The Wisconsin tobacco reporter. (Edgerton, Wis.) 1877-1950, 1901-05-31

sense; but while travelling men crack
their jokes. a great deal of freight is
carried and the road is playing large
part in the building up of the valley.
Here and There n Snake.
Of one subject | speak with hest
| tation-snakes. Editor Fraser of
! Viola tells me he has lived in the Val
ley for fifteen years and never saw
rattlesnake. [ dropped into Turks
hotel at Gays Mills and the land
lords father-in-laW-an old gentle
man-brought in the tails and rattles
Of thirteen which he had captured
within a few hours. Crawford and
Vernon counties now offer a bounty
of 80 cents each. Last week about $50
were presented for bounty at Prairie
! du CHEN and the seasons catch viii
be 1000. Rattlesnakes live in dens-
that good, old, blood-curdling word is
still used in it's old sense in the val
! ley. Rocky points Of the mountains
that look out over the valley as SEN
tinels are the favOrite spots of the rat
tiers. To get them the hunters go aft
ter them, though later in the season,
when it is hot and dry, the snakes
work down into the Iowlands. My
Gays Mills friend takes along a fish
pole with a hook at the end and feels
for the rattlers in their dens. When
he drags them to sight he hits them
! with a club. There have been some
| fatalities most every year-usually
| of women and children in the woods
hunting berries The snakes also kill
| cattle. But the RATHER is a slOWmOv
ing snake. 1t is said he always gives
! warning with his bOny tail-a clear,
| distinct noise that can be heard for
| 200 feet-and an easy blow will break
! his back. It is popularity believed
| that whisky is an antidOte for the bite,
and it is certainly true that virus can
| be drawn from the wound by prompt
! ly plunging it into q pail of mud. One
effective enemy of the RATHER is the
| hog. These animals were formerly al
| lowed to range the hillsides and so
| kept the pests limited in number. Of
| late years, however, hogs are fenced
| and snakes have multiplied. How
ever, the bounty has driven not a few
| persons to snake killing as an industry
| and if the inducement by county
| boards is continued year after year,
| nothing will remain of the once dread
| ed rattle-Snake but stories and tradi-
| tiOn. There will be no better one than
| that told by my ancient friend Of
| Gays Mills. 1t was fifty years ago
| and he was one OFF the first settlers.
He was climbing up one of the rocky
| points with his bride when they came
upon a den" He said the snakes
were in masses-great, Wriggling. oily
punches as big as bushel baskets. He
cut himself q stick and began the
work of destruction. AS they moved
| toward their place of seclusion under
! 4 shelving rock, he gave each of them
a hit with the stick. He says he killed
| 400.
| Interesting Things in She Woods.
Such a tramp as mine is increased
| in interest as one is familiar with
| animal life. with rocks and with bot
any. The people who grow up in such
a region acquire much knowledge. The
woods are alive with interesting and
curious things. The collecting of
| ginseng root is profltab le-more so
than of sarsaparilla, mandrakes, In
dian turnips etc, on which fireside
medical concoctOrs lay much stress
The stretches of wild flowers would
greatly delight the ladies. Infinite
variety, perfection of form and color
and sown with prodigal profusion. For
| half mile on each side the green
hillsides were decked with a three
| fold white iOwer-tall and graceful
AS l plodded along in the afternoon
quiet the gently flowing river by my
| side | thought Of each white flower as
a tombstone of doll, and the whole
! pleasantlyweird reaches as dolls
| fairgrounds. No doubt poet could
see a little girl weeping at each tiny
flower stone-here a dainty city miss
mourning a real Paris doll whose eyes
| opened; and there some humber child
of a'ridge farm sObbing over a sorry
sawdust affair, nor the less holding it's
] affections and once the confidante Of
many a secret communicated in the
solitude Of the pines.
Schools and Churches at Work.
The Kickapoo valley is making prog
| ress. The towns are growing. More
land is being cleared. Prices of farms
are advancing. Banks are being estab-
lished, schools and churches are multi
plying. The old days when it was
necessary to bury the dead without
some word of cheer and consolation
from a man of God are gone. The
old settlers, too, are passing off the
, scene. There are still men and women
of middle life who remember their
, child life in a log cabin, whose near
est neighbor was many miles away
and whose nearest market was Prairie
! du Chien-a three days journey by
raft down the river-or a long hard
| ride with OK team over the mills to
Boscobel on the east or to Lynxville
on the Mississippi. There are many
log cabins yet to be seen. But the rail
road has quickened the life of the val
ley two-thirds of it's way. And On
tario is but eight miles south of the
Northwestern. BY fostering education
and suppressing the saloons-which
as yet have made but little impress
sion on the people, the I<ickapoo val
ley will more and more prosper. And
for those who seek rest. diversion.
summer quiet close to nature in her
most winning forms, no part of Wis
consin surpasses this region It has
a future as a summer resort
ORLANDO BURNETT.