The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1916-07-20

element of danger, and this gave a
spice to the sport; there was a large
bounty-at one time twenty-five dol
lars given by the State for a VOLTS
scalp; and the only way to protect
their live stock was to exterminate its
destroyers. They considered the wolf
their natural enemy. and there were no
better wolf hunters in the country than
these two brothers.
/ They were so thoroughly acquainted
with the habits of the wolf that they
could find the den every time they
started out in earnest TO look for
and, having found it, they could ten
whether or not the wolf was in. They
could catch wolves in traps, which was
by no means a slight accomplishment.
They could track wolves without the
aid of snow by the punctures their toe
nails would make in leaves. And they
were unafraid of the beasts not be-
cause they were ignorant of their
ferocity of the danger that was attach
ed to Drawing them in their dens, but
because they knew the animals so
thoroughly they were able to provide
against every mischance.
To illustrate the pertinacity with
which the old gentlemen would pursue
their arch enemy, we have the follow
ing incident. Once when hunting by
himself Thomas saw wolf signs and, of
course, followed it till he came to the
den. Obviously the wolves were safe
hid, so there was nothing to DO but
await their issuing from the rocks, IN
less he should, like Isreal Putnam, fol-
low his prey into the den. But as there
was no one with him and it was near
dark, he decided to leave them alone
till they should come forth. He re-
tired some distance from the den and
put up for the night, resolving to give
battle in the morning. He had nothing
to eat, but he comforted himself with
the knowledge that there were whelps
in the den, and even if he failed to get
the old ones, the young would certainly
fall prey to him. But in the night the
wolves moved away, carrying the
young ones with them. In the morning,
when the hunter saw what had occurred,
he stlN2k the trail and followed as far
as he could. But, encountered as they
were by the whelps, they had Travelled
too fast for him to overtake them; so,
after following them over ten miles, he
reluctantly gave UP the pursuit Had
he been fresh at the start, he would
probably have followed much further,
but he had nothing to eat since
the morning of the day before and
was then at least twenty miles from
home. This was one of the very few
instances when wolves that had been
once located were allowed to escape.
The men of olden times had little re-
gard for pain, either to themselves or
to others, when there was necessity TO
inficting it upon them. On one oc
casion Thoms III was fishing along the
North Potomac in company with John
Bray. They had come to the place
they intended to camp and were prepar-
ing to get supper-Thomas dressing the
fish and Bray getting wood-when a
ratte-snake bit Bray on the leg. He
called to Thomas that he had been bit
ard killed the snake before it could get
away. Thomas came up as quickly as
possible, and examined the bitten place.
Then, before the poison could circulate
through the blood to any considerable
extent, he opened his knife and cut out
the piece of flesh into which the poison
GUS fluid had been injected. Hastily
cutting strips of flesh from the dead
body of the snake, he bound them to
the raw wound and told BRAY to lie
down and be easy. By this simple and
homely treatment, the mans life was
probably saved. The wound healed
nicely and without any evidence of the
swelling or inhamma ton which usually
result from the bite of snake.
About 1880 Thomas III, his sons
Thomas " and James, and his brother
Jonathan spent nearly month hunting
deer. AS it was very cold that winter,
the venison was piled in an clubhouse
when brought in, and left thus till it
could be got ready to be sent to market.
In all somewhat over a hundred deer
were killed, the most of which were
transported by sled and wagon to Wash
ington and Baltimore. The meat sold
readily and at a price beyond the high
est hopes of the hunters, so they realiE-
ed quite neat sum on the undertaking.
But hunting deer for the market was
not looked upon with favor. 1t seemed
unsportsmanlike thus to slaughter game
by wholesale, though people of that
day thought little of preserving it for
the future. They could not know what
changes few years would bring about,
and perhaps would have rldiculed the
thought that time would come when
game of all kinds, and particularly
deer, would be practically extinct in
their old hunting grounds-the Glades