Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-02-03
LOST HIS LIFE
 ID SAVE HIS DOG Story of a Negro Coon Hunt CT of "Ole Virginey" Who Deserves a Monument Good Traits of the
POSSUM MAN
Canine Lured Into the Pamunskey by Clever Ru>e-COOn Has the Subtle ty Of Satan and Diab0lic Sense 0i HHmOr.
0i HuliiOr.

Every coon hunter and possun
 hunter in the South would be willing
 to contribute for a monument to Davie ] Temple, colored who lost his life near Aetna Mills by jumping in the Pamun-
 key river to rescue his dog, who was in i danger of being drowned by a coon That is a favOrite trick of the coon He has the sublety of Satan and a di- abolic sense of humor, and is crafty and indomitable warrior. When he
 can catch somebody's good coon dog near water and drown it he is tri- umphantly happy and doubtless be-
 comes a magnate in the wild kingdom
 of the coons.
 We never have known a white coon
 or 'possum hunter who was not a good
 fellow, nor a negro sincerely attached
 to the sport guilty of any serious crime. Only good people with souls in them, and good, honest, faithful and spOrtsmanlike dogs, can realize the full joy of going out on frosty night with the moon securely hid, rustling among the dry leaves through the mys- terious silence of the autumn woods, watching the lights dance and flicker against tree trunks and hill sides and the dark wierd, changing shadows. The real negro huntsman, who has it in his blood from a long ancestry of planta- ton hands who worked faithfully all day and danced all night, is serious on such occasions. Friyolty and flip piancy are far from him. His own reputation is at stake, and dearer than that-the honor of his dog or dogs. Every we'll regulated country negro in the South has at least one dog to which his faith is fixed unalterably, in behalf of which, when accused of run ming astray on rabbit trails, he will fight, unless the insult be withdrawn promptly. 4 genuine coon or 'possum negro may be little bit slip pery in dog trade, here and there may lift a casual and tempting shote, and his views on the laws of trespass and the rights of owners of posted lands may be hay, but his crimes never ar malicious. He is remote from the darker wees of his better dressed and more highl yeducated brethren, and is simple-hearted, hon. est in his general purposes, affection ate and loyal as the dogs themselves
 He projects his voice into the dark ness anXiously. Some mysterious in- stinct tells him whether Scout and Drum and Tige and Spot are doing their duty and attending to businetss. He encourages exhorts and remon- strates. When the tramp is long, and no answers have come he walls and presently threatens and begins to la ment that the neighborhood dogs have been brought along to set evil ex- ample to his reviling them darkly, whispering and muttering of their in- dividual vices delinquincies and men tai and moral shortcomings. When the first dubious, suspicious yelp comes reverberating through the woods and hollows his spirits revive and his fervor grows With the pack in full cry the varied music of it's cho- rus steady, sure and strong, he is man capable of prodigies of activity, strength and valor. Each negro rec ogniZes, welcomes and echoes the voice of some favorite and extols his virtues, his achievements, and his qualities aloud and with an enthusi- asm which no tearing bramoles, trip ping vines, cold and splashing swamp ish. When the treed bark comes and the dogs are in a frenzy at sight and scent of their mortal foe, and in a eli
 max of ecstatic, confused proclama-
 ton are yelling their story of pursuit
 and detection, and their heseechings
 for quick help; when the quarry is shined and the integrity of the pack
 established, happiness has perched up-
 on their lofties pinnacle, and the very
 c0nsunlmation of joy is attained
 H"eause the coon is a more difficult
 proposition than the 'possum, he is T
 steajer joy. Because he invariably makes desperate fight and leaves marks of his claws and teeth on hides and ears, he is the more desired ef dogs and men. He falls on his back
 with every stout and active leg. with
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