The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1860-09-26
Death Of the Little Girl said to- be
Fascinated bv q Suake-

At half past eleven O'Clock yesterday fore
neon, the little daughter of B. d. Davis, of
this city, whose familiarity with a snake has
been frequently noticed, died at the residence
of her parents on Centre street. The facts
connected with her case we shall state and
leave the public to draw their own inference.
All that We have heretofere published las
been strictly correct, SO far as we could obtain
information.
A few weeks since, when Mr.. Davis resided
en- Monroe street, m the outskirts of the city,
near a nursery where he was employed, this
little daughter-less than two years old-was
accustomed to go into the yard or field and
play with a snake. How long these meetings
had been held before the discovery, by the
mother is not known. At all events the Z 9TH
er one day found the child with the snake in
its arms, and thu little girl was fondling it and
calling it her baby. Subsequently the snake
was seen in the yard, and would run to the
child whenever she was permitted to go out
The child lost its appetite and pinned away,
and constantly talked and thought of this rep
tile. Her mother took her darling to the
city to divert her mind from the hideous OBJ
ject, but in vain. Under the advice of a
physician who was called. the snake was not
destroyed, and continued its visits to the
premises at will, retreating to the field when
any one but the child appeared.
At length Mr.. Davis moved into the city
and took a house on centre street, hoping that
the change would be advantageous to the child,
and for a time she improved in health and
took her food. Two weeks ago last Friday,
the child was taken i'll and continued to sink
until yesterday, when she died She was sub
ject to commissions or spasms, which we're very
violent, and at no time could she take food
and retain it in her stomach. Her mother
informs our reporter that she was attended by
DR.. Fleming, who treated the child on the
electrical principle, and she says that he found
it a difficult case. and expressed the belief
that the snake had taken the electricity from
the system of the child
On the day following the Friday on which
the child was taken 50 seriously Ill, a Mrs.
Deyine, who occupies a house on Monroe street
vacated by Mr.. Davis, called at the house he
now occupies, and stated that a German named
Conrad Keuchenback had killed the snake
which had troubled the child, on the day pre-
vious-the Friday on which she was taken i'll.
The mother says that when the little girl
heard the statement, she said, "Mamma, is
baby dead2'' And soon became worse.
There is not much doubt about the state
ment made, SO far as the facts are concerned.
The conclusions and differences are quite ano-
Their thing. The snake killed by Keuchen-
back was about three feet long, and was doubt
less tho same seen by Mrs. Davis and her fami-
ly repeatedly with her daughter. Its being
Killed at the time the child became i'll may
have been a coincidence-probabIy was.
The child was two years and one month old
when it died, and it was a very bright and in
tercstiGg little girl. To what extent it was
under the fascinating influence of the reptile,
We cannot say. We only give such facts as
we have been able to gather, and leave every
reader to make his own conclusion.-Rochcs
ter Uaion, kua e.