfy the farmers.
 When the hunters stated their mission
 the farmers rose iR rebellious protest
 Until Providence had sent the wolves
 the shepherds had been compelled to
 take their mutton to Bangor, thirty
 miles away, before they could sell it. Since the wolves had arrived there was
 home market for all they could sell and at rates which the niggardly market men would not pay. In spite Of such protests, the hunters tied an old Wether to stump in clearing and waited for
 the wolves to come to eat it. The wether stamped in the snow and bleat- ed protests until nearly ten o'clock. Then something howled from the north end of the pond Five minutes later it howled again, and was answered by long cry from the pines and on the east shore. The wether pricked up his ears and pleaded eoquently for aid.
 "The wolves are coming" said Ed
 Kennedy. "Chuck your magazines full of 45-90's and get ready to shoot"
 In a few minutes the woods were full of walls and barks and angry growls. The beasts were converging upon their prey from south, east and west. A half-grown moon was dipping to the west, affording light enough to show the dusky forms as they raced across the white pond. The wether tugged at his line and dashed to and fro in terror Two galloping animals reached the bank and rushed upon their prey. Be- fore they were done drinking the warm blood twenty more had arrived, and more were coming.
 'Take the middle, Bilf,' said Kenne- dy, in a whisper You, Jim, plug away at the left while I'll see what I can do for the right. Ready! Let 'em have it!''
 t1n.,, the fighting pack, and had fired a few shots from the second loading before the surviving beasts fled to the woods The body of the wether was scattered over many rods of snow, which was mapped with pools and splashes of frozen blood. Lying around singly or in heaps, as they had fallen, were eigh- teen dead or dying animals with sharp ears and long, bushy tails Kennedy walked among them, kicking the bodies and swearing with emphasis.
 Dogs" said he in disgust. "Eigh- teen dead and not wolf in the lotr
 No man of sporting blood cares to go out for wolves and return with dog skins. Kennedy got a new horse and hauled the camp fixings to Greenfield, where the wolves were said to be very plentiful. They went far back into a second growth wood and put out strychnine, mixing the poison in a ball of fat and attaching it to low shrubs. After this the hunters passed three days over high-low jack and a jug imported from Old Town. On going out they found the bodies of two foxes and four brownish gray dogs with bushy tails. Then they bought twenty pounds of fresh pickerel from some boys and went home, where they protested that no- body had hunted for wolves or thought of wolves during the trip.
 A young man who was graduated from the University of Maine a few years ago says the dogs that are now wild in two counties are the of litter of pups whelped in a camp on Costigan meadows seven years ago. The mother was pure bred collie of great intelligence Her were half collie and half plain dog From this lowly beginning q pack of from sixty to hundred lawless and | masterless CUTS have descended. | Though the hunters killed off many of the breed there are enough left to en- nance the profits of sheep husbandry | around Great Pond.-New York Sun.
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