Jeffersonian Republican. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1840-1853, 1843-02-01
Frightfur snake story.

The following incident was related 20 US ihe
other day, by one whose veracIiy is unques'i0n'
ed. and who was an eye witness oi The iaci- 1t
is more appalling than any we rec0ilectio have
ever read in the history of these reptiles
Sometime last summer, the inhabitants OF
Manchester, Mississippi, gave u fhAcos
which was attended by most of The fashion and
beauty of the town aad surrounding e""n'rE
Il happened that among The guests there " az 1
Young l.dv, Miss VI. recently ffonf nnr oi NO
Eastern cities " no was on visi, 10 her frlt-
tons in the neis shburhOod Of the town. Mi-S
NJ was CAV and extremely iasllona'''o
young lady, and wIhaI possessed an unc"m-
mon share Of spirit and courage; except ~ 'h'
matter of snakes---and Of these she had so great
dread thai she scarcely dared 10 walk any
where except in the most frequen'ed places.
for fear of encounlefing them. Every efi''r.
was used bu, without avail, to rid her OF her
childish fears They haunted her continually.
until al last it became the settled comvlcilnn of
her mind tha, she was destined 10 fall Sicnir
to the fangs Of ratiiesnake. The sequel viii
show how soon her terrible pTeseninen! was
fulfilled.
Towards The close Of The day, while scores Of
fairy feet were keeping time in The dance To
full tide of enjoyment, a scream was hsa ri from
Miss NJ. followed by the most agonizing cries
for help. The crowd gathered round her IN
s,antly, and beheld her standing, the perfect
image of despair, with her hands grasping
portion of her dress with the tenacity OF a VICE
IL was sometime before she could be rendered
sufficiently calm to tell the cause of her alarm.
and then they gathered from her broken excla-
Il, he nd NJ n
shake among the folds of her dress. and dreaded
10 let 90 her hold for fear Of receiving the fatal
blow This intelligence caused many TO shrink
from her, but the mos, Of the ladies to their hn-
nor be i, told, remained with her, determined
not 10 leave her in her direful extremity. They
besought her not TO relax her hold, as safety
depended upon it, until some one could Go
| found who had the courage TO seize and re-
move the terrible animal. There were Rons
of the ladies', however who had The courage 10
perform the act, and the condition OF Miss NJ
was becoming more and more critical every
moment Ii was eviden. that her strength
was failing very fast, and that she could not
MAINTAIN her hold many minutes longer.
/ A hasiy consultation among The calmest oil
| the ladies was held, when it was determined
that Dr. Tisan who was present should be cal
led to their assistance. he was quickly on
the spot, and being man Of uncommon cou-
rage, he was not many moments within The
circle of the weeping and half-lain'ins females
until he had caught the tail ofthe snake, and
wound it firmly around his hand 10 make sure
of his hold. He then told Miss NJ. that she
mus, let 90 al the moment he jerked IL away
and 10 make the act as instantaneous as pos-
sible he told her that he would pronounce
the words one, two, three, and that at the
moment he pronounced the last word she
must let go her hold, and he doubted mol that
he could Withdraw the snake before ii could
have time To strike All stood in breathless
horror, awsiins the act Of life or death, and
al the moment the word three was pronoun-
ced, the DR. ie,ked out the largest and most
diabollcal looking hustle that was ever seen
in Mississippi The whole affair was at once
explained. The fastening of the machine had
become loose during the dancing, and II had
shifted its position in such way that II dan
glcd about ine ladies' limbs, and induced The
; belief that il was snake with an enormous
; head.
!, The Doctor fell right down in his tracks,
and lainied---he did.---MiJs. Jour.