The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-06-27
THEODORE DAYS
PORCUPINE EXPERIENCE

our Offlc6 the OJner morn |
ls.SSz=St ing after an absence of
AE2SAI several weeks. He has
been enjoying a vacation |
down in Columbia, Sullivan and Lu-
zerne counties, visiting friends and
having a good time generally. He
used to catch more trout when down
that way, but this year he caught
few, and looked over the places
where he used to take them by the
score. However, he had some ex-
periences while absent that are
worth talking about, especially to
| be mentioned is what he calls his
Porcupine Day.
One day he started from Central,
in Columbia county, which is the en-
trance to the North Mountain, and
began climbing out of Columbia to-
wards Sullivan county. He was ac-
companied by native school boy.
They passed Jamison City, which
used to be the metropolis of a tan
merry and saw mill. 1t contained
about 20 houses, practically all of
which are now abandoned, although
the tannery is still running.
They pursued their way along a
rough mountain road that ever
wound upward, finally reaching New
Philadelphia, but the end of the
road was not yet. New Philadelphia
sounds fine. 1t may have place on
the local maps. Mr.. Day says it con-
sists of a big name and only one
house, right there alone in the
mountains.
A Pet Wild Goose.
! At that new "city of brotherly
love- Mr.. Day and his young COM
panion found some boys playing with
live wild goose which had been
caught by IL year old boy. The
lad caught the goose in the noun
tain, running it down, Mr.. Day
thinks, in the brush. To show what
mettle that boy is made of it is but
necessary to say that he is accredit-
ed with having climbed a tall apple
tree out of which he dubbed a big
porcupine.
Upward they still climbed, like
the famous youth with the one-word-
ed banner that Longfellow tells
about so beautifully, until they
found themselves along the banks of
the famous Fishing Creek, a trout
stream of Columbia county that has
more than a name, it has history.
Fishing Creek!
The very name brings up memo
| ries of the Civil War when conscripts
in Columbia county banded together
to resist the provost marshalls. Mr..
Day says that on a former visit he
saw Fort Rock, one of the drafted
mems strongholds, and saw the bull
let marks that were mute evidences
Of ~ hot 10
| between the draft resisters and the
Federal soldiers who were trying to
round them up. But that is anoth-
er story that must have more atten-
ton later on,
| Porcupine Number 1.
While passing upward they came
to spring of deliciously cold and
pure water that sprang gladly from
the base of a ledge of rocks and
went sparkling in the sunshine,
blithely singing and murmuring on
its way to join the tumbling waters
of Fishing Creek. Right there in
the road suddenly appeared a half
grown porcupine, with quills set and
all ready for battle. Mr.. Days boy
comrade was quicker in thought and
action than he was, and picking up
stone, as the "fretful porcupine"
mounted log, he threw it with such
accuracy that the hedgehog was
knocked from his perch and he fell
over the precipice that had an al
most perpendicular drop of nearly
a hundred feet to the rocky ledge
over which tumbled Lewis's Falls
which have drop of about GO feet
But the porcupine did not fall the
hundred feet. 1t easily caught on a
projecting clump of bushes as it
shot down, and speedily found it's
den in the side of the rocky ledge
and disappeared from view where it
could spend the remainder of the
day getting over it's headache.
Lewis's Falls were named after a
lumberman by the name of Lewis.
He cut the hemlock timber and
fioated it down the creek A Jam
of logs occurred at the falls, and in
some way Lewis fell over the preci-
pice and was killed. That is how
the falls came to bear his name.
POrcupine Number 2.
On up the road went the WAYNE
county naturalist and his boy com
rade, and to their astonishment they
suddenly came upon the body of a
large, full-grown porcupine lying
lifeless in the roadway. DR.. Day
observed that this was no proper
place to leave a dead porcupine.
With the aid of his cane and stick
used by the boy the dead body was
poked over the mountain side out of
the road and where nobody could be
harmed by its quills by coming in
: contact with them.
POrcupine No. 3.
They had scarcely begun the re-
sumption of their journey, had gone
only few rods, in fact, when they
came upon the dead body of the
third porcupine for the day. 1t was
fully as large as the body previously
found, was lying in the road, and
had evidently been killed some con-
siderable length of time. They dis