Jan. 22, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
135 
have the first chance at a ’gator. Then the 
doctor took the low seat, with the rifle resting 
across his knees. The judge sat amidships, 
Joe seating himself in the stern with his paddle, 
and as he pushed off he gave his companions a 
few instructions. 
“When you shine one, Doc, don’t let the light 
swing off his eye while I’m working up to him, 
for if you do, he’ll see us and go down; then 
we’ll have to hunt up another one. And don’t 
shoot till you are close enough to see his whole 
head plain. After you shoot him, keep the 
light on him till I work the bateau up along¬ 
side, then, Judge, you sock the iron into him. 
Turn your head slow, Doc., and let the light 
run in along shore mostly, but once in awhile 
cast her out into the lake.” 
As Joe ceased speaking the boat began to 
slip through the water, though there was no 
sound from his paddle, only the gentle lapping 
of water at the bow. As they passed a little 
cove the ray of light flashed back among the 
overhanging bushes and two little red spots 
glowed in the white light. 
“What was that?” whispered the doctor, as 
the traveling ray again swept out over the lake. 
“ ’Coon hunting mussels,” answered Joe in, a 
low tone. 
“I say,” began the judge, “I don’t-” 
“S-s-h,” cautioned Joe, as he gently swung 
the bow toward the shore. His eyes had been 
following the shifting ray, and he had seen the 
single dull red spot as soon as the doctor had 
the light steadily on it and the boat slowly 
and silently approached. There was a slight 
tremor of the boat and a sharp report, then the 
echo traveling from qove to cove, fainter and 
fainter. But there was no floundering ’gator 
for the judge to harpoon. 
“What you want to shoot so soon for, Doc?” 
exclaimed Joe. “You wasn’t within thirty yards 
of that ’gator.” 
“Thirty yards!” exploded the doctor, taking 
a long breath and ejecting the empty shell from 
his rifle. “I tell you I was within three feet of 
that red eye when I shot, and I thought you 
was going to paddle the boat right over him. 
Thirty yards, nothing!” 
“Come and take a back seat, Doc,” said the 
judge, “and let me get up there with that 
searchlight and this old twelve-bore, and if 
any ’gator makes eyes at me, there will be 
something doing.” 
“Well.” remarked Joe, “you might as well 
change seats and we’ll go across to the mud 
flats; that’s where that old feller was bellerin’ 
last night. Hope we’ll meet up with him, and 
if we do, I’ll bet the judge will give him some¬ 
thin’ to beller about.” 
Nearing the shore, Joe headed down the lake 
and skirted a big bonnet patch. They had been 
moving along silently for about half an hour 
without any luck, when the judge cast the light 
out into the lake, and as it slowly crept back 
toward shore a red spot stood out, the judge 
holding the light on it, and nearer and nearer 
drew the boat until the faint outlines of the 
ugly head were seen. Then there was a spurt 
of flame, a deafening report, and a splashing of 
water. At the report the shaft of light from 
the bullseye flashed heavenward, the judge all 
but going over backward into the bottom of 
the boat. 
“Get the light on him. Judge,” called Joe; 
“and Doc, you be ready to sock the iron into 
him when I work alongside.” 
The ’gator was in its death struggles as Joe 
brought the boat near enough for the doctor 
to drive the iron home, then he backed off a 
short distance to escape the flying spray. 
“Say, Judge, that must a been a whoppin' 
load you had in that gun,” remarked Joe. “I 
’lowed for a second she had sure busted. If 
you’d hit that ’gator square you’d a took the 
top of his head clean off. Didn’t hurt you 
none, did it?” 
“N-no,” slowly answered the judge, as he 
rubbed his shoulder. “I got a bit excited and 
pulled both triggers, and the blamed old 
blunderbuss came near kicking me into the 
IN THE ALLIGATOR COUNTRY. 
lake. But I got that ’gator, all right. How 
about it. Doc.?” 
“Next time you go ’gator hunting,” said the 
doctor, “you want to mount a howitzer in the 
bow. Then you can blow ’em clean out of the 
water onto the bank ready for skinning, pro¬ 
vided there is anything left to skin.” 
“Reckon you want the hide of this ’gator, 
Judge?” asked Joe. 
“Certainly I want the hide. Got to have it 
to produce as evidence when I tell my friends 
in Chicago about this ’gator hunt.” 
“I think you’re wrong there, Judge,” re¬ 
marked the doctor. “When you get through 
telling the boys about this hunt, and how big 
the ’gator was, then produce the hide as evi¬ 
dence, I fear a discrepancy will appear. But 
then, I suppose it would be perfectly natural to 
allow a few inches—or feet—for shrinkage in 
curing.” 
“Nothing more natural,” laughed the judge. 
So Joe drew the ’gator to the surface, passed 
a rope around the body just back of the fore¬ 
legs and pulled the head up over the stern of 
the bateau so it would tow easily. Arrived at 
camp, the ’gator was pulled out on the bank, 
and after making a pot of coffee and taking a 
smoke, they turned in. 
In the morning Joe skinned the ’gator, which 
measured a good twelve feet. Then camp was 
struck and they met the wagon at the logging 
camp on the creek and were driven back to 
town. George A. Irwin. 
Louisiana's Convention. 
New Orleans, La., Jan. 3.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: At the suggestion of Dr. T. S. Palmer, 
of the Biologic Survey at Washington, and in 
conjunction with Hon. T. G. Pearson, of North 
Carolina, Acting President; Hon. John H. Wal¬ 
lace, Jr., Game Commissioner of the State of 
Alabama; and Hon. J. H. Achlen, Game Com¬ 
missioner of the State of Tennessee, I join in 
inviting you to attend a convention of the Na¬ 
tional Association of State Game Wardens and 
Commissioners to be held in the city of New 
Orleans on Feb. 5. 
This date is named for the reason that at that 
particular time our local Mardi Gras Carnival 
will be in full swing, and by so much it is pos¬ 
sible to obtain cheap railroad transportation. 
Since the last convention many new prob¬ 
lems in game conservation have come to the 
front for consideration and old ones need fur¬ 
ther and fuller review, and while we all recog¬ 
nize that each State has its own problems in 
conservation to be worked out in ways adapted 
to local conditions, yet nevertheless there are 
many basic propositions upon which we all can 
agree, and if worked for 1 collectively would go 
far to solve the conditions we are contending 
with. Frank M. Miller. 
New York Legislature. 
Albany, N. Y., Jan. 18 . — Editor Forest and 
Stream: During the first two weeks of the 
Legislative session not a single bill amending 
the game law has been introduced. This is a 
remarkable circumstance. Ordinarily at the out¬ 
set of the session every winter measures of this 
kind make their appearance by the dozen. 
The Senate standing committee on Forest, Fish 
and Game, because of the vacancies created by 
the deaths of Senators McCarren and O’Neil, 
has undergone some changes in its personnel. 
As now constituted it comprises the following: 
Senators Hamilton, Cobb, Holden, Coates, 
Hubbs, Alt, White, Frawley and Cronin. 
The Assembly committee on Fisheries and 
Game has an entirely new membership this ses¬ 
sion. Its chairman is Mr. Lupton, of Suffolk, 
and the other members are Messrs. Shea, of 
Essex; Reed, of Cayuga; White, of Monroe; 
MacDonald, of Franklin; Vosburgh, of Fulton 
and Hamilton; Wilkie, of Erie; Pitkin, of Jef¬ 
ferson; Weiland, of Queens, Sanner, of Kings; 
Cosad, of Seneca; Zorn, of Queens, and Beck, 
of Kings. E. C. C. 
All the game laws of the United States and 
Canada, revised to date and now in force, are 
given in the Game Lazos in Brief. See adv. 
