Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1904-01-28

story.
Game wardens who have been in
vestigating the killing of deer in a
lumber camp back ON Shrewsbury
mountain, Va, have been forced to ad-
NIT that the aforesaid animal came
to his death through accidentally
hanging himself The report exoner-
ates Jim Dayo and Shorty" Hill
choppers, on whom a cloud of unjust
suspicion has hung for mere than Il
week.
The laws againt the killing of deer
lin closed season are rightly enforced
In Rutland county. and so when II was
reported that the mill hands in
"Shorty's' camp were dining on ven
iison Christmas day two vigilant game
wardens donned their gum shoes and
set out to investigate. After sleuth-
ing in the woods for three days they
eventually went to the mill where
Jim, Shorty" and all hands from the
boss down to the oxen drivers told a
straightforward story of the remark
able taking OFF of a 250-pound buck
The burned cuss jest went an
hung himself, an seem es we was
short f fresh fodder fer Christmas we
went an ct him" Shorty" explained
Then he launched into details while
the gum-shod listened and shifted.
According to "Shorty's" now verified
story he and Jim went up the noun
ict, 20 Sol
trees. The trees We're for lumber, but
incidentally they had an order to pick
out tall graduated spruce for a flag
staff. This was to he cut with care
and later hauled to the village. 1t was
late in the afternoon before they came
/ upon just the right tree for a staff.
and inasmuch as it was worth more
to take it out than twenty logs for
mill stock they left off other work and
: turned their attention to this.
The ground was rough and rocky
and while the snow was two feet deep
the men were afraid to let the tree
fall full weight for fear OF swapping
! the top. They therefore rugged up
what amCng lumbermen is known as
Q cradle" This is strong rope
fastened to the trunks OF big girthed
trees in such way that the chopped
tee will be caught by it twenty feet
above the ground. keeping it suspend
ed above the rocks
! A fifty-loot rope had been brought
for this purpose and when the cradle
/ had been rugged ten feet, with a moose
t on one end. still lay on the snow. A
cut was made on either side of the
base OF the staff tree. and when the
monarch of the forest was on the
point of tottering the men laid aside
their axes and procured two spiked
poles with which to push it over into
the cradle.
They were about to send the tree
crashing down when Jim noticed the
long end of the rope in the snow. AS
: a matter of precaution he threw il
over the cradle and left it hanging
with the moose ten feet above the
ground. The choppers then began to
push.
The tree wavered. swayed and
started to break at the cut when a
buck deer dashed out of the under
growth and went by the men like a
Hash. Back of him came mountain
panther. nimbly leaping over the
rocks and paying no attention to the
choppers. Just as he passed the waver-
ing tree the big stick went down with
a crash. There was a cloud of fiying
snow that yelled both animals from
the gaze of the surprised choppers
and then stiffness.
AS the snow cleared the men caught
q glimpse of the panther doubling IN
the mountain in bounds and the next
instant observed the deer swinging by
his neck above the cradle in the ton
OF the fallen spruce. He was appar.
emily dead. though now and then he
kicked a bit. For few moments the
choppers were too surprised to do
more than exclaim. Then they invest.
igated and determined that the deer
had tried to pass under the cradle as
the tree fell. In some way he had
run his head through the Moose and
been sent skyward when the tree
lstrucR the cradle. He had landed in
the spruce .op with his neck broken.
| To be caught with dead deer is a
criminal offense in Vermont but the
mems mouths watesed when they
thought of yenison and so they took
the animal TO camp. They knew the
story would be doubted. so several
men were taken up the mountain aud
the deer and panther tracks pointed
out Then all agreed to keep the
story cu,et but of course ii was too