The Press., 1910-07-27
THE GOOD OLD TIMES
When Hunting Was Good and Gray Mares Were Wonders.
REAL SPORT IN THOSE DAYS.

REAL SPORT IM THOSE DAYS.
 Old Jimmy Chambers Tells About ons
 Haul He Made When He Got AaOee
 Than He Expected The Wlllina osd
 Horse That Cracked Her Skin.
 ''Talk about yer hnntln' trips,' said
 ole Jimmy Chambers. ''Why, there ain't
 no huntin' nowadays: no, not none
 tall -leastwise none worth mentionin'.
 '.It was different when wuz a
 young feller. Them wux huntin' daysl
 When ye went out to hunt ye got
 sumthin', I tell ye. Am most always
 ye got dunn sight more n ye expect
 ed. remember Onct down In ole
 Pennsylvania when had a hunt as
 wuz a hunt. had CT ole muzzle
 loader rifle that could shoot some. I I#
 tell ye. An I wuz no slouch at shoot
 i'm in them days myself. I cOul6 shoot about as well as ther next felIer. Wen.
 I went down to ther river lOokin' fer
 CT deer. I Seen one standIn' right in
 front of CT big tree. pulled up ther
 ole muzzle loader am let her go. Jest
 as fired big fish jumped out of ther
 water, an my shot went plum through
 him. seen by ther way he fell I'd
 plugged CT hole in him. The deer
 jest dropped where he stood-never stirred, jest fell stone dead.
 ''I rushed out into ther river an
 grabbed my fish fore 1t could float away. With ther fish under my arm I started fer ther deer. An what dye suppose? S' help me, jest back of
 where that deer stood ther bullet had knocked CT hole in that tree as big as yer fist, am out of that hole CT regular stream of honey wuz fIowin'! That good honey wuz goin' to waste dunn fast, an l hadn't nary CT thing to stop 1t. Jest then CT rabbit jump ed out of CT hole hadn't noticed, an I grabbed him by ther hind legs fest as he wuz leapin'. wuz goIn' to stuff him in ther hole when CT flock of quail flew up on ther other side of ther tree. They wuz goin' stralghtaway, an there WIZ more n 10000 of lem. Ther ole muzzle loader wuzn't loaded. an them quail wuz gettin' away fast. I wanted some of 'em bad, so I lest let go that ole rabbit right in ther mid ale of 'em, an the way he kicked an clawed as he wnz gOin' through ther air wuz caution. He landed right on top of ther whole bunch, an when I got over there seventeen of 'em wUz dead on ther grOund-yes, sir, jest seventeen of 'em! An ther shock had killed ther rabbit too. He Wuz all smashed up. stuck his head in ther hole to stop ther honey till could go home fer sum barrels.
 "I hitched up ther 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. We'll, slung ther deer an ther fish an ther rabbit am ther quail on ther sled an started home. It wuz some load fer ther ole mare, am walked at her head. kinder coaxin' her along. wuzn't payin' any attention to ther load, an, by gum, when we got up to ther house there wuz that there load way back In ther middle of ther rIver. Of course \ knowed what wuz ther matter. That ole groundhOg harness had got wet am jest stretched. wux kind Of'hungry, SO jest thFOwed ther harness over q stump am went into dinner. When cum out again theR sun had dried ther harness an theP 1 load wlz just pullln' up to ther stump That wuz some hunt. Yer don't get l nothin' like that nowadays, tell ye. l Them wuz good old daysI
 "An', speakin' of ther ole gray marc, 1 she was ther wiIlin'est mare that ever | wuz. She'd pull anything yer hitched her to. I tried her. an she pulled ev- erything. One day sez to myself, By l gum, I'll give yer CT load yer can't | pull,' am hitched her to CT stone boat 1 loaded with all ther powders in thep | county. She got right down an pulled | ans pulled am pulled, but ther load didn't budge. heard CT little crack, l but for CT minute didn't suspicion l anything, an before noticed that theR | skin on her face had cracked 1t wu1 too late. yelled at her to stop, but she wux so dunn mad she kept right on Dullin', 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, am got busy am did CT little skin graftin' fer myself. I had some fresh sheep pelts. an sewed them on as fast as could sew. We'll, Bir. them belts took root line. They growed on that there ole mare jest like they'd always been there, an fher next season I sheared jest 875 pounds of wool o1rn her. She wuz CT good ole mare, I tell ye, an every year got 375 pounds of wool 60 long as she lived. Yes, sir: 1t wus always jest 875 pounds. Yer don't have no such horses tell ye."-o Cutters Book.