The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1907-10-10

a igur hani~rt. ifagprr And spruce
run eaihefgfs spons IA weeks time in
actaler ard Novetnhsr Tpvsng over
tl,f 5AFk bone u ias Green Mountains
= lsennlpgson and RatAand counsies
Tbsy carried = hgi,i A tent, shes'-irou
slote and cooking dsshes INSIDE q,
sleeping bAgt. leather long leggud
bo.lt and rubber sugls. some bacon,
a@ar. spaces. sail. matches and sun .
glasses and fiui and aesl. They each /
bad light repeating rlh" and plenty |
u cartridges. long bamboo io,nle'i Gun |
poles and a psir u lighi telephone pole I
rlinii,ers. The whole outfit made
load q about o. pounds each besides
The gans, Ares and poles. 4 span 81
mountain horses and a log sled hauled
their kil tea miles into The woods and
li,ay oampod IN IN Old iog .hsnty on
one az the mountain ponds. The Ter.
nlory had been mostly cut over some
years before for the soft timber and
shat spruce and baisAm hr thai Was
100 scrubby for lumber. bat produced
good spruce gum aud liquid balsam,
Plenty o. good dry wood WAS handy
aud an old boat that done service on
the pond. Trout fishing having closed
aud a. there we're DO partridge, rab-
bits. squirrels or other small game
- far back in the woods as they were
they did not expect 10 shoot any eat
able game save bear and perhaps q
deer IN The last week Of October. But
they fixed up the camp by spreading
the tent over the roof and cutting bal
sam branches for bed They dug
hole aud put the food into il and GOV.
cred il with stones on side hill near
by.
Then tho, at a lot Of snares, dead
falls and few steel traps which they
had aud commenced TO gather gum and
balsam. going in pairs and dividing
The territory SO as 10 covert all. They
were having good luck, the weather
was fine and the fur they caught was
mink. fisher and one bear which was
fat aud good eating.
They had about secured the forest
for days journey all around and
were contemplating hiding their gum.
balssm and furs in a big hollow tree
and moving on G0rth. When just at
night strong dog with his head full
a hedgehog quilts limped into camp
whining and soon black swarthy
Italian with shot gun and n string Of
fine trout cane up. A pair of pincers
soon helped 10 90, the quilts out of the
dog aud then the Italian said "me got
net up pond, me get all fish me want
me sci net in brook fish run in" Evi-
IDENTITY he was robbing the spawning
beds Of trout. He said 'you got bear
in log trap up brook, GOMEZ! They
started and half mills brought them
10 the log trap with 200 pound bear
in it. They skinned the bear, set the
trap and took the hams giving the
| Italian the rest. He thanked them
aud said lyon come wild me. live
leetle way of here" pointing almost
north, and as il was not much out Of
their way they went. On the bank OF
brook that flowed northwest stood
his shanty made of boards from an old
barn nearby. On ons end OF the barn
hung the carcass OF big buck deer,
and on the roof was the hide. In the
shanty he had wife and two boys,
also a barrel Of corn beer, made from
corn and molasses. aud ii would kill 40
rods. but he said 81 like hit good
strong" They tried to tell him it was
against the law 10 catch fish and kill
deer but he mo for stand, me like
meat, me like fish, me got plenty
easy" And they had to leave him
and go.
Next morning two game wardens
came in and looked the camp all over,
pretending TO think the bear meat was
venison, but when they saw the hide
they gave in, and said that deer were
being killed around the pond and they
had better get out or they would be
suspected" and when asked il they
had been at the Italian camp they said
yes" and that he had told them that
'our gummers were catching trout and
killing deer" and showed them where
there had been net in the brook and
also the head and inwards OF deer
When told what they had seen the
night before the wardens laughed and
said; ''these Italians are honest. They |
work for one Of our friends and he
says he never saw better men; that
they were working every DAY, cutting
wood and logs and earning big money,
but you fellows are sneaking around
killing of the game and are liable to
burn up the whole forest. Better
move on!" And 10 next morning they
did move on and before another week
they had located several more dead
deer and fishing traps for estchingl
trout, but as the Italians were the only |
people on the mountain and as their
employer and his wardens said they
we're honest. what was TO be donef
Nothingl so they shifted further south
and moved several times, and when
he FIRST snow came they hauled their
'urs, gum and balsam out on light TO-
Doggans made Of bark which slipped
EASILY over the soft snow, and they
Tound they bad cleared up about 500
apiece for six weeks, all told. and had ,
perhaps thousand miles.
rIu.s ,..as. t.s,xh .a,o,nl .Al ha.styI