In Buffalo Days 



above the ground. These poles were much 

 resorted to by the buffalo to scratch against, 

 and before long a great many of them were 

 pushed over. A story, now of considerable 

 antiquity, is told of an ingenious employee 

 of the telegraph company, who devised a 

 plan for preventing the buffalo from dis- 

 turbing the poles. This he expected to 

 accomplish by driving into them spikes 

 which should prick the animals when they 

 rubbed against them. The result somewhat 

 astonished the inventor, for it was discovered 

 that where formerly one buffalo rubbed 

 against the smooth telegraph poles, ten now 

 struggled and fought for the chance to 

 scratch themselves against the spiked poles, 

 the iron furnishing just the irritation which 

 their tough hides needed. 



It was in spring, when its coat was being 

 shed, that the buffalo, odd-looking enough 

 at any time, presented its most grotesque 

 appearance. The matted hair and wool of 

 the shoulders and sides began to peel off 

 in great sheets, and these sheets, clinging 

 to the skin and flapping in the wind, gave 

 it the appearance of being clad in rags. 

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