The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1902-04-19

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large number of chickens and some goats.
THE MARSH PONIES.
Therefore the necessary articles of diet
are not lacking. Another considerable re-
source is the marsh pony. Apparently the
origin of this dwarfed horse is unknown.
Hundreds can always be seen there, whose /
owners recognize them by the branding iron |
mark. Once year the herds are rounded
up and all the colts subjected to branding |
for Identification, when all are set free again.
These animals never get food, water, salt
OF shelter from their owners, but roam the
marshes at will They are easily broken,
however, and possess many excellent quail
ties, toughness being obviously at the head
of the enumeration Everything they find
to eat is tough, stringy and horny. The
bullrush on those marshes terminates In
thorn like points which penetrate the cloth
ing and sting you decidedly. 1t is wind
swept area which forbids the survival of
any other than tough, fbrous species.
But the yendue is quite source ofreyenue,
and / was told that pensions were an item
not slight, by any means.
vENDUE SALES.
All wreckage which comes ashore there
is subjected to public auction sale, under
Governmental supervision, and after such
sales are proclaimed the people in all OF the
surrounding counties and some much farther
away-even in the Northern cities-dls-
cuss the ways and means of being in at
tendance. Sometimes thousands are pres
emit and in every conceivable style and size
of sail boat After the sales are confirmed
the purchasers have the goods to transport
from the ocean beach across the Banks to
the sound side, and they are unable to pro-
cure the necessary labor and teams to effect
such transfers except from the Hatteras
people Large cargoes handled in this way
result in the dispersal of considerable sums
of money Altogether those people fare
pretty well.
FEES AND COST OF LIVING.
When | was last there [ found that the
fees of local pilots were very moderate,
horse hire the same, say 81. so per day, and
man, boats, sinkbox, blinds and live goose
decoys-all for SO per day; but of course
this was at an ordinary time and not ven
due occasion. There are no hotel accom-
modations, but private families furnish
board. There are two roads between the
Cape and Hatteras village, one along the
ocean beach and the other along the sound
side. It is 10 miles between the two points
and the roads are right good, at some places
patches of deep sand and at others long
shallow water pools after it has been rain
ing. For about seven miles the road on the
sound side is under cover of the forest
growth and somewhat shaded From thence
on to Hatteras village, the location OF the
United States Signal Service station, there
is nothing but the open beach. Telegraph
ing to the outside world is done through
the signal service Office, messages being
turned in by telephone from the lighthouse
and life-saving stations. The two lines are
parallel and near the ocean. Though all
Governmental service, commercial mes
sages are transmitted Money paid on the
messages is passed in from one life-saver to
another in their nightly patrol of the beach,
when the patrolmen meet at given points
between stations The mail service by
open sail boats is daily, but subject to Vi
cissitudes of weather.
IDEAL AREA FOR OUTINGS.
The area described is one Of the most
charming spots for winter or summer out
ing on eur entire coast and almost un-
known. Around the signal station there are
sand dunes and much growth of live oak
to break the winds, but the cape end pos
sesses far more comfort in this way, for
the sand ridges up there are perhaps 40
feet above sea level, dry, and are beautiful
natural promenades. They are like earth
Notifications and of hard red sand, and
between the various ridges there are mar
row open lagoons and marshes decorated
with dwarf palmetto growth, all being en-
veloped in dense varied forest. There are
hundreds of acres of fresh pond glades
footing up to these hills and around these
the deer Craze. 1t is not so desirable
residence in the cape locality in summer,
for the mosquitoes are bad, chills are preva
lent and there is some typhoid fever. Down
at the signal station there is no malaria and
practically Ge mosquitoes
There are seven miles of the best driving
beach between Maine and Florida, and this
is the only point on the coast north Of Flor
ida where shells containing all the rainbow
tints are found They are supposed to be
washed up by the Gulf Stream current
when they strike the shelving bottom of
Diamond Shoals. The winds in summer
are always delightfully."- cool, for if from the
land side the distance is SO great over the
water that they lose the heat. The boating
and fishing are charming. The greatest
quantity and variety of saltwater products
are available.
A SPORTSMAN PARADISE.
To say that Cape Hatteras is hunter 5
paradise is to pronounce plain truth. To
the natural history student it is yet more
than to the gunner. But the game at this
point and northwestward in Dare and Tyr
rell counties, easily accessible by sail in a
day, is all that any reasonable person should
desire in Long Shoal, Alligator and Soup
pernong rivers. But live goose decoys can
be obtained only on the banks On Sunday,
January 10, while lying in Paines bay, at
the mouth of Long Shoal river, there were
SO swans on Sandhill Reef all day. No one
seemed to be hunting them and some birds
flew over me on the shore in ordinary shot
gun range apparently devoid of fear. There
were as fine oysters under our vessel as an
expert could desire, and they were as
large, too. Oyster-run boats lie in this bay
and receive cargoes destined for the Eliza
beth City canneries The dredgers come
in here and sell to them their product On
the afternoon of January IS, two days be-
fore my arrival at Hatteras, Evan j.
Midget, with one discharge of his shotgun,
bagged three deer. knew him before,
and on this trip met him January %,
when he told me in person the fact | have
Just stated. | know that what he said
was true, there being several of his neigh
bors present when | was asking him the
particulars. There were four deer in the
drove and he brought home three of them.
The shot he used was known as BIB.
BRANT SHOOTING.