The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-03-12
GEORGIA STILL
HAS A PLENTY
OF ALL|GATORS
Monster Nearly Nineteen Feet
Long Trapped by Squedunk
Hollow Natives

SAVANNAH. Ga, Mar. little
Georgia alligator lives in=the swamps
and marshes and along the rivers and
on the seacoast and attains to mar
velOus age and a forbldding size. AT
times he is hunted for his skin, but
lie has decreased in numbers until
gator hide is now furnished largely
by farms" in Florida and California.
Along the Flint and Cattahoochee
rivers and in the 0kefenokee swamp
and the marshes of Flynn the Georgia
alligator is at his best Here his hide
is thick and his years are greatest.
/ lie makes his home in hole in the
river bank, and his delight is Georgia
hog meat.
An alligator never worries. He is
the nearest approach in the animal
kingdom to a log. Mrs. Gator lays
her eggs in the sand, where the sun
matches them. and the little gators,
from the time they crack the shell,
are left to feed for themselves.
A prevailing belief is that hunters
have almost exterminated the alliga-
tor for his valuable hide. but this is
not true in south Georgia. Not so
many gators are to be found as for
merly. but n trip to the lower Alta
maha river and to the nearby islands
will convince one that his 'gatorship
is still with us.
Hunting the Gator.
Alligator hunters usually go In
pairs. They take boat at night for
points where gators are suspected
Of congregating. and with the aid OF
bulls eye lantern shine" their
eyes. The man in the stern does the
shooting. He must not shoot to kill,
for dead gator sinks Immediately;
he must merely stun hhn.
The gator being stunned. the other
man, armed with boat hook, at
tached to a long handle, thrusts the
hook into the side Of the game, due
care being taken not to get in the
way Of the play OF his tail, for here Is
where the great danger lies. Many
leg has been broken by the tremen-
dous swish of gators tail. III
stantly his 'gatorship is landed in the
boat he is dealt terrific blow on the
back, where the tail joins the body,
which paralyzes him; otherwise the
gator would soon be in possession OF
the boat.
Captain Haines. one OF the best
known and most skillful trappers on
the Atlantic coast, says that "Old
llMose," Brunswick's famous alligator,
Is the size of the average stick OF tim
her that floats down the river, and his
age is estimated at n century. He is
the terror OF all fishermen and trap
pcrs in and around Buttermilk sound
and its tributary streams. He has
been hunted in vain for generations
but his cunning and his tough old hide
have saved him thus far.
] One OF Captain Hatness traps re-
Gently caught coon, but when the
captain reached 1t he found that Old
Nose Had beat him TO IT," The ga
tor had taken the coon unto himself
but In the operation he had carried
| on the trap. stake, chain and all. Huge
gator tracks told the story.
First Heard Of sold Nose"
Away back in the days OF slavery
this king OF all gators was known and
feared. Once, it Is related. slave by
the name Of Adam. while on one Of
his regular trips to Darlen TO get his
masters mail. saw this gator. When
he arrived back home almost breath.
less, he told about it and said the
beast must have been Mt least twenty
feet long. Brailsford Troup. his mas.
ter. armed himself and set out in his
boat in quest of the monster. but
upon finding 1t he himself frightened
at Its great size and hurried back
fearing to shoot.
Only recently Old Nose was seer
nv EustEs Butts and Paul Morton, who
were down there duck hunting. While
passing up Fridaycap they saw OF
the shore what they supposed to be q
large log, but soon caving In OF tho
embankment attracted their attention
and they saw Nose disappearing in q
great depth OF water. There are many
other gators in these waters more
than a dozen feet in length.
SIuednnkerS' CaptiNes.
! The natives OF sQuedunk Hollow,