The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-10-03
uTHER ODDITIES THAT PASS FOR
NEAT OR MONEY AS NEcEs-
slTY MAY REQUIRE.


rtsruad throughout the land. The
nxn who has not heard of the Mary
hz6 Diamond back has not read the
stories Of eating and drinking that
r,rnraicIe the doings OF man who
auies on his victuals. The tarrapin
5 1 good fellow. He belongs to a
faruiIy which is found in many places
With many big names, and besides
aeiag suitable for the table, the tar.
rrdns kinsmen are useful for other
thfzgs- Sometimes It may look as
ffsrTgh Adam had sort of second
3 SELECTION of animals in North Caro-
Ina so that In case trouble overlook
the lot he started with In the Garden
vi Eden he could replenish his fiocks
1ruu the reserve.
EB in Pennsylvania, where l came
tsxn- We had two kinds of tortoises:
+ we was the swapping turtle, that
Sas ut for soup, the other was the
dry lind turtle, that was only good
10r she small boy to play with. In
North Carolina tae. small boy can go
out almost any morning and come
hume with a new variety of turtle.
znd cur old colored man Classics
them, beginning with the turtle"
and going through the range of tar
SslHl, cooter, dry-land tarrypin,
4 sopher. stud tarrypin, red belly,
slidsr. aud only the negro and the
buy know how many more. Some
se eat; some we do not. That class.
ffiration is about the same as that in
Pennsylvania.
Tkere is one difference is the bunch
IN fhs South, and that difference is the
gnzAar- The gother in the West
Is a aittie chap, like rat that digs
hoias in the ground. Some places the
saRher is q snake; other places he
Is ground squirrel. From North
canuiina southwark he is tortoise,
xr3 he spends his spare time burrow-
ing IN the ground, like other gophers.
The gopher is esteemed highly fur
& shr South as table morsel, and is
cbznd om the table Just as fast as he
ran be found to put on the table.
Tksy tell the story that in Florida
E1z Southern, Alabama the gopher is
md only meat but money. A Penn
r5tSanfa hmberman was at my house
fDsr Sunday last week. He had come
ns from Alabama. We got to talking
rinut gophers.
q never saw one of them" he
aid, until l struck Southern Ala.
fxrnzS One day had been up in
IA mountains, and rode up to
Email snttlament in the evening.
7sEsud a tavern. and told the land
ird ! wanted supper. They were
ti.t finishing; but he told me to pull
nc znG have bite of the gopher. l
aakgd at the stuff, but could not
rtnher out what the curious red meat
sxs- 20 I tasted 1t and it didn't hurt,
md therefore waded in and cleaned
no che gopher, for it was that or go
fto bed for supper. Then the old
lrisn told me what his gopher was,
and seemed surprised to learn that
ttaTe was country where folks did
mn live principally on them when
rapurback pork was scarce.
nown in that country gophers
70 5dr money. You see a native ride
M TO the store and buy some meal
REd side meat, and then dig up two.
zrzhef tow bag. He throws the bag
m the counter and goes down in it
znd pulls out two or three or half a
sfazen gophers, depending on how
many it takes to pay his bill. II he
hzepens to give several big ones, the
zeerchant goes back Of the counter TO
q pen, and, tossing the big gophers
susrn in box. fishes out little fel.
kzE about the right size and hands
II back for change. 1t makes handy
zsrt. OF money, for 1t is like wheat
Efways good to eat. and after you get
rsed to it. the blamed stuff isn't so
lad after all. But you can't pay rail.
rid fare with it, and Mr.. Rockefel-
~ would have trouble carrying
rz71ud enough tip money for the no.
;fa walters in that currency. How
eesnS as the people who use It don't
) Etzsafd ny rail or put up at the hotels,
Il IS good enough for their uses, and
aEcu1f sfn better than no money at all,
xtiThs IS pretty near the case when
stiay run out of gophers.
heard the hotel man explain
the rusorback hog down there, too,
xz6 guess it was about right" con,
; fizzd the lumberman. and a
NWIherner was critizing the lean
bog znd boasting of the fine and fat
Bss-ksIires and Chester Whites, and
HaEzt kind Of stun back in the region