A FLOATING TOMB.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 8, 9 January 1877, Page 4

A FLOATING TOMB.

: -y.: y^'CNm-YorfiSunJ)^ - ° '' A "I see by this morning's paper," said Mr^aguffin, '.^tha.t Mrs ,o'^lanjikpp : . is married again,-;.: Her ihpsband, Major O'Klantikop, used to board here. He spent his winters iv Florida hualihg' alligators, and a more devoted sp r Qr.ts4._ man L never : saw, butiheyttever.. wasf a .satisfied with the old method of\s_iOotv_. iߣ§iihfh-. r4fle. ; There was !a,, great., waste in the bulleta-that glanced off thel, reptiles' backs, and frequently; 2. onp; would get away before he would hitlitt_ in a vital spb'tv M.jo'r went £pto Charleston pue wiuterand bough. 'a eoDdftmoe^;l h (B6lii_6bi^ De f n : as^ii^ iiie sfege of Fort Sumpter, snd had it ...'mounted in a bend of the St John's triver, : and trained: to .; comtoahd the waieroadjagent to the point round w|ii!_hf,l«Utsbe ,aUigat.orß must oome; ? ; and, having loaded .with a ten-inch shell, he waited. &?!'Th_c .very next day there eaofa ap l ''. streaes an aligator that seeimedUi.kie* ' • with something that, pleased his fancy very-touch;, when he awun^ his upper . jaw l W_^ -tfr lab^h, ihe_i_[ajor ihou|ht it wa^'a* fibating derrick; but wHeii the animal came within clear iaoge,,. '- O^lSaaiik'op aaw that it wa* a moaster - : alligator, and he "ptflled the lanyard. Thr^ltfcf'W-Js* bWhtiftii. The sh^l. j stracfe- just ioside the tip of- the lowerjaw, and as it rolled along towards his throat,, the change in, the alligator's expreVsibn' was remarkable"; he" shot bi^; mouth with. a clip that was beard teo^intl}i_ away, arid (airly hurapedhi-a--seir as theboiiib rolled down his .inter- , ior. About midway of the body, tha shell \ 'The expf bsion .^oald, . nofc oHngi bacfc the happy aiiigaib.'is last gleeful fancy, but it more than restored his openneaa' of coiin tenance. The ;: Major "said sdbsequeutly, however, that w-b^this: method of destroying alUga-. tore unijoubtedly effoctivei it broke: 'eaai.dp too finej and so he left' the big,: gg_^bl. ; the baok of the riveriand i^ venteda p^w plan. „ . f o 'SiZ liV Sis outfit this time was a fishing-, rod, a feather, and a piece pf scan tling about 3ft in lehgth. '/ Havtcg fastened t„#c feather to the end of the rod; tha Major would walk to the edge of the *fS!-B_-M ! fe.W jlhe baqfc .and /deiU cately tickle the alligator's jawslwitn the feathef^and- when he closed ];his eyes and,ppened hi.s flpouth to (l enjo7fcbe ? unusual' "titiiiatroni ' the Major wjjiijdl quietly step, in with the scantlin^,\atid have the upper jaw braced back before the alligator knew what wai'thejraatter. Thau p'KftQtiklop would calmly put a bullet down his gnliet, andltake his: prize a-hore^ In- this way he captured si^ty-seyen alligators in fdhr , mootbs." "'•"-'■-"''_■

"*}"o"rie day early this spring the pilot of the steamer that runs up the St John's saw an obstruction that was not dbwh on the charts, and which had nbt eybtf T been 'visible when the' boat-made";! her previous trip. Backing his en-' gine.3. the pilot was still more surprised tgs see Jha obstruction making , towards/ him.i -It looked-eomethiog like a sparbuoy adrift, and when it came still nS4ret iti was made out to : be apiece ,of v ; B(btft.Bcaniling aiickiug : up, through the' upper jaw of a gigantic slfigatpr... The pilot was amazed; but when. the story' reached Jacksonville, the fate of Major O'KJalatiklop, who had been missiug for three or Jour weeks, was no longer a mystery; everybody wbo was familiar with- the Major's' style of hunting, k'new^lhat the strangely planted pi.cc of scantling which, the pilot had seen was Major O Klantikop's totnbatqne, ahd that the Maj or was buried about stSv^tl' feet back of it. Thb gen.rally accepted theory was that O'Klantikop, E^fl(Jp ; reckleas by uninterrupted success,: had miscalculated placing the top end of the scantling, arid the rafters in the, ro ; 6f of the alligator's iriouth had given way, letting the mighty jaws' together, andijpckiag: up the Major in a scarco-, pbagus which in novelty of design, and high qualities of absorption completely laid over everything in that' way ever constructed by the Greelcs.