The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-07-30
TWO THOUSAND
GATOR HIDES
BROUGHT TO SAVANNAH
GATORS CAUGHT BY SEMINOLE IN
DIANS IN FLORIDA EVERGLADES

Shipped From Fort LnuderdaIe, In
dian Trading Post On Edge of the
Swamps to A. EhrIich q Bro.-In-
dams Hunt Gators in Spring ana
Summer and otter in Winter.
Chief Hunt of Season Follows
Green Corn Dance Which Was
Recently Celebrated 600 to 2O,-
900 Hides Shipped From Savannah
to Europe in "a Year.
Few people probably are aware of
the extent of the trade in alligator
hides in Savannah. A shipment of
1000 hides of the scaly saurians was
received yesterday by A. Ehrlich d
Bro. This firm handles on an average
between $4,000 and 10000 gator hides in
a year, but shipment so large as
that just received is unusual.
The hides come from the Florida
Everglades, had been secured by the
Seminole Indians. and We're salt cured
and shipped in barrels. Here they
will be assorted according to sizes and
quality thoroughly cured, and then ex-
ported to Europe. there to be made into
various articles of ornament and utiIi-
ty. The shipment was made by
Strachan &c Co. from Fort Lauderdale.
an Indian trading post on the edge of
the Everglades.
Caught by Indians.
A representative of the firm, w. o.
Berryhill, was in Savannah yesterday.
and talked interestingly of the bust
ness of hunting tho ,,o+or 7. =;
he said, almost entirely by the Indians
for though few white men follow the
business, the average Caucasian is in
capable of living among the swamps
ana morasses where the Indians have
their homes
Gators are hunted only during the
spring ana the summer. for though
they are plentiful in the Everglades
and the nearby streams the year round
IN the winter the hunter devotes his
time to securing the far more valuable
otter. The pelt of that animal is then
IN prime condition, and one of them
IS worth far more than many gator
hides.
The SeminOIe's Habits.
The Indian is a shiftless chap. as
he is represented among the hunting
seminole, says Mr.. Berryhill. About
inns season of the year, possibly a
iiItl0 carrier, ne nOldS his Green Corn
dance, which lasts about a week. and
winch means simply one prolonged
merry-making. When this is ended he
goes on big hunt, and it is then
that the majority of the gators are
Killed. 1t is then that the hides begin
TO come into the trading station. Mr.
Berryhlll says that he has known as
many as 1880 to be brought in in one
day,
PrOdigaI People.
The hunters are paid in cash bu+
they have little appreciation of it's
value, for none of them save ANYTHING
Ihey simply spend it for a good time
as long as it lasts, and as long as thew
nave any left they will not hunt or
work. When their pockets are empty.
however, they SO hunting again, and
the alligator has a hard time of it I'M
til the hunter thinks he has skins
enough to LAY OFF, and enjoy life for
a spell.
Some of the Seminoles live near the
outskirts of their Doggy home, but the
majority of them live in the interior
In many cases a family will pre-empt
an island clear it for planting, build
a little hut of palmetto and estab-
fish his permanent home there. They
are not conspicuous as farmers. their
chief crops consisting of potatoes and
| pumpkins.