The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1901-01-25
PRO 3 RI N. lTTERS.
a IL tl6#s
Furs Secured In the Northwest that
Bring q Good Round SIS
RI. X r. 81. Price. 1$gzS

~. IL = Price. slszz s ss 81
Is The most beautiful stretch Of ocean
beach to be found anywhere on the Pa
cifc coast Of the United States is the
wide expanse Of spotless and glittering
sand, which lies between Gray's harbor
and the Quiniault river. There may be
seen an unbroken area Of tweAty miles
in length, and at low tide from three to
five miles in width, which would make
a moonlight playing ground for houris.
There are many tower-like: structures
at regular distances of perhaps mile
each, which excite the curiosity of the
many coast line steamers plying between
San Francisco and the northern ports.
Thes are the towers or shooting boxes
of sea otter hunters. They are built Of
tall, slender poles, generally four IN num-
Der, sunk to great depth and fixed Sc
curely in the sand and surrounded by
small box covered with a roof to protect
it's occupants from the burning sun.
Cleats securely fastened to the poles
from bottom 10 top afford the hunter
means of ingress and egress.
The hot sun which blazes fercely ON
this wide expanse Of white sand during
the months of July and August heats 1t
almost t. burning point. and the wa,
tiers. Of the incoming tide, rolling ana
curling over this hot sand, become de-
liciously warm. This is the playing
ground of the sea otter, the place where
they come to spend their holidays.
They leave their homes in the far-of
rocky islands, where there are no SAND
beaches, and the green waters are cold
and deep, and come here like people to
watering place, to spend the summer ea
months in rolling and tumDling about IN
this warm water in perfect ecstacy OF
delight. They leap and play about in the
foaming breakers and polish their beau
tiful skins by hugging the sandy bottom
and allowing the ocean sWells to drive
and throw them about as they will.
Although sea offers have the timidlty
they are better able to protect themselves
than any of the. other animals which
have their homes in the sea. The swift
! ness Of their movements makes It possl.
BILE for them easily to catch any kind Of
small fish, and thus they can apPease
No shark can catch them; they could
! be twenty feet away while Mr.. Shark
| was turning on his back, and If the
shark were directly beneath them they
could throw themselves five feet in the
air like a Kaleidoscope ball, while the
The hunter is in his box, the tide is com
ing in, and with powerful field glass
to assist his practiced eye he eagerly
scans each coming roller. He has been
here every day for a week, and his rifle
has lain untouched by his SIDE. Today
something may happen.
| All at once he starts and mutters Ut
tie ejaculation; he sees something. He
will soon know what it is, for the sWells
are coming swiftly and the distance be-
tween himself and the object he has seen
will be quickly lessened: Yes; there it is
ter, not more than 600 yards away. The
hunter lays down his glass and there is
$500 or $500 worth of beautiful, shining
fur plainly visible to the naked eye.
~, The man in the tower % picks cks up his his
ridge ridge in the Chamber, and there is a
wicked. wistful CLEAN in the keen eye Of
the hunter as he raises his weapon for
| the first shot There is flash, recoii
and report, which is scarcely distin-
guishable in the roaring of the breakers
to the man who holds the gun: Ammuni-
pidity, he loads and fires his piece. That
otter will not be more than ten feet away
from where he was when the hunter
pulled the trigger when he gets there, aid
that hunter can hit bounding deer at
800 yards twice out Of five shots. The
otter is enjoying himself in the dangerous
company Of murderous bullets, which are
doing their best to find him.
Another huge breaker brings him with
in 200 yards Of the blazing rife: a quick
| recon- OIL the ueAVy gun Tue uuuleE
half round; there is an unnatural splash
which tells the man something has hap
pened. He strains his eyes: no need OF
his glass to see there is blood in the wa
ter and this tells him that there is a big
hole somewhere in that $500.
bleed like that and not be washed ashore.
The hunter lays down his heated gun;
there will be no more offers in sight to-
day. He sees his game almost opposite his
tower; it is drifting helplessly toward
the shore. That skin is his and it's pos
thing he wants for another year if he
does not fire a single shot.
The fierce CLEAN Of desire has left his
dirty face and has been replaced by one
Of possession. He is wild with JOY. How
he wishes he could get down from that
tower and be at the spot: where the otter
must wait until the tide falls a little.
One of his half-breed boys, who is 10 or
IL years old, is mOping lazily along the
beach; his quick eye detects something.
Like frightened wolf ne leaps over the
sand and is soon beside the dead otter.
With yell Of delight he flies toward
the. shanty on the bluff to tell his mother
and the half dozen or so of other little
half-breeds what has happened, and they
all come tro6ping down the beach as fast
as their legs can carry them. #
| The tide IS going out now and the blood
of the otter stains the sand which has
lured him to destruction, and the ebbing
ripples tenderly caress for the last time
the pretty animal which has been their
playmate all its. life, and the sea will
moan for the free-born thing which has
always had home in it's bosom.
Some way or another the news spreads
quickly and other hunters and crowds OF
Siwashes come trooping toward the dead
otter from all Notwithstanding Ore
CONAN. q xs...g..z.s+ ~
Shore Sinking, Sea Encroaching.