Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-03-24

tail
Durability OF III. nIdc.
: fc'h"ps tho next greatest dincultv
IN r"inmcrciaiizinS the alligator is the
extreme durability Of his hide Lik.
IN" alligator IN life. II seems to en-.
dure forever When properly tanned.
Fthc richness OF it's color and ,be
smoothucsa OF it's nnish Improve win
I age No one ever has TO replace any
thiuT made Of alligator leather. and
/ mat naturally limits the demand. At
present The business j. humpcrcd bv.
! tn" fact that All Of tho tannerlcs i'm
I'll" country arc booked to capacit,
Win sh"c leather, ANA IL is impossible
TO r"t ai!tgatCr hides tanned
/ I'm the matter OF food. tho alligator
/ is not az all particular. eating almost
7 anything mat is, or once was, alive
Tho farm has standing order win
the CITY ScaNcnger for tho CarCassc.
or hors'T aud cattle, and 'hc.c ar.
Jed 10 the larger allirators. They cat
Z oiee ct twic" q week. and consume.
iiiN 10 lao pounds ut :. time swallow
! M the meat in great chunks
Tho it'll" UllipatorS ar" sold 10 visi-
r tors for pets. but tho creatures attain
ih"ir greatest Nalu" between thc ages
81 i"ur ana twenty years, when they
AT" from two to six feet Ions. II is
during this period that they make tho.
! best leather. some OF thcm grow
/ raster tmnn others. ANA IL has been
/ found possible by heavy feeding to
produce Z, fivc-roo, alligator III ny,F
( years. The allig:ttors that arc ten feet
OF NOR" III length arc too valuable u
he used for leather. they are sold for
exhibition purposes, and bring 5000 OF
$500 apiece. When an alligator Is ad-
judged ready inr tho slaughter, he i
drowned by fastening weights to his
BODY ana sinking him for twenty. fouI
hours. Thus hc IL Killed without a.
an! Way inluriur his hide, which Is
worth 5 foot. raw
How the business began
RUS alligator business was started
10y q remarkable man. commonly known
as Alligator Toe. who died at tho san
Francisco Exposition last summer IL.
was great hunter Of wild alligatorS.
, and used to catch them alive for til:
"iiiiCation OF tourists at so much a per
Torrance. Later he established an al
/ ligator farm AZ Miami There arc now
/ three such establishments in Florida.
and there seems to bc no reason why
( the alligator raising should not become
/ an industry OF considerable pronoi-
{ tions. IT q large supply OF the hide
/ Ncr. available, numerous new uses
4 could doubtless be found for H.
Formerly there MAS no need for rails
. .nG Hlli-ators ia captivity, as great
Plumbers were taken by tho hunters.
Sow hunting them is scarcely profit
able ~ Florida though some arc taken
/ every year. rho accepted way of taxi
! ing them alive is 10 ind tho caves in
the river banks where they live. y
long pot" with a hook on tho end is
/ thrust into iii. hole. II il not baitcd.
/ If the alligator is at home. he Will seize
the pole. tho hook is lodged Ill his jaw,
and he is drawn out. There the trou-
( bic begins, for u fun grown gator is II
/ dangerous propositions TO handle, while
the little ones are hardly worth talk
ing AlIipators arc also hunted ai
night in boats having 81 light III the
bow. This attracts tho ailirators. and
when their big cyc-s"ckcts are seen
/ rising above the surface of the water
they are killed with shotguns.
In order to raise ailgators success
: fully III captivity, the Matching OF the
eggs must lac done artificially. as other
| wise tho adult alligators would cat
most of the eggs ANA all nf tho young
/ ones tina, were patched. In the Wild
state, the female alligator builds Il
pile Of sand and straw in the sun.
/ hurics h"r eggs in this and guards
/ them with her life until tho young are
I iaichcd, In captivity the eggs arc
gathered az fast MS they are laid. and
arc placed ia Il heap OF straw and
Garth similar TO the ones built bv the
wild alligatorS y fair proportion OF
tho youn" hatch out and they are kept
in groups according 10 age and size,
so that at least they will have an equal
chance in the struggle for existence.
Whenever the weather changes the
large alligators make night hidcous
with loud throaty believing. At all
other times they arc silent as a rock
lying absolutely motionlcSS for hours
and even days as though lost in an
endless meditation. Their is the ALSO
watched whole centuries marching by.
Q