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Show WON'T BE FOOLED WITH, so says FAinciiuj) uorsn circlb ABOUT ur.OL'.SD IHXiS. Tlie Hi! ject of ground licg came up tor discussion at a nieetint; of die Kairdilld house circle thu other evening, said Judge lieu Wright: I liad a little exfciliiiice luyttll with a t;f"nd '10.T u'litn I livt-d iti Womlhull that tft me to thinking that it wasn't will to try any vx-(critni'UU vx-(critni'UU uu tllt-liu One f-uuimtr a clittfcy chap uf a grouuj hogM.t up hhop In a clover field of mineand .sasalotir tior; nuisance with a manpard roof, lie defied all my etlurtstw induce Inm to die or leave the ciuutry. I u as leading in mj i:e ?isinr one evening, after a long djy'H wurk liiniliu); and i-tackiuK wlie&t, and came acruss au item that p)eaed me. It wast about a man iluwu in Jitm-v Mho had hit uii a I I'lau to ameliorate the cuuditiou of laruis s-uueriii;; irom grounu nog. lie had found that lir catching a turtle auJ tying a lull of cmiille wick, soaked with keruietie oil, to its tail, touching a match to the lull, and then putting the tuttle into the ground hog's hole, the turtle would roam the corridors uf the hurrow, trailing iu tire ball along with it, and strike such terror to the hearts of the ground hogi resident therein that tuey would rush with wild panic (or the surface. All the fanner had to donas to stand on the outride and knock the ground hog' on the head as they came out. tiik kii:k iiaix thkatmekt. 'After reading the item I felt I hail that big clover stealing tof mine at my mercy at Ial. I could Imrdly wait till morning, I wanted to go out and get a turtle so lad, put the kerosene and candlewick unl-ft unl-ft mi on liim and start him out on Ujb caniialgn agalu-t that ground hog. JJtfore S o'clock I liad the whole thiug fixeil, and, arming myself my-self with an ax, went over to the ground hog's hole. I put the turtle at the mi.uth of the hoie and lit the oil soaked ball I had tied behind him. It blazed up like a small bonfire, bon-fire, and the turtle, frightened at the sight, divi-.l Into the hole like a chipmunk, and by and by disap--jri"l with the lull of lire into the ucpths. 1 braced myself at the side Jul the hole, raised my ax in the air, and smiled gnmly a. 1 thought of the vengeance I was so-jii to wreak on the destroyer of my peace and clovi r. I stood there atx ut ten minute, and no ground !l apiieared. Then 1 began to . tmiurcd villi duubt, and asmy arms were aching with holding tiie avenging ax in the air so long, I let it down on the ground and leaned UJO!l it. I have icason to believe Uiat the ground hog was only waiting for that moment, for I had scarcely uu-aimed uu-aimed mjsell, as It were, when the ground lug jopiil out of the hole liki a l!a-h and It was a Hash, for he had the string that had tied the blazing caudle wkk to the turtle tightly U Hi ceil his teetli. and the dazziing firebrand was sailing along after him like a hot air balloon. Away the ground licg tore, straight for my wheat field. here the golden gold-en g-ainn stacked in plethoric sheave?. Ill less than three mill-; utes he had touched the torch, which was to liave lighted him to his death, to my gleaming wheat stack', and that edge of Steuben. County-saw County-saw such a bonfire an never lit up its hllN before or since. I believe it was the firm intuition of thegrouud hog to set lire to my house, too. but the caudle wick exhausted itself lie-fore lie-fore he cculd reach the dwelling, and all ( had to rciuemberthe geu-iu! geu-iu! of the Jersymaii by was the ashes ash-es i.f my Mason's wheat a-nip. I gave a mental juit claim U1 of the clover Held to tin ground hog ou the spot, and the lust 1 laant from tin re was DO'T THY TIIK 1B.II. "I don't know mucli alnul grouud hogs myself," remarked Thail Hj.-s, the laudlorl. "my experience itli lieasbtof biitden and animals of the forest and field having lieen en.lrely with coons; but I had a friend that lived back of Pcim Van who ran against a ground hog once and had anexierieiice with it tlsat, actually if a mail wa lying, he couldn't t.ll of ouu half is i.ucer. My friein! u-ed to say, iu toiling about tli ground hog eXK-rieiice of hi", that :i ground h"g looked like a eliuckle ncad, but he's smarter than a mustard plaster. I never had tin-least tin-least idea iu the world of trapping for ground hog", but every time Urn-friend Urn-friend of mine met me he secmi-i t" be under the impression tliat I wa-about wa-about to engage in that sjmrt. fi-r lie always liegau at me something like this: "Don't you ever trap for ground hogs! In ths first place, if you catch your ground hog you won't know what to do with It, for the skin U no gool and the meat will sjoil soap grease. In the second plan-, you will never catch one. oil will only rWs your trap if you do trv to catch a ground hog. for the chances, are that the sly old cuss will come out and spring the trap by hitting Uie pan with a slick or tossing a stone on It. and then lug itotl'amlle or two and wiry it." 'Then this friend of mine would relate what hapjieiied to him iu trving to rid his farm of a ground hog that had lieen especially annoying. annoy-ing. Ho had set a trap for it, and tin-ground hog had hinted to him two or tinea times that it didn't want the trap srojiu.l his diggings by carrying it away half 9 mile and hanging it on a b j-h. Hut my frjend thought he knew more what wa best for that ground lire- than the patiently protecting aniuial did itself, it-self, audio tept right on setting the trap on the very llire-hold of the grouud hog's home, flee morning lie went to look al the trap, and wheu lie was within a hundred yards cr so of the hole he saw the grouud hog dragging the trap by its chain otr across the field in the di-ru-iion of my lriend'j barn. Ex. |
