Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1901-07-07

| lake. beautiful sheet OF water ABOUT
ten by twelve miles, was, for wonder,
| quite calm and as smooth as glass. NY
| father had with him a Maynard rlne,
40 calibre and | had stevens SO Gil
| ibre AS we slowly rowed along shore,
| they admired the picturesque ana mover
scenery: and the huge cypress trees
| draped with the long Spanish moss ana
| sometimes capped with the enormous
nest Of the osprey; under these the
cabbage pamettoes looking very tropl-
cal while thousands of vines climbed
luxuriantly among the trees, many OF
them in full bloom. These, combined
with the ever present perfumes or the
magnolias, made a tout ensemble that
can be only appreciated in tropical
country, when the fierce glare OF the
sun has given place to cool twilight
and the winds and waves are hushed Tor
the night. On summer here the winds
and sun generally go down together).
| could fill page with descriptions Oh
birds we saw and the singing we heard.
The beautiful and rare swallow-tall
hawk, slowly sailing in graceful curves,
overhead; the asprey, anon flying,
screaming high in the air, and then
with wings crossed, descending on some
unfortunate fish. Sometimes the hawk
got safely to his nest with his prey,
and then we could see the necks and
heads Of the newly fledged young birds
as they anxiously waited tor tAeIr re-
spective morsels. But oftener the os-
prey was met by the bold robber, the
bald eagle, and after a brief and noisy
chase, was obliged to drop his spoil,
4, ;al, tI,4 ,11 tp1y1 a.
While the older members of the par
ty were quietly taking in the beauties
of the scene, my elder sister suddenly
exclaimed, Il see an aligator!" as soon
AS we caught sight OF him we pro-
ceeded to business. l caught hold of
the oars, and the boat, steered by my
mother, slowly approached the monster
There he was, about two hundred yards
off, lying at full length on the water
Suddenly he commenced to sink, and
in a moment was out OF sight. "Now's
your time!" my father called out, and
| put on a squirt that remiided me Of
my Cornell days
Steady" cries my father; there he
is about hundred yards off 1 drop
the oars quietly and follow the example
of my afther, who has taken up and
cooked his Maynard. At first We see
nothing but the aligator's eyes and end
OF his snout, and slowly up comes the
top of his head about three inches out of
water. Crack! goes the Maynard. strik-
ing little high. Crack, goes the Stev-
ems, also too high. He sinks a little.
Crack! goes the Maynard again, but the
gator has gone down to rise hundred
yards off. Row nearer" comes from
my father, but the gator is broadside
the boat, with head and back showing,
and l have already sight on his head;
pull the rigger; chug! He's hit. What
a commotion, Tail thrown five feet
out and flashing the water to foam.
! Also imagine the commotion in the
! boat. My father and | each snatch a
pair of oars and lay to it. My mother
and sisters, with breath held, steer
straight for the gator. There he lies
on his side, with one huge paw and ,cg
thrust in the air AS We near him We
drop the oars. My mother steers as if
she had hunted gators all her life.
| cried to my father, who is in the bow,
catch hold of the paw and | Will get
a half hitch on it." You had better
put another bullet in him." says 6e,
!
a large gator is never killed by the
| first shot, even when through the brain
/ cry, No" Vie reaches over the boat
with the rope in one hand, and catches
the paw. Good Lord, Half under the
boat, as the gator is, he springs his
enormous tail around, splashing water
/ all over the ladies and careening the
boat to the waters edge. and then, his
! .. H. l.
under the boat, he's off. look 10
ward the stern; there sits my mother
leaning half over the boat. one nand
clutching each girl, and the latter cling
ing to her shoulders. But straghten VI
ladies, when you read this: Not cry
was heard, and the first words were
from thirteen-year-old Mamie. oh
/ VIII, he is lost, is he not?' But no:
there his back appears fifty yards OFF
Nell and | row the boat close to him
and my father puts a bullet into his
head; and another commotion; | hand
my father another rife and he repeats
! the dose until the gator has had
quaint suf to quiet him down. Then
we had TO put half hitch around his
two hind paws; this was a hare
| job, as he revived frequently and re-
quired lead pill. Then with two row
ing, and the gator held by my father
in the bow, we slowly approached the
shore l had to leave my oars every few
| minutes and put ball in him. &c
would have tewed better in the stern
but my mother, although passing
through the former ordeal bravely, did
| not exactly like to have els 'gatorshs,,
towing few feet behind her. Ate!
getting him ashore, we tried to han
him out on some lumber, but at last we
had to send one of the girls after the
workmen, and also for some more cart
ridges, - the gator still showed some