Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / June 20, 1909, edition 1 / Page 16
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f he Alligator in North Carolina, roijg i I i f '' Thm ceatle and comely alligator 1j , The first ahot went over. The second a Interesting creature when ap- I was followed by a great commotion ''preached in the proper aplrtt. Who In the water as the "gator went down. Was tt ana of our early historians, I ! ThU meant a hit and !t was then In think that classified the allUrator aa j 0Tr tof dout V0'0"'0 bs burer of a killing' shot ahould he re aa tmwct? This is somewhat contrary ; war Xn water continued to shone U eur present-day classification, but j signs of agitation where he had ! dived, until one foot not a vulner , able point -(showed aa he rolled over. He had evidently got It straight and hard an d i expected every i.-:'nute that he would sink for good and be lost Rut I kept getting nearer, so that danger continued to lessen. Home-times the tall only would show, aometlmes a foot, sometimes the end of hhs nose. Once the he Jul rose lear, aide cn. hut It wan gone agala no quickly that the snap shot It railed forth, while fairly accurate. waa not fatal Again a period of "now you see him and now you don't." the hunter all the time wading closer and closer Finally, the head cams up clear of the water, with throat exposed. Another quick shot was necessary but. thin time, the little .25 soft-point bullet went home A few more eddies and all was still. I had then, and have still, a preju dice against dead 'gators that may not t good and dead. So I waited some ten or flfeen minutes for some- the hssmty ef his expressive counts naace ta the same. Insect or not In- North Carolina this animal la found in the lowlands of the eastern part of the State, mostly from Neuse river, south. I have recently learned. frm two separate sources, that they ccur sparingly In Tyrrell county, and t his Is, so far as I can ascertain, t hn most northerly limit of their range. Along Neuse river, from some miles above Newbern to Its mouth, they are (airly common In the more remote Streams and ponds, more particularly on the, auuth side of the river In Its lower reaches. They grow large, too. and several said to have measured around twelve feet have, come within my kncw1edge. I know of none ot that length belDg taken within the past ten years, however. But 12-foot J "gators sire not common anywhere I thing to occur; but there was noth- mtght at any time have escaped by j ahouldef besides. All under water. dlvin, but th idea, did not aeem to course. The gator had slipped by " cuu ui me pots ana naa coat back nearly to the mouth of th hole, when the hand holding the occur to his slow-moving brain. For the third time the rifle let go its load and water agaJn flew far beyond. All good line shots, however, and a very slight difference In the elevation of th eights would account for the musses. Shot No. 4 went home. With out a movement, or even ft quiver, the gator lay dead upon the surface tick struck hU nose. He snapped down on that hand good and hard, but, luckily, turned it loose imme diately. His teeth were very sharp nd one penetrated the knuckle Joint at the base of the middle finger. . It Difl . . a., . j,u h.r 1 WM eircesslvely painful for a few min ded quick, before he -inks.- came ' 1' o cause nausea from th. stern of the boat and we I f But. after that. this ran her alongside. Only a part of 'or ad . t b tedand his th animal1, head was still above the k,n kM are now in the poe, surface and fcubble- were coming J man was bitten, the from the mouth. One fore foot m ku" b"n on -"y desk at the present caught, tne noose slipped over U and j m frarn tight. For fear of a possible ' 1 have examined the stomach enn death flurry and an alllg-ator can do tents of a number and what one finds things with his tall he waa pushed i inside is quite interesting. The one away from the boat and the lln j above mentioned that was killed from made fast. He sank at once, and but j 'h boat, contained nothing whatever for the quick approach and attach- j 'n tne way of animal matter A ment of 'ine, he would have been lost j double handful of round pebbles and t- a certainty He measured eight i about the same amount of pieces of and a half feet and waa a clean, svell- charcoal was all his digestive fluid built 'galor. rather slender than had to work on Another killed on bulky. The work of the fatal bullet this pond contained the remains f waa noticeable, it had penetrated the a young neron. some craMflsh. fag soft skin back of the cranium, had expanded as it struck the bone and had opened up the whole top of the akull as if with a charge of dynamite r ' - ij , .i i . The Home of the Alligator. now, Florida not excepted. During the past few summers It has been the privilege and pleasure Of the writer to ibecome more or less Intimately a-clated with the alli gator In hl3 native haunts In tho re gion above referred to and In the southeastern orner of the State. Wo r.eed one of maximum size for th Plate Museum collections, but such a one has proved difficult to secure k far. The wTlter has collected 41 num ber, several of whl. h have been use 1 !n the museum in various wavs. but the real "his" 'gatur la not yet there. But he exists in the Mate and the coming summer may see him gather ed In. When an alligator Is swimming the enly parts of hie anatomy that show above water are. usually, his pym an.1 ths tip of his nose. The eye is the Vulnerable spot, being close above ami forwmrd of the very small brain. T'n less the hunter is well above his tjnsury the' ordinary soft lead bullet la a very uncertain mUfle for the d IfvsTT of a fatal shot at a swimming alligator. With a modern high velocity rifle, however, shooting- a lng doing. Now. I didn't like the Job a little bit, but that 'gator I had to have, bo 1 started feeling for that sup posedly dead alligator with my feet. The water was over my belt and had he proved to be alive he could have tackled me low and hard, with but little to be said ajralnst K on my part Thinking a knife a better weapon than a rifle In case of a scrimmage ( Kot mine out and held it ready. It was a good knife, with heavy B-lnrh blade, that would have done some powerful carving in the hands of a man as scared as I was, had It been necessary. But, thank goodness, it wasn't. To make a long story shorter, I Anally stepped on him I and Jumped almost out of the water, i Hut he was really dead and I got one of my feet under his tall, hoisted that to the surface, and towed him ashore. H measured exactly nine feet and was a good, stout, powerful 'gator. Two men were hunting from a boat Both used paddles until one wtls sighted. swimming. The bowman then laid aside his paddle and took up his rifle. Quietly and carefully the boat moved forward until tht gutor turned and started to srwlm Oft-noee bullet, the smashing power away. This was on a large pond, la so great that a much larger area 1 where the water was quite deep, and Of the bones of the skull Is fractured and. In consequence, a shot delivered low dewn between the eyes from di rectly In fronl or behind, or a quar terlng shot frcm In front, Is mnri than HkeJy to smash the thick bones snirroundlng the brain, and prove In stantly fatal. But the mark Is very mall and the rifle must be held to hair to place the ball where It should ro. Details of o-ie or two kills on swim ffninsj 'gators will give the reader a much bettor Idea Of how It Is done precautions had to be taken to secure the animal In case of a kill before he i-ould sink. The gunner made a sllp-noose In a line and lnld It handy to his grasp The boa was now Im pelled more quickly, though silently, as before, and the distance lessened perceptibly. "Try him now." Whis pered the man In the stern, as he ceased paddling. The rifle spoke ttnd n Jet of miater s-purted a hundred yards beyond. Again, and the shot fell abort. The paddler said some thing that sounded like "lamh.". and went to work again. This time he than mere genemjlxlng. ' The write wading out in a shallow nooy or trougrht the boat up to within about r.alST frequented by the animals and forty yards before stopping his paddle n wlas seen swimming, or rather 1 and giving the word. The 'gator was , floating, some inri-.fvp vsrds awav. 1 swimming more atronglv now and It iwaa & soft-ipoint Mauser of seven millimetres diameter and a hundred and seventy-three grains weight, fired with a velocity of twenty-two hun dred and sixty feet per second. While skinning this "gator, at the foot of the dam, a little fellow of about four and a half feet was seen floating about seventy-five yards away, and his skin was needed for a particular purpose. The first ahot went over; the second struck right below the eye and completely cut away the whole front of the head, throwing the cut-off part Into the air and killing him Instantly. On picking him up the only part of the head left attached to the body nms the lower Jaw and the base of the fckull. In early spring, before the water Is sufficiently warm for them to be very active, alligators may be caught in their holes In suitable situations When an occupied burrow Is found one may often he worried into shut ting down on the pole so fiercely and persistently that he may be dragged out of the hols still hanging on. Thta was the case of one whose skull I wanted for exblbltlon. Not wishing to In. feire the skull by shooting through the brain ebout the only Instantly fatal spot he was fastened by one forefoot and the bullet put through where his heart should have been. He lay so quiet that I stopped up and put one foot on his body as the big game Jiunters are usually photographed iwlth their quarry. Quick as a flash his head swung around, with mouth sgape, and his Jaws Just graze! my leg. He got bin quietus after that, all right. One of the boys standing by said that It was the w ickedest looking mouth he had j ever seen, as It ewung around. A medium-slxed fellow was In his hole and had been biting at the stick. This stick was about nine feet lonu and the operator had Its full length In the burrow, with his arm up to the mants of one or more mud turtles, some pieces of wood and a June bug In two cases I have found the brass j bases of shotgun shells, one of ten gauge and one of twelve. One con- 1 talned a number of pieces of brick. one piece measuring several inches j each way SeveraJ contained snakes ' Small chunks of wood, vegetable mat- ; or and mud are common. My 1 opinion Is that these foreign sub- , stances are taken In accidentally. The 1 'gator sees a crajwflah. or turtle, or snake crawling through the mud and j makes a ruah for it. with mouth open, j witn tne animal food there eoes In also any foreign substance In the way of the open mouth. The animal mat ter digests, the rest accumulates. Hence the generally accepted opinion that alligators swallow arrlndstones. bricks, llghtrn-ood knots. etc. for ballast Tbev don't. Ever hear a gator bellow? It re minds one of a bull with a trill In hhs voice, and the sound carries a long way on a still summer evening. It is very Impressive. I have never found a nest while It wa.s occupied, but have seen several old one after the surrounding vege tation had died doiwn. Those I have t L 4 --' "V " ' -t:?-"- . - i - Mrs. Ji.-.-:-"9P . a- ; - - i i J " ,r' i 1 J."". f-v. -"ju rzz,' n - n 1 r-'T.. The Hunter and the Hunted. 9 : l, swimming along shore He saw It .altering the focus as I waded; flfty when a couple of hundrad yards feet, forty, thirty-five, thirty when away, took his line, and operated as a sirbmarlr.e. 1 watched the water between him and the totally unsus pecting cormorant. When ten or a dozen yards from the bird his eyes momentarily showed; he sank again, and the next thing he knew his Jaws came up with the doomed bird be tween He took In no brlckhats with his meal that time. One day while trying to catch R mess of ftsh for camp, at a pond deep In the woods. 1 had tn experience. I had left my gun at camp and taken camera Instead. While fixlnc nn mv seen may have been some six feet ! tackle t the lnnrlin- I omihinir across by two or three high The out In the water swimming in. It female lsya her eggs in this mass of turned out to be a 'gator, as 1 estl decaying vegetation, covers "them up j mated, about seven feet long. He na leaves rnem to le hatched by th- S ame In within about thlrtv vards of heat of the aun and that engendered by the decay of the vegetable matter comprising the nest. Tho young are some eight or ten inches long when hatched and are a staple article of trade In Florida. Of course, alligators hibernate dur ing the winter and do not appear ar my position, to the mouth of the email bay at the head of which wns the landing. Thought 1. "I'll take your picture, old man, If you'll only look pleasant long enough and are not afflicted with stage fright." Ro I got my camera readv and wwded out slowly, oh, so slowly. I kept ' tasting my leg. hfa sank slowly, facing my way. The water waa peaty brown and any swimming object would have been in visible half a foot below the surface I waa up 'to my waist and I did not know what that 'gator was thinking about as he went down. I didn't ilka the sensation much. I had on hunt ing knife and hatchet and drew the former, holding ib In my teeth, aa both hands were needed for the camera. Then I waded out a little farther, when he again appeared not much over twenty feet away. Slowly I shifted the focus, found hU lovely visage in the finder, and pressed tha bulb At the click of the ahutter he Tvent down but came up again soon a few feet farther out. I snapped him again, when he left. The pic tures were bharp enough, but the de tail too ama.ll for them to be of any use. I haven't found out yet wihat that 'eator was thinking about when I got out my knife on the possibility that he was considering the question of -nora With -U; nd called afr a,T "H riven n.. . Mr ------ uiuv m . made 1'y way, so she ti,n-u. m" ' r ''J!1 d a ' I? 1 - y " "' tin im SJi'iswi j'w.iiuiii.iiWiiii.iii,.w,,v 1 hi m iW piipimiii mun.m- St. 1 ' 4 ,ylW nit 5 miinn Tft iiit The Finishing Touch. up and ride home r long walk up t0n Th Ho.. . and It was quite dark 1 ""y H "V Clmbedq,ne three .'H to her home a. , " . Sn 5 0? i and It was seven ov, f' was released From njl. r What Ion hor ; rth n A rhILH f " " 1 f l to hoard her ,,rPnrn ,n M of the strain of rom,r. ,ri;W Play more and sleep m the cruelty of t a! 1 "Well, Silvia.' hcw did ran mot! ...... V . .... ... . . . ? .-S - i w JSr i.e.. e Meemeiei 1V Asleep or dead? tlvaly until the water begins to get warm In the spring, usually. In our climate, about the middle or latter part of May. Where herons and cor morants nest (their breeding places being mostly over the water) the al ligators loaf around the rookeries on the lookout for young birds that have fallen from the nests. Once, while wading out into a small bay and well hidden by the surrounding bushes and trees overhanging the water, 1 noticed a nearly full-grown cormor ant swimming. The nest to which it belonged was In a small bushy cypress a few yards from shore, some of the lower limbs of which hung down into the water. The cormorant swam up to one of theae hanging branches and, grasping the twigs with both bill and claws, stsrted to climb back to the pest. I watched It with much Inter est, as this was the first time I had seen a cormorant use Its bill In climb ing a tree. As K got safely up among the branches my gaze dropped to the water again and there, right at the spot from which the bird had started its climb, lay the broad, rough head of a gator thai must have meas ured ten feet at least. He was not a dozen yards awar and I want ed him for a specimen. My rifle was over the hollow of my left arm. Slowly and cautiously as I could I began to work that gun around Into a shooting position, "N'ay. nav, Pauline." thought that 'gator, and he vanished, aa he had come, without sound or apparent ruffling of the ter. He was badly disappointed and so was I. What has Impresj-ed me mrwt about these 'gators is their Illimitable patience and inscrutability. What do they think about? And why do thev think so? Patience! Why. Job was a nervous wreck compared with an alligator waiting for something to eat to turn up. If he don't get a meal to-day he may to-morrow. Tf not to morrow, then the next day; or next week or the week after, at least. T never saw one in a hurry (excert when chased t but once. He was after a young cormorant that m- SILVIA GRAY'S TEMPTATION BY MARIE CHKSTER. The door of the shabby tenement was surrounded by children of all ages and sizes, from the little tod dling girl of two, to the strapping boy of ten. In spite of the fact that they were often cold and hungry'. they were a happy lot and their voices rang out in shrill laughter as they ran In and out in their play. The spring sunshine touched their shoul der aid hair though the narrow al ley called a street, and a poor scraw ny plant which Mrs. Riley had man aged to keep alive through the winter had put out a tiny bit of leaf Mrs. Riley had placed It on the window sill so that K might get the benefit of the narrow ribbon of sunlight, which Just at noon shone down Into the street. Some distance down the street, ;i hand organ was grinding out a hack neyed and familiar tune and soon th-? whole "push." to use the language of the tenements, started down the street to dance to the music. Mxa Gray sat in her dingy room on the top floor busily sewing. She was a delicate, rather refined looking wo man dressed In shabby black and had evidently een better days. She look ed out over the roofs of the tenements by which she was surrounded and sighed, then hearing the sound of the shrill. voices of the children In tha street below, sighed again. . bm.- nusr to perrorm som household duty, she heard the sound of feet away down stalra The steps grew slower as they reached her door, and then the door opened and a slip of a girl, little more than a child, en tered. "Oh. 8ilvls. did you get it? T do hope you did." "Mama I am so tired I can hardly talk, and these stairs have fairly taken my breath Just a minute please " frs. Gray got a glass of water and gave rt to the child, which somewhat revived her. "Yes, mama. 1 got it and will start to work to-morrow morning at S o'clock. 1 am to get J4.00 a week; will have to run on errands and deliv er parcels, and oh. mama! Just think of it! I am to go to'the shops to buy ribbon and match silks. I hope It twill be soon, for you know that- one time we went into a shop what beautiful things we saw. 1 shall never forget them." Mrs. Gray went orr and kissed the child and said. "Silvia. I wish you did not have to go to work but could stay In school as you wish, but my child when I have paid the rent I shall have very little left and the waiats T have worked so hard to finish twill bring but a pittance." Mr. and Mrs. Gray, like many other foolish and shortsighted people, had been attracted to New York a few : years before. They had owned a ' small house in a country town in Con necticut and lived very comfortably. But in an evil 'day, they had been persuaded to sell their home and move to New York. Nothing but ill luck had followed them. Mr. Gray fell ill and died and the money dwindled and dwindled and here they were living In a miserable tenement amid a horde of dirty and undesirable people, and paying a sum for thalr wretched two rooms which would have provided them with an entire house In the country and there would have been a small porch and a green vine running along the railing, and of sunshine there would have been plenty. Their rooms were neat and clean as Mrs. Gray worked early and late to keep them so. The other dweller in the tenement recognised that thejr were different and in some respecta above them, and consequently hated them. The next morning Silvia waa up bright and early In anticipation of beginning her work aa an errand girl for the dressmaking establishment of Madam Dubois. She klsaed her mother good bye and ran down the stairs to the street As usual the door was sail he. tWI-.alf ... ... T nut nt hrenth 1 stairs and down stairs. w'tirn. one. twaitlr,K on that one ,nspp.J nu women ti imnthf oh. what beautiful ihrn 1 Lovely white silk: cream,- !ac, bJ mui veiTeis. nnrt the ladies 1 vr ueauurul eome of them others were hideously urlv mil cause their gowns did not ma.k tS loos nannsome they pnt msl scolded madam Madam mads a inn, nucus sun am not ml one nu. lo-morrow I am gotof! u, uir u;g nopi 10 match a 01 riDDon. After the child was ;n h1, Gray etltrhed and tho'ight arl ana men gave a deep ffh. It nearly midnight when she foldn her work and almot fell 'n'n hei . . , "Now. S'.UIa." !1 Madam sure and get the eiiu-' .-elor If la not a perfect matrh I rannit It and I will tske it out of ,0': ary. Silvia hurried put (r.t" 'he and almopt ran. she m jr, p to get another i-hsni e -o 'rm at Shop windows, and the;- mis' ful of !1. to go :i..:de She stopped fur s nvmni gazed Into the window Tpere ribbons, hats. rnMumee rn'.'tuj petticoats and Jee'ry teairt:fu! chains, rings with shln'nir ' pocketbooks and many rr.nre t nis than her , -hlldlsh mini i-i'iia nrehend. Thn she na:k! In M moment he ft almna! i&4 There were elernntl' dres.d : beautiful little children. girl who had bruwn cur!' ' vla's. was beautifully d "..) brown silk coat and " a handsome gold hrnr'f Silvia gave a ga" ' then looked riow n ;it he and still shabbier ""f her heart grew pretty rloth a-id a She could not ha,' ! i" The beautif il : '' ' lost to sight in the began to make 'e u ribbon counter ' '' was the je-w clr, '' sparkled at the ni:" rings, tiny wat'-lie- purses, and " n th -i: Jewelrv one could ' started to 1110, n ! bracelet ought ' ' near that a'l she ha 1 out her hand ard " at It with lonc'i 1; -put out one fltifi-v then tlimninc ''fi- k cd her. turned v - .went over to the r'b' .the Sid of the ed the ribbon and door. Before Fhe i. was again In fror.' ' Jewelry counter and bracelet right In 'r Stopped again and s cinated eyes. h ' Just try It on' Finn Mima nano nm ... ,--.;r..i then drew back an see If any one .t - saleswoman a h' end of tne mum-i - . v., a her. Again she i.irl - V TV Ti then a gruff are you doing li" from there " 6ilvia darted out flash; she was cry excitement. , ---i-l That night when tn- home she was sc . said. "Silvia sre yf. tired?" ' "I am tired mami her hand on her ft me hereA - . - vn.u down th.i. her prayers, she r.'my wh was as '' u. int, saying aloud - tation." j-..- "What did yo ? her mother. "othng. swered the child. lit to , ver TH"' de martiS- 1 .-. . a: - f -
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 20, 1909, edition 1
16
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