The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1907-04-07


disappearing from the face of the
earth, means may soon be given
by the government to preserve him
in reservations. Unless some care
Is taken of him meanwhile through
state laws, such as the one recently
passed by the Florida legislature, he
is doomed. From sport to CONNER
cialism, the slaughter of the alligator
has grown. and only vigorous meas
ures can SpoI it, says an eastern ex-
change.
To most persons it would seem
that the alligator might as we'll go.
He is ugly and possesses no attract
i've feature, save an extremely tough
hide. There are people like that and
their determination would be received
with general rejoicing by mankind.
Therefore, the average man would
argue, it were we'll to begin with the
alligator. But beyond his tough hide
which makes excellent leather, the
alligator has other good points, use
full if not ornamental.
Until a comparatively short time
ago jewellers in alligator-infested 10
calities were prone to think of the al
| ligator what the early settler in the
| west thought of the Indian-that
| there was no good alligator except
dead alligator. Dealers in alligator
| hides have thought this. too, but now
that their slaughter of the saurians
| has reduced them to so small num-
| Der, they are becoming frightened at
| the possibility of there being nothing
| but dead aligators in a few years
Before the trade in alligator skins
developed to an extent where it was
highly profitable, the saurians were
| killed chiefly for the sport there was
in it-pOor sport at best, by. the way
but when their commercial value
! developed TO the point of making a
traffic in hides an industry. deadly
methods were devised for slaughter
| ing them by the Wholesale.
| The result was that where there
were alligators in abundance in Geor-
gia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louis
lana fifteen years ago, they are to be
found in great numbers today only in
Louisiana and Florida Those in
Louisiana are going very rapidly, and
the Florida alligators would soon have
disappeared if the Florida Legislature
had not stepped in year ago witt
the passage of a law restricting the
slaughter of the amphibians in GER
| tain localities.
The United States government is in
hearty sympathy with this movement
and is doing all it can to encourage
a lessening of the destruction. SO
| far, however, the Florida authorities
have proved themselves competent to
deal with the situation and, unless
the unforeseen happens, the Florida
alligator is in fair way to hold on
| for a little while. The day may
come, however, when he will be as
scarce as the bison only a few of
! saI1 Irx,Sv
| There are a great number Of wild
stories of the great number of alliga-
tors that were found in Florida by
the early settlers. One explorer
wrote that once in Florida where the
st. Johns river is half a mile wide,
he saw alligators swimming up
| stream, packed so tightly that had
they kept still he could have walked
across the river on their backs. They
did not stay STILL" however, so he
stayed on the river bank and watched
them move along.
At first the alligator was killed for
amusement. A good sportsman can
! hardly imagine any thrilling sensation
to be gained from wandering along a
river bank taking pot shots at aiIiga-
| tors. uless 1T was for the purpose of
! testing the force with which his rifle
| carried, but it was considered sport,
nevertheless, and the game was shot
and left to rot in the stream, no at
| tempt being made to take their hides.
| Later, however, as Florida became
more closely settled, they were killed
| for the protection of the people. Or
| dinarily they live on fish, but when
there are no fish, they come inland
and devour young chickens, hogs and
| ducks, or even young calves. This
was more than the farmers would
stand and with them to see an ALI
gator was to kill him, if there was a
rifle at hand with which to do it.
| 1t was not until alligator trunks,
| travelling bags, satchels, pocket books
and card cases became the rage that
the real devastation began. Then it
was taken up Systematically and in
| a short time, the alligator hunters of
| Florida were sending annually 300,-
| 600 skins to the northern manufac-
turers. From one section of Louisiana
alone, about eight years ago, 10000
hides were shipped.
The fayorite method of hunting
! then was by flashlights at night. The
alligator wandering about the streams
| in search of food, would be located in
/ shallow water, blinded with strong
| lights and shot. So close can the
| hunter approach an alligator when ne
carries a light, that short barreiled
revolvers of heavy calibre may be
used with deadly effect
When the fish are scarce the ALI
| CATERS go inland in search of food.
| and have been found as far as fifteen
miles from the water. AS long as
they can get enough water to drink,
they can live an indefinite time on
/ land.
Several years ago the Atchafalaya
basin, in southern Louisiana, was full
| of alIigators. This is an extremely
| large basin at the end of the Atcha-
| faIaya river, held in by levees. or by
| dykes. The hunters discovered il,
| however, and set to work. The re
suit was that in less than year they
/ shipped nearly 1000 hides and prac-
/ tically exterminated the aIigators.
| This aroused Representative Brous-