Bellefonte, Pa., June 22, 1928.
L.-p-
ALLIGATOR SKINS
BRING GOOD PRICES
Rathng and skinning alligators is
the profession of Ernest McGee and
August McGee and their wives. The
hides are marketed for good prices.
They arrived in Eagle Lake, Tex-
as, from a season of alligator hunting
in Sabine Lake and pitched their camp
upon the shore of Cedar Lake, near
Bay City. During the first three
nights of hunting the two men killed
163 alligators. Their wives do tim
skinning of the saurians, which mea-
sure from two to eight feet. :
The McGees hunt from boats on the
lake each night, beginning as soon as
it is dark. They use a headlight worn
on their heads for shining into the
alligator’s eyes. They hunt. in sepa-
rate boats and can easily sight the
eyes of an alligator, which look like
two red coals of fire when the head-
light is reflected on them.
On the first night the hunters suc-
ceeded in bringing in 60 alligators.
They use shotguns to kill the larger
alligators and most of the smailer
ones were killed with a .22 caliber.
However, quite a number of the
smaller alligators were captured with-
out being wounded. When the light
is thrown on them the boat is rowed
up to the saurian and the hunter
reaches down and jerks it into the
boat before it knows what it is all
about. Then a sharp hatchet is ap-
plied to a spot in the back of the neck
and -it is all over with that alligator.
The two men spend most of the
night out on the lake hunting. After
they get back to camp and deposit
their boatload of alligators on the
bank, they put in the morning hours
sleeping while their wives do the al-
ligator skinning, the hides being salt-
ed, carefully rolled and packed in
boxes for shipping to market.
Mrs. August McGee was busily en-
gaged in alligator skinning when a
visitor called at their camp.
“No, it isn’t hard work,” she an-
swered in reply to a question. “It’s
fascinating when you know how to
do it, and it can be done sa easily
that I really enjoy it.”
“The knives have got to be sharp,”
|she said, “ but the men folks keep
'them in splendid shape for us,” she
continued as she finished skinning a
two and a half footer, rolled the skin
into a neat little package and placed
it in a box where a hundred others
were salted down.
- “Going to skin another one?” she
was asked when she reached down
under the bench and brought another
small one to the top of the table.
“Yes, and I want to finish all that
pile over there,” pointing to a pile of
alligators of all lengths under a tree,
“before it gets too hot.”
She was asked how long it would
take her to complete the job.
“Well, I don’t know exactly,” she
said, “ but I have skinned as many as
41, cooked dinner for three hunters
and myself and finished up washing
the dishes by noon.” = = ”
Alligators measuring from two to
seven feet are the choice ones for the
hide market, August McGee explained
stating that no matter how long an
alligator is the markets pay only for
a seven-foot length. The sin is not
taken off the backs of the larger alli-
gators, but the full skin, back and all
is taken from the smaller ones.
Americans Look to Germany te Sup-
ply Canary Pets.
In 1922 America imported 192,000
canaries; in 1925 the number had ris-
en to 495,514, valued at $748,381. Of
these Germany sent 311,000—almost
65 per cent of the tctal. That year,
1925, there were nearly 1,000,000
birds sold in the United States in all,
bringing in well toward $30,000,000
receipts for cakes, feed through the
years and accessories.
There are 4,000,000 homes in tie
United States today in which there
are one or more canaries, and since
there are some 25,000,000 homes in
this country altogether, the market is
still far from saturated.
More pets are being sold every
year. One odd market for canaries
that has developed recently is the
traveling fair or carnival, where birds
are given as prizes to winners of
games of chance, instead of fluffy
dolls so popular a few years ago.
A dealer in a small town on the
New Jersey coast said last year that
for weeks after such a carnival had
visited his neighborhood, he was busy
explaining to disappointed persons
that female canaries do not sing. He
sold some of these persons male ca-
naries, allowing them $1 or $2 for
the female canaries in exchange.
But usually, although the persous
who wan the birds at these fairs have
not previously had the remotest idea
>f owning a canary, some member of
the family becomes attached to the
new pet, song or no song, an] the
bird stays. One recent newspaper in-
terview gave as an estimate 97,000 ca-
naries 1m cages disposed of through
these carnivals in a single season.
“Grammar is a most confusin’ af-
fair,” remarked Cassidy to his friend.
“I never can remember whether to
say ‘It is I’ or ‘It is me.”
“I can give you a good rule on
that,” returned his friend. “Just say
over to yourself this rhyme: ‘It is I,
said the spider to the fly,’ and there
ye are.”
A few days later the friend met
Mike and inquired if the rule had been
of any help.
“It would have been but for one
thing,” replied Cassidy. I couldn’t
for the life of me remember whether
your rhyme was: ‘It is I, said, the spi-
der to the fly, or It is me, said the
spider to the flea.’ ”—Boston Trans-
script.
——— A ———————
Patronizing elderly man: Well, lit-
tle girl, and what are you going to do
when you grow up to be a big woman
like your mother?
‘Modern child:—Diet, of course,—
Judge. :
| MUSKRAT FARMING IS EASY
AND QUITE PROFITABLE.
Man has engaged in the trapping
of fur bearing animals since the early
ages. The women of the stone age
wore furs as clothing, the modern
women wear furs not alone because of
its warmth but for its beauty and
their personal adornment. Trappers
spurred by high prices have ruthless-
ly depleted the wild supply. The
drainage and reclamation of swamp
lands have destroyed the breeding
grounds of millions of muskrats. So
if we are to have dependable supply
of fur they must be raised. Statis-
tics compiled by Frank G. Ashbrock,
of the U., S. biological survey shows
that the muskrat is the most import-
ant of all fur bearers. More than 50
per cent of all fur used today is musk-
rat. His glossy pelt is not only used
in its natural state, but when dyed is
sold as Hudson seal, river mink,
southern beaver, neutria, otter, sable
and many other popular furs. For the
past few years the demand for musk-
rat pelts has exceeded the supply by
from 15 to 20 million pelts. The re-
sult of this demand has prompted the
commercial raising of this little fur
bearer, by some of our largest manu-
facturing furriers and far-sighted in-
dividuals. Muskrat farming is a bus-
iness the same as banking, manufac-
turing or mining. It is as practical
as the raising of sheep, cattle or hogs,
the difference being that it is from
five to ten times as profitable.
To successfully raise muskrats one
must have a spring-fed marshy
swamp with an outlet which can bg
damned, so that a uniform water level
may be obtained. The depth of the
water and muck, or floating bog, must
be sufficient so that it will not freeze
to the bottom in the most severe
winter, the result of wiich would be
cutting off the food supply and the
starvation of the animals, unless ar-
tificially fed. The swamp lands must
abound in the natural foods of the
muskrat such as cat-swamp bullrush-
es, duck millet, three blade grass, wild
rice wapato, and wild celery. The
location must also have high dry
ground surrounding the swamp on
which fences are built. Proper fénc-
ing is of the utmost importance. Six-
teen-guage galvanized wire six feet
wide of one-inch mesh should be sunk
well into the dry hard ground, about
two feet, that part which is above
ground should be bordered at the top
with a wide band of galvanized sheet
steel, this not only affords the musk-
rat protection from his enemies such
as the minks, weasels, and others, but
confines him within the enclosure.
Should an attempt to climb the fence
be made by the muskrat or his ene-
mies they find it impossible to obtain
a foothold when the smooth steel is
reached. The smart rancher rids his
waters of the carniverous fish and
turtles, also insures protection
against the crows, hawks and owls,
all of which prey upon the young
muskrats. Crop of root vegetable.
such as carrots, parsnips, and sugar
beets should be planted, stored in
root cellars and fed during the winter
months, by using feeding houses. On
ranches where the muskrats are in
the habit of using the feeding houses,
the rancher has the opportunity of
scientifically feeding during the
breeding season, which results in a
larger number of young litters. An-
other decided advantage of feeding
houses is the ability to catch the ani-
mals. Trap doors are over the en-
trances, by closing them when one
wishes to make a catch the muskrat
cannot escape. This enables the ranch-
er to market only prime peits, which
command the highest prices. Num-
ber one prime muskrat pelts today
are selling as high as $4.25 on the
New York markets.
If a muskrat farm is ideally locat-
ed, properly fenced and equipped, it
is bound to be a money-maker. We
do not have to dig under ground for
it. It is a never-failing crop, unaf-
fected by hot, cold, wet, or dry weath-
er. It is the natural functioning of
nature and is sure. The law of the
reproduction of nature assures musk-
rat farmers of success.
————— A nn
Muskrat Farms Show Profit as Fur
Prices Rise.
The “lowly” musk rat, believed in
‘olden times” an almost worthless ani-
mal, is so valuable at the present
time for skins in the making of
“milady’s” fur coats, that the rais-
ing of these small water-rodents,
socalled ‘Rat-Farming’ has become
one of the foremost fur “industries”
in the United States, according to
furriers and sportsmen who own
large ‘rat-farms.’
One of the largest of these unique
places is located between Ven-
ice, ., near Sandusky and Bay
Bridge, a small hamlet on the east-
ern shore of Sandusky Bay. It con-
sists of 178 acres of marshland and
is owned by Cy and Clarence Nielsen,
sons of Alex Neilsen, nationally
known sportsman and guide and pi-
oneer Sandusky Bay trapper.
“Developing and maintaining a
‘rat farm’ is not an easy task,” the
Nielsens told visitors.
The ‘rat-farmers’ have construct-
ed lagoons, canals and a pumping
station in order to keep the “farm”
covered with water when it goes dry,
because, they said muskrats will
“positively not stay where there is
no water.” The Nielsen farm be-
comes dry between July and Septem-
ber, it was said.
The habits and life of these am-
phibious animals are interesting as
explained by the Nielsen brothers of
their ‘rat-herd.’
“Muskrats possess an instinct that
is almost uncanny,” Cy Nielsen ex-
plained. “They know just when
severe weather is going to set in, and
real winter weather catches them
napping.
“You'll suddenly hear them gnaw-
ing at marsh grass stalks and then
you will see them carrying the stalks
to a certain spot where in due time
their ‘home’ or hut will be completed.
The hut is a structure resembling a
‘pit’ in which our forefathers used
to ‘bury’ potables for the winter sea-
gon.
HOW TO SOLVE A CROSS-WORD. PUZZLE
When the ‘correct: letters :ave placed in the white spaces.
apell words both vertieally and horizontally.
which refers te the
{ ted By a number,
! Ne. 1 under the column
Al) the white up to the firet
a word
] one below. No we
tionary words,
{terms and
headed
ns
2 :
black
by
proper names.
forms ave indieated
CROSS-WORD PUZZLE
“havighialr dofinsy 8 ‘Sond
gare right, a a
will the
Abbreviations,
tn the definitions.
No. 1.
7 18 7
TS
8
A
5
2
-
29 |S50
154
1%”
Horizontal.
1—Base, servile
6—Double teeth
11—S8ingle points
12—Before
13—Drug producing plant
14—Points of the compass
16—Clatter
18—A small child
19—An item of property
21—Shade tree 22—Finish
24—Fruit-bearing part of a cereal
plant
26—Precious
8$0—Employed
83—Conjunction
$4—Mass of floating ice
86—Play on werds
88—Cooled, or made cold
41—A weapon
43—A Shoshone
46—Mineral; also a color
49—A low haunt
51—Public speaker
63—Record of events
§5—Vex
66—Beast of burden
57—Gaelic
b8—Mark with seams
py—Name, usually given to pet dog
28—To mend
32—By way of
44—Color
. {@©, 1926, Western
ewspaper Union.)
Vertical.
1—To persecute
2—Reverberate
8—-Neutral
4—Doctrine
6—Smaller
6—Pure
7—Latitude (abbr.)
8—Varies
9—Revolve
10—Appeared
15—Evil
17—Took food
20—Petition
28—Positively not
26—Examine accounts
27—Pointed instrument
28—What maple sugar is made from
29—Pallid
31—Protract 34—Mania
86—Tree of coula-nut family (pl.)
37—Exclamation of disgust
89—Tree of pine family (pl)
40—Harder to penetrate
42—Low like a cow
48—A large vase
46—Ireland 47—Pack tightly
48—A direction 80—~Otherwise
52—A small mound
64—Fresh
Solution will appear in mext issue.
150-Year-Old Boxwood Tree Moved
27 Miles.
On hundred and fifty years ago a |
tiny boxwood tree was planted in
front of King George’s Tavern,
New Tripoli, Pa., and after having
stood as a silent guardian in that;
spot while the Revolution, the Civil
and the Spanish-American wars® were
fought, it has been given a change of
scenery.
This was learned with the an-
nouncement that the venerable tree,
known to hundreds of motorists, has
been purchased by Robert P. Hutchin-
son, president of the Bethlehem Fab-
ricators, and removed by motor truck
to his spacious estate, Kenridge at
Macada, where it stands out as the
main attraction among hundreds of
other choice shrubs and trees.
near |
TALKS WITH THE EDITOR.
PAC IF]YREDIEIARIL]Y
PANIRTRE|F|O/1|LEBOIAR
HT OF ARO E€
E AGERPE S
CIRERP E|NIOIR i hell
E KE S{YIN|OID]| -
S ERI JANEEA T ERB E
LIA tIAIBILIE A
{Hi 1 ERAS E|E|LERCI|C
JUINIC[L[EJEINIOIRIEL |AIRICIH
R L OINI| | PEIO! |
TIA LD
AT I SE
HA E|R|FIOIR Hil
ER
. Mile Posts on Road in Conserving of
The purchase was made from Joha | Penn’s Woods.
S. Mosser, of New Tripoli, on whose ' —
property it stood. It is said that the 1681—Willaim Penn in his charter
consideration was in the neighbor- of right to the Colonists of Pennsyl-
hood of $400. | vania stated: “In clearing the ground
Although the records of King
George’s Tavern were lost in a fire
that destroyed Miller’s hotel in New
Tripoli, it is known that it was built
more than 150 years ago, and that pi
during the French and Indian wars
served as a hiding place for stores
and provisions.
The tree itself is considered one cf |
the largest specimens in existence,
and stands 180 feet high with a cir-
cumference of 66 feet. The work of
moving it required a week’s careful
preparation and the actual load when
the transfer was made being estimat-
ed at 25 tons.
Having survived despite the rigors
of many seasons, having heard the
creak of the ox cart, the shrill toot
of the automobile horn and the whir
of the airplane; having quivered ta
the report of the gun, and shaded the
exhausted frontiersmen; having been
admired by generations of nature
lovers, the grand old tree stands to-
day as a symbol of the sturdiness of
the peoples in whose midst it grew.
Ore hundred and fifty years is a
long time to wait for a change of
scenery, and having achieved it, this
King of Boxwoods continues its si-
lent vigil, lifting its branches in state-
ly grandeur to guard with solemn dig-
nity the destinies of its new estate.
———————— er ————
Very Simple Matter to Build Receiv-
ing Set.
Any amateur who knows how to
handle a screw driver and how to
bend a piece of wire with a pair of
pliers can build a receiving set. The
soldering of the connections is re-
duced to its simplest expression be-
cause the wires used and the termi-
nals on all the apparatus are tinned
and the soldering, if required, is no
difficulty worth mentioning. It is
not necessary to have a knowledge
to read diagrams of hook-ups. To
build any standard curcuit, full size
drawings are furnished showing very
plainly the place each part occupies
in the assembly and the various wires
connected to each one.
———— ee eaesee——
“Half the City Council are Crooks,”
was the glaring headline.
A retraction in full was demanded
of the eidtor under penalty of arrest.
Next afternoon the headline read,
“Half the City Council Aren’t
Crooks.”—Lethbridge Herald.
care should be taken to leave one
acre of trees for every five acres
cleared, especially to preserve the oak
and mulberries for silk and ship-
ing.”
| 1877—Dr. Joseph T. Rothrock,
Father of Forestry in Pennsylvania,
| appointed Michaux Lecturer in Fores-
try at the University of Pennsylva-
: nia. :
1886—Organization of Pennsylva-
nia Forestry Association. ?
1898—First land acquired for State
! forests, June 13. The present area of
the State forests comprises, 1,133,-
050 acres.
1901—State Department of Fores-
try established. The first State De-
partment of Forestry established by
any State.
1903—Pennsylvania State Forest
School established on Mont Alto State
forest under the direction of the De-
partment of Forests and Waters. The
only school of its kind and next to the
oldest existing forest school in Amer-
ica.
Druggists Now Sell Snake Bite Cure;
No Prescription Needed.
Even if it were legal there is no
longer any excuse for carrying old-
fashioned antidotes for snake bite,
Dr. William G. Turnbull, asserted re-
cently. Science, Dr. Turnbull said,
has punctured a tradition that dates
back to the time when hip pockets
were considered a necessary part of a
man’s clothing.
Dr. Turnbull referred to a newly-
developed anti-vneom serum which, if
used immediately, is effective for
, snake bites. The serum is of such a
| nature that those who carry it are
not tempted to use it prematurely. It
may be obtained at drug stores—
without prescriptions.
All organized camps and parties of
campers should carry the serum with
them, Dr, Turnbull advised.
The Retort Courteous.
Bertie’s school report had just come
in. It wasn’t very good.
“I'm losing patience with you!” ex-
claimed his father. “How is it that
young Jones is always at the top of
the class, while you are at the bot-
tom?”
The boy looked at his father re-
proachfully. “You forget, dad,” he
said kindly, “that Jones has awfully
clever parents.”—Tawney Kat.
Where Training Pays
ach year business becomes more special-
ized. The jack of all trades finds him-
self without employment, for he lacks:
special training in any particular calling. No:
where is this truer than in financial affairs,
and people are turning to banks to perform:
services that used to be given to individuals
without special knowledge.
Our Trust Department is organized to
care for your Estate in a prompt, efficient
and intelligent way.
The First, National Bank
BELLEFONTE, PA.
23 AAAI ANALY 3 AARARL JARMAN O SARL 3 AAA OLR I AG
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Y
ER ER eR EE Sr SAS AMA ANA ZA AA 0
&/
Use Good Judgment
N making your Will now and appoint-
ing the First National Bank your
Executor or Trustee. Then there is
no doubt or misunderstanding. Your in-
structions will be carried out explicitly,
efficiently, economically. Better see us
about it now.
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
MEMBER FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
pT ae I SS EIA ANCA EDA
Q
£7
SAAMMMEARMAMEAAAMMNE AMMA IAM LIVAAVRA TOIL AN ARNE ANN ATI AD ANTENA ANNAN
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£2 lored throughout. Styled by ome of I
I= New York’s Foremost, Makers. i
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on to $35. Backward season torced the Ic
= maker to sacrifice. We, in turn, are oi
i passing the Big Saving on to you. a
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i other stores are asking $10 more for— i
fl IS ALL WE ASK. 2
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