264 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



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"Nature never hurries; atom by atom, little by little, she 

 achieves her work. The lesson one leams in fishing, yacht- 

 ing, hunting or planting is the manner of nature. Patience, 

 with the delay of -wind and sun, delays of the seasons, bad 

 weather, excess or lack of water; patience, with, the slowness 

 of our feet, with the parsimony of our strength, with the 

 largeness of sea and land, we must traverse." 



"The moral influence of nature upon every individual is 

 that amount of truth which it illustrates to him. Who can 

 estimate this? "Who can guess how much firmness the sea- 

 beaten rock has taught the fisherman? How much tran- 

 quillity has been reflected to man from the azure sky, over 

 •whoso unspotted deeps the winds forever more drive flocks 

 of stormy clouds and leave no wrinkle or stain? How much 

 industry and providence and affliction we have caught from 

 the pantomime of the brutes." 



"The book of Nature is the book of Pate. She turns the 

 gigantic pages— leaf after leaf— never returning one. One 

 leaf she lays down, a floor of granite: then a thousand ages, 

 and a bed of slate; a thousand ages, and a measure of coal; 

 a thousand ages, and a layer of marl and mud: vegetable 

 forms appear: her first misshapen animals, zoophyte, trilo- 

 bium, fish; then, saurians — rude forms, in which she has only 

 blocked her future statue, concealing under these uuwieldly 

 monsters the fine type of her coming king. The face of the 

 planet oools and dries, the races meliorate, and man is born. 

 But when a race has lived its term, it comes no more again." 

 Ralph "Waldo Emerson. 



WILD HOGS IN OHIO! 



"MASY YEAES AGO." •• 



THE "Hinckley Hunt" calls to mind many kindred mem- 

 ories. As has already been shown in the columns of the 

 Fobbst AND Stbkaji, the early settlers of the "Western Re- 

 serve" found those primitive forests abounding in wild-game 

 in great variety. The game was not always so wild either. 

 An aunt in whose family I lived over forty years ago, in 

 Ashtabula county, often entertained us with accounts of the 

 prevalence of game upon their premises. Turkeys were as 

 common around their buildings as if they had been domesti- 

 cated. They would sit upon the fence within fifty feet of 

 the house, and when she "shook the table-spread" after meals 

 the turkeys would jump down from the fence and come to 

 the very door to pick up the crumbs, etc. If the barn door 

 was left open in the winter-time, flocks of these would enter 

 the barn to feed upon the un thrashed grain, upon screenings, 

 etc. In this way they were from time to time secured for 

 table use, for no gun was kept by the family. Deer were 

 frequently seen feeding at the hay or grain stacks in winter. 

 These stacks were generally adjoining the barnyard. 



The late lamented President was no better known on the 

 "Reserve" than was his immediate congressional predecessor, 

 the Hon. J. R. Gidings, who, together with another famous 

 man, TJ. 8. Senator Benjamin F. Wade, were both residents 

 of this county, and of the same village, viz., Jefferson. Both 

 of these great political leaders settled in that region when it 

 was a wilderness. Both were expert rifle-shots and success- 

 ful hunters, and I have heard both relate similar facts con- 

 cerning the prevalence of game around the buildings of the 

 early Bettlers. I was once visiting at the residence of Mr. 

 Gidings, just at the commencement of the war. When the 

 conversation turned to this subject, Mr. Gidings called me to 

 his front door and, pointing to a small cottage some lii'ly 

 yards away, remarked that in the early days of the settle- 

 ment they stacked hay there, and that one winter morning 

 as he opened the door where we then stood he saw a fine 

 deer feeding at the stack. His loaded rifle hnng over the 

 door. Stepping one foot back he took down the rifle and 

 Shot the deer dead in its tracks. 



Wolves wero exceedingly numerous and a source of an- 

 noyance to the settlers, who found it necessary to keep a few 

 Bheep for domestic purposes. It was not even safe to yard 

 them for the night between the farm buildings, so bold were 

 the wolves, but they had to be kept in covered inclosures. 

 Bears were sufficiently abundant to cause considerable 

 trouble and soma loss by raiding upon pig pens, etc. 



In those days the settlers allowed all except their finer 

 breeding stock of hogs to run at large. They were ear- 

 marked and the marks recorded by the county clerks. All 

 the hogs of a neighborhood would herd together in the forest. 

 These herds were sometimes stampeded by bears, and in 

 *<ome instances portions of a herd would be driven so far 

 from the settlements that they were never recovered by then- 

 owners. Tho bears were the first large game to be extermi- 

 nated, then the wolves, next the deer and finally the wild 

 turkeys. As the bears were thinned out the hogs increased. 

 and in a few years the forests swarmed with them, devoid of 

 earmarks, and of course, without ownership. " 



Within fifty years past it was a common occurrence for 

 neighborhoods to obtain their pork in the follov^ng manner: 

 The time selected would be late in the season, when 

 the hogs had derived the maximum benefit from their forage 

 of acorns, beechnuts and other mast. Some morning after 

 a light fall of snow, a few neighbors would assemble, and 

 bring one or two ox teams, with large sleds containing some 

 hay for the oxen and straw for litter, etc. , a ride or two, 

 butcher-knives for each man and always a few dogs, ample 

 cold lunch, and finally a gallon of liquid that would not 

 froezs and burst the jug. Thus equipped they would pcue- 

 trate the virgin forest, which would generally be sufficiently 

 open to admit the passage of ox teams-in any direction. The 

 dogs would soon encounter a drove of hogs, which would 

 immediately form a compact circle, the pigs in tho center, 

 the sows next, with the old boars on the. outer circle, and all 

 faced outward. The men could then approach within a few- 

 yards, and selecting the nicest, fat sows, would plank a rifle 

 ball in their brains. In this way they could generally kill 

 what they required forimmediate dressing before stampeding 

 the drove, which could be done at ono tfj iGCUring the 

 dogs, and sometimes without. This was generally done 

 after firing two rounds, in Order to bleed the pork properly. 

 The hogs were then hung up, skinned and dressed. Before 

 the herd had retreated too far the dogs were let loose to de- 

 tain them and the butchering operation repeated till a supply 

 was obtained. The party would then take the back track, 

 „i>ad their pork and return to their homes, 



In later years, when the forests became reduced and the 

 hogs less wild, the settlers could readily drive them into 

 fields near their buildings, shoot one at a time, load it upon 

 a sled and take it to llic'scalding tub. Finally, as the popu- 

 lation increased, the forests became more and more restricted 

 nd the farmers began to have a surplus of corn. Hunters 

 would shoot the wild boars, that is, the old alligator variety, 

 generally letting them lie in the forest. The improved 

 breeds of hogs brought in by the settlers, mixed with the. 

 wild ones, gradually became domesticated so that selections 

 could be made, which were penned up at a proper time and 

 fattened on corn. As grain production increased in some 

 localities large whisky distilleries were established and the 

 wild hogs gradually disappeared in their slop-pens. 



Thirl y -seven years ago I was living in Medina county. 

 There were no distilleries in that region, and wild hogs were 

 still abundant there, though they were not very wild, for the 

 forests were only long, narrow belts between the main 

 traveled roads. About this time the first hog-drover ap- 

 peared in that region. He bought by the lump, gross 

 weight, everything of fifty pounds and upward at about l£ 

 cents per pound. Several worthless chaps at the different 

 township centers, who never owned a pig in their lives, sold 

 this drover hogs, sometimes as high as twenty-five or thirty 

 in number. They had gathered them from the forests, and 

 some of them thus raised whisky money enough to enjoy a 

 solitary drunk of several weeks' duration. Two or three 

 drovers cleared out the last of the "wild hogs." 



I well recollect a wild-hog episode which occurred about 

 those days. The first snow of the season had fallen during 

 the day "and night to the depth of six or seven inches. The 

 next morning was a favorable time for a turkey-hunt, and I 

 started out in good season for a forest a mile away, where I 

 generally succeeded in bagging a turkey. At a point about 

 half a mile from the "clearing" two huge trees had fallen, 

 evidently together, for their tops were interlocked, while 

 their upturned roots were not more than twelve or fifteen 

 feet apart. It was at least thirty feet from these roots to the 

 first limb of the trees. This long, wedge-shaped space made 

 a splendid hiding-place, which I had before occupied, and 

 where I had called turkeys within range of my rifle. To 

 this favorite spot 1 directed my steps. Arriving by the side 

 of one of the trunks, the top of which was about four feet 

 from the ground, I looked over and was surprised to see that 

 the snow T was fully two feet high, while outside it was but 

 six or seven inches. Right where the snow was the highest 

 was caj old hiding-place. 1 saw no other way but to jump 

 in and tramp down the snow preparatory to tying a white 

 handkerchief over my cap so that it would look as snow- 

 capped as the other surroundings, and then pipe my "tur- 

 key-bone." Clambering upon the tree, I at once jumped 

 down into the light snow. I have several times during my 

 life been in positions where instant death stared me in the 

 face, but never before nor since that jump have I been thor- 

 oughly frightened. My feet seemed to strike some elastic 

 substance which spread them apart, and in an instant I found 

 myself suddenly rising in the world, enveloped in a cloud ol 

 dry leaves and light snow, out from which came such an in- 

 fernal, explosive roar as can only emanate from a wild boar. 

 (Your paragraphic correspondents are informed that this is 

 not from "Hogg's Tales"— quite the reverse; in fact, I may 

 add that I am not in the habit of interlarding puns with such 

 matter.) 



Simultaneously with my sudden elevation I made the dis- 

 covery that I was astride of a largo wild boar - and making 

 2:16 time toward the opening between the roots of the fallen 

 trees; but I soon "got left," and before the boar had passed 

 the roots I was over the log. At the same time there was a 

 rising cloud of leaves and snow between the logs, as not 

 less than thirty hogs and pigs of various sizes burst forth 

 into the forest, exploding such a variety T of affrighted cries 

 as could not be equalled outside of pandemonium. They, 

 however, left me a nice warm nest, which I crawled into, 

 whitened my cap, and called for the turkeys, but in vain. If 

 there had been any in heating; the warning cry of the fright- 

 ened hogs had driven them away. 



A week or two later, when the snow was gone, I visited 

 this spot again at midday, but the tenants were evidently 

 dining out. A fan-shaped space radiating from the opening 

 between the roots of the two trees for a distance of 100 feet 

 or more was scraped clean of leaves, which were piled be- 

 tween the two fallen trees, and this was the regular bedroom 

 of that drove of hogs. At the point formed by the inter- 

 lacing treetops the leaves were piled level with the tops of 

 the logs, or about four feet high, 



TheTnext time I visited this spot was early one morning 

 and was for pure fun, which I obtained by dropping upon 

 the nest a fairly good-natured, unsuspicious dog. The space 

 was cleared within five seconds, the dog clearing first. I 

 could never coax him near the spot afterwards. 



These wild hogs were never considered dangerous if let 

 alone. One of "the survivors of the great Hinckley Hunt 

 once told me of an adventure which he had with a large 

 drove of them, which shows that under all circumstances 

 they might not be as harmless as rabbits. 



When Medina county was first settled the nearest post 

 office was Cleveland, thirty miles or more away from the 

 settlements. They had a main road cut through the forest 

 from Medina, the comity seat, direct to Cleveland, with 

 lateral roads from the settlements intersecting. Each settle- 

 ment, however, off the line of tho main road, had a foot or 

 bridle-path marked by blazed trees and leading by the most 

 direct route to Cleveland. It was customary for the able- 

 bodied men of each settlement (and nearly all there those 

 days were able-bodied) to take turns in going to Cleveland 

 each week for the maiis and such light supplies as medicines, 

 6tC, as were needed in their respective settlements. These 

 men frequently went on foot and generally carried a. rifle 

 It necessarily occupied two, and frequently three, days to 

 make these trips. On Ihe occasion to which I refer it came 

 our Hinckley hunter's turn. His rifle, originally a flint-lock, 

 had been fitted for percussion "pills," a system in vogue fifty 

 yeats ago. Unscrupulous dealers, however, had a trick of 

 mixing turnip and other seeds with these little pellets, and 

 as their presence could not he readily detected, the cheat 

 was often a serious annoyance, which frequently resulted in 

 fcheloss-of game, as I can well remember. Our messenger 

 AedTo have his rifle on this trip fitted for percussion 

 caps, which were then just coming in use on the frontiers. 



While on his way in the dense forest in what is now 

 the town of Strougsville in Cuyahoga county, he obsi 

 unusual large' number of wild hogs following him and utter- 

 '•■- i i a uliar, loud, prolonged grant, which seemed to be a 

 signal for every hog in hearing, for they assembled from 

 every direction and he found that he was being surrounded, 

 the old boars forming the inner portion of a nearly complete 

 circle with those in the rear uncomfortably near to his heels, 



working their jaws and frothing at the mouth as hogs do 

 when fighting. He began to think of taking to the branches 

 of the first favorable tree, when he chanced to come to a large 

 tree which had fallen with the roots turned high in the air, 

 forming an excellent retreat, upon which he climbed without 

 delay, when the drove of hundreds of these wild brutes with 

 frothy mouths quickly closed around him, and some of the 

 old boars actually attempted to climb upon the upturned 

 roots. He was about fifteen feet above his novel enemy, 

 upon which he opened fire as rapidly as possible, but with 

 his turnip-seeded pellets his rifle would miss fire about nine 

 times out of every ten trials. He was short of powder, but 

 had plenty of bullets and pellets, such as they were, He 

 directed his aim at the most vicious boars, killing one every 

 discharge. 



As he did not have to fire at a distance of over twenty feet 

 at any shot, he used light charges of powder, which, fortu- 

 nately, held out, though he thought they held him prisoner 

 about an hour and a half, during which time he succeeded in 

 making sixteen shots, killing that number of boars. Ascach 

 boar was struck by a bullet and fell, he uttered a peculiar, 

 short squeal, and those, nearest would gather around and 

 quickly find, with their snouts, where the bullet had en tercel. 

 They would then smell of each other's bloody snouts and 

 utter low, gutteral grunts. Finally, the smell of blood began 

 to dampen the belligerent ardor of the brutes, and they 

 gradually raised the siege by slowly withdrawing side wise 

 for a considerable distance, and finally all disappeared in a. 

 body, and our friend continued his trip to Cleveland, where, 

 the next day, he had his rifle fitted for caps, and the day fol- 

 lowing returned to the settlement with a good supply of am- 

 munition and fully prepared for war. But the enemy did 

 not put in an appearance and he was never molested again by 

 wild hogs. Milton P. Prtbce. 



Wknonah, N. J. 



SOME CURIOUS KENTUCKY BELIEFS. 



THERE is an astounding prevalence of innumerable su- 

 perstitions in many localities, even among classes who 

 confess belief that the earth revolves, and that perpetual 

 motion is beyond human achievement. After an absence of 

 twenty-five years I hear the name ghost stories which troubled 

 my childish credulity, and find prevalent the same old su- 

 perstitions — a part of the rising generation's education. 



During my youth a neighbor owned a negro preacher, a 

 chunky, black old fellow, who claimed to have been ushered 

 into this world with a caul over his face, from which favored 

 circumstances he was heir to sight-seeing- gifts denied all 

 others not similarly blessed with that membranous veil at a 

 most momentous period. Sister Nancy, our old cook, was 

 One of his flock, upon whom he called frequently, as she 

 rarely failed to have set aside an appetizing lunch for the 

 emergency of one of brother Loudon's calls. His fund of 

 hair-raising ghost stories, pluck-crushing witchcraft and hor- 

 rifying phenomena in general, was certainly inexhaustible, 

 as he never repeated except by request, aud always narrated 

 actual occurrences — of his own »fght and experience, or in- 

 dubitably authenticated — with all the gravity and apparent i 

 faith that he expounded the gospel. Many are tho times 

 that old Nancy had to accompany me to my bedroom door, t 

 through which I'd sooot with an alacrity suggestive of a rat 

 disgusted by feline familiarity. 



I as scrupulously avoided falling asleep with arms folded' 

 across the chest as I should have shunned the biblical bears, 

 of which I learned at Sunday school, had they been reported I 

 prowling about our neighborhood, for, had a witch come I 

 along and found me in that position she could have Irans 

 formed me into a frisky gelding and forced me to submit 

 to whip and spur till just before light — when the Fates de- 

 creed my return to my couch — to awake exhausted, feet and 

 hands lacerated from the circumstance that I had been an I 

 unshod steed. 



Leaden bullets were as harmless to witches (rarely men- 

 tion of a wizard) as so many paper pellets from a | 

 but a silver bullet or a slug always bnmyM 'em, if aim were 

 steady. 



Actually", it hasn't been fbiee months since an old lady told 

 me that she honestly believed herself bewitched, and that 

 tier "old man" could remove the spell "if he only would." 

 Another comparatively young woman told with all ouniesi 

 ness that her best milch cow was a long time bewitched, till 

 a certain neighbor broke the spell by certain physic and con- 

 juration, known only to himself, after which the cow rapidly 

 recovered from a moribund condition. She believes a neigh- 

 bor-woman the witch who could and had put a spell on her 

 cow. These are the only instances I've met of witch-believ- 

 ing whites in many years, but its currency with the negroes 

 is such as to impress an observer that it is natural and ine- 

 radicable, as some of the most zealous advocates are among 

 those reared in most intelligent and highly educated families 

 who have earnestly T striven to eliminate superstition by edu 

 cation. 



Though generally forbidden by owners to tell their own 

 or the white children the many absurd stories in which their 

 belief was explicit, the fascination to narrator and audience 

 was such that we generally heard all. An anomaly in the. 

 negro's make up is the temerity with which he braves the 

 chances of encountering spooks and hobgoblins in general in 

 his solitary onslaughts upon fowl roosts, melon patches, 

 granaries, etc. 



To-day more than half our agriculturists are influenced by 

 the phases of the moon in seeding. Dark of moon for all 

 root crops, light of moon for all stalk crops. I've known a 

 farmer to plant Irish potatoes the afternoon befon i 

 moon when every condition was unfavorable, rather than 

 wait for next dark moon, nor could Whatcly couvince him 

 that failure could be referable to any fault of his. 



Pork butchered in dark of moon will surely shrink in the 

 pot and drip profusely when baconed. 



Zodiacal signs are as scrupulously consulted before using 

 a knife in any of the many operations to which a farmer 

 subjects his "stock as arc the ten commandments by a 

 Christian. It is bad luck to first see a new moon through 

 tree tops. A moon on point has poured out alJ its supply of 

 water for that month, hence a dry moon; on its back it hold- 

 a supply to be judiciously dispensed. Bad luck to turn 

 bark after starting on a. trip. Bad luck for any animal to 

 cross your path in front unless you break the spell by spitting 

 before passing the crossing point. Bad luck to thank 5 

 friend for garden seeds presented you. Never trim a babe's 

 nails before a year old — it will steal. Never permit a babe 

 under a year old to look in a mirror, Never start on a jour- 

 ney on Friday. Never cut out a garment which cannot in- 

 completed before Sunday, or the owner will not live to wear 

 it out. Clear sunset Wednesday or Friday is a Sure 

 rain within a few days. If it doesn't rain one of the first 

 thre« dog-days no rain need be expected for forty days, 



