The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1901-03-01

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from the jungles of Merritt Island, OF
no pay would be demanded. The idea
of capturing real live alligator was
to all the party, ladies as well as gen.
tlemen, contemplation not to be cast
aside. A launch was chartered to
take us across the river and with
"Alligator Bill, his quaint son of
seventeen summers with tobacco juice
running down both corners of his
capacious mouth, long pole with a
hook in the end and row boat tied
to the stern of our launch in which to
bring the game back to the hotel, we
started out with visions indescribable
of what was in store for us. We
climbed the steep bank of Merritt Is
land, tramped mile or more back
from the water front through burs,
underbrush and bog to the abiding
place of the victim of our designs
The ground on which the "catch"
was to be made belonged to George
Washington Davis, a colored man pos
sessed of great wealth of picininnies-
no less than eight little black fellows.
Our party stopped at the negro cabin
while "Alligator Bill went down into
the field to see George Washington
Davis and gain his consent to allow us
to ''hook' the wild and untamed
beast. The interval was filled in in
trying to bride two year old "coon"
to pose for a kodak picture. But the
mother objected and was memorable
to all appeals to allow the young one to
be took" because he was not "fixt
up" So this "shot' had to be aban-
doned. But the supreme moment ar
rived at last "Alliagtor Bill' an
nounced that the consent of George
Washington Davis has been secured,
and that the alligator was in his hole
awaiting our onslaught. Expectation
ran high. The women discussed what
they would do in the event the mons
ter showed fight. 1t would not do to
give even synopsis of the daring
acrobatic feats that they determined
upon, neither would it look we'll in
print Just what the men folks were
preparing to do to escape the awful
jaws of that awful alligator. But
"Alliagtor Bill'' and his tobacco
stained offspring were as calm and
placid as nursing babe. They defed
the alligator at his worst and assured
the northern tenderfeet that there was
no "casion to be skeered. The modus
operandi of capturing and fettering..the
four-legged monster was infinitely re-
hearsed and for the information of our
friends who have heard of but never
experienced the sensation of capturing,
roping down and drawing forth from
his virgin bed real live, breathing,
palpitating alligator, we give it. here.
In the first place, of course, it is
necessary to ''locate" the alligator.
The Catcher" must know day in
advance that you want him to produce
one. He usually looks after the rest.
A long pole, say sixteen to twenty
feet with an iron hook in the end is
run into the hole where the alligator
"nests. 4" If he is in the aforesaid hole
he Immediately opens his jaw, de-
YOURS as much of the pole as suits
him, closes his mouth and in the
operation jabs the hook into himself
the full length. Thus hooked the al
ligator is drawn to the mouth of his
hole and his jaws being tightly closed
in order to hold the hook secure, is Sc
curely tied with strong rope. Mr..
Alligator is then drawn little further
from his hole, his front legs turned
up and tied over his back. Thus made
helpless, he is further drawn out and
his hind legs served in the same man
ner. Now the monster, usually from
seven to twelve feet long, is ready to
be dragged to and loaded into the boat.
This the exact manner of overcoming
the vicious brute's strength and con-
trolling him. But as we said before
it is always necessary to get the alliga-
tor before proceeding to the other de-
tails enumerated. This our "Alliga-
tor Bill'' failed to do. He worked in
dustriously for more than two hours,
but the "bird' had flown. A little
eight year old ''coon" had seen tn g
brute summing himself on a log in the
creek only about half an hour before
our arrival, but as if by intuition he
betook himself to some secluded spot
to rest in security while our guide
worked and perspired in vain to locate
his whereabouts, and the balance of us
sweat blood fighting pesky mosquitoes.
Thus ended our alligator hunt, but
the trip was not devoid of interest
and pleasure. We had the satisfaction
next morning of seeing two alligators
''roped down" that were captured the
previous day by gentleman who is an
expert at the business. He had his
alligators ''planted, and knew just
where to go. In the evening the same
alligators were returned to their watery
beds to await the advent of an
other "alligator hunt which will oc-
cur within couple of days and as
soon as another party of blood thirsty
tourists arrive who want to pay two
or three dollars to see how the real
thing is done. We now know how the
thing is done, although we did not
have the hair raising experience of
helping to do it.