The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1910-05-20
THE GOOD OLD TIMES
When Hunting Was Good and
Gray Mares Were Wonders.
REAL SPORT IN THOSE DAYS.
Old Jimmy Chambers Tells About One
Haul He Made When He Got More
Than He Expected-The Willing Old
Horse That Cracked Her Skin.


Than He Expected-The Willing Old
Horse That Cracked Her Skin.
Talk about yer huntin trips" said
ole Jimmy Chambers why, there amt
no huntin' nowadays; no, not none
'tall-leastwise none worth mentionin'.
1T was different when l wuz
young Teller. Them wuz huntin' days!
When ye went out to hunt We got
sumthin', tell ye An most always
We got dunn sight more n we expect
ed l remember onct down In ole
Pennsylvania when l had hunt us
wuz a hunt. l had err ole muzzle
loader rifle that could shoot some,
tell We. An wuz no SLOUGH at shoot
In In them days myself. could shoot
about as well us Their next Teller. Well,
l went down to ther river lookin' fer
err deer. seen one standln' right In
front Of er big tree. pulled up Their
ole muzzle loader an let her 80. Jest
rs fired n big fish jumped out Of Their
water, an my shot went plum through
him. l seen by Their way he fell I'd
plugged err hole in him. The deer
Jest dropped where he stood-never
stirred, jest fell stone dead
II rushed out into ther river an
grabbed my fish fore it could float
away. With Their fish under my arm
started fer Their deer. An what dye
suppose? s. help me, Jest back Of
where that deer stood ther bullet had
knocked er hole In that tree as big
MS yer fist, an out of that hole er
regular stream Of honey wuz fowin'!
dunn fast, an hadn't nary er thing
to stop It, Jest then er rabbit jump
ed out Of er hole hadn't noticed, an
l grabbed him by Their hind legs Jest
as he wuz leapin'. 1 wuz goin' to stuff
him in Their hole when err flock Of quail
flew up on Their other side of Their
tree. They wuz goin straightaway,
nm there wuz more N 10000 Of 'em.
Their ole muzzle loader wuzn't loaded
an them quail wuz gettin' away fast
wanted some Of 'em bad, so jest
let go that ole rabbit right In Their mid
die Of 'em, an the way he kicked
an clawed us he wuz goln' through
tier air wuz caution. He landed
right on top Of ther. whole bunch,
an when l got over there seventeen
Of 'em wuz dead on ther ground-yes,
sir, jest seventeen of em! An Their
shock had killed Their rabbit too He
wuz MI smashed up. l stuck his head
in ther hole to stop Their honey till
could go home fer sum barrels.
II hitched up Their ole gray mare to
ther sled an went back. chopped
that there ole tree down, an there wuz
honey enough to fill all my barrels.
Well. slung Their deer an Their fish an
Their rabbit an ther quail on Their sled
an started home. 1t wuz some load
fer Their ole mare, an walked at her
head, kinder coaxin' her along. l
wuzn't payin' any attention to Their
load, an, by gum, when we got up to
Their house there wuz that there load
way back in Their middle Of ther river.
OF course I knowed what wuz Their
matter. That ole grounding harness
had got wet an Jest stretched. I wuz
kind Of hungry. so Jest throwed Their
harness over stump an went into
dinner. When l cum out again Their
sun had dried Their harness an Their
load wuz just pullin' up to Their stump.
That wuz some hunt Yer don't get
nothin' like that nowadays, tell ye.
Them wuz good old days!
"An', speakin' Of Their ole gray mare,
she was Their willin'est mare that ever
wuz. She'd pull anything yer hitched
her to. tried her. an she pulled ev-
erything. One day sez to myself, BY
gum, I'll give yer er load yer can't
pull nm hitched her to er stone boat
loaded with all Their powders in Their
county. She got right down an pulled
an pulled an pulled, but ther load
didn't bulge. l heard er little crack,
but for er minute I didn't suspicion
anything, an before noticed that Their
skin on her face had cracked it wuz
too late. yelled at her to stop, but
she wuz SO dunn mad she kept right on
pullin', an s'help me, before could
stop her she'd pulled herself clean out
Of her skin! didn't want to lose that
there mare, an got busy an did er
little skin graftin' fer myself. I had
some fresh sheep pelts, an sewed
them on as fast as could sew. Well,
sir. them pelts took root fine. They
growed on that there ole mare Jest
like they'd always been there, an ther
next season ! sheared Jest 875 pounds
Of wool 0fi'n her. She wuz er good
ole mare, tell ye, an every year
got 875 pounds Of wool 80 long as she
lived. Yes, sir; 1t wus always Jest 1916
pounds. Yer don't have no such horses
nowadays, l tell ye."-Outer's Book.