The Arkansas Farmer

Trappers Win Prizes For Care of Furs and Pelts

The extra care they used in preparing shipments of fur-bearing animals which they trapped, has won for Joseph E. Fischer of Merriweather, Mich., and Ralph Goddard of Manville, Ill., new 1934 Plymouth sedans. The automobiles were special awards in the Fifth National Fur Show sponsored by Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Trapper Goddard's award-winning shipment consisted of two muskrats, two minks and one skunk, stretched and dried with uniformly outstanding skill. Announcement of the reward was made on his twenty-fifth birthday.

The Merriweather shipment was made up of four muskrats, three skunks, five minks, two weasels, one wolf and three wild cats, all prepared with the same extraordinary care and skill.

A glimpse into the lives of these two master trappers brings to light the fact that although Fischer spent his youth in Chicago assisting his father, a musician, he ran away from home and took up trapping while still in his teens. He has served the state of Michigan as a hunter of predatory animals but has since returned to the trap lines. Fischer has a wife and four children.

Ralph Goddard is one of the 50 persons who make up the population of Manville, Ill. Since he was fourteen trapping has been his after-school and after-work occupation and his knowledge of pelt handling has been gained through years of practical experience.