Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-10-11
HonnIHLE ooouRRENoE.
Two Children Bitten by n RafnesaRke
and Third Drowned in the same



From the Bowling Green CKy.} }DemOorus 5ih
Never in our experience es journalists
has it been our duty to record 81 occur
renee more horrid In its details than the
one We are about to relate.
The sad affair that left widowed
mother childless, for the time being
almost beTeft Of reason, happened about
the 18th uitimo. in the adjoining county
OF Allen. a short distance from the
county line, and in the vicinity Of Au-
/ thOny's MILL The keRrtrending details,
ss related to US by persons Of unques-
tionable yeraeiry, are about these: Some
two months since Mrs Blankenship, a
lady OF respectabiiity, lost her husband
from disease, and was left with three
/ children, two interesting boys and a little
| infant girl, just large enough 70 walk
/ alone and beguile the lonely hours Of the
mother With its innocent prattle. On
/ the 10th ultimO the mother, Mrs. Bianken-
| ship, for the purpose Of washing clothes,
repaired TO the spring branch near the
I house in the locality referred, taxing her
| three children with her, the house dog
| following behind. She had been engaged
in washing but z short time when the dog
was heard bark 7g incessanuy on the
hill near by. Thinking that the dog had
possibly treed T-CcOOn or had rabbit
St bay, the two lit 'e boys proposed going
It once to secure tie game. With the
mothers consent TIE little fellows started
off in high gies. Alas better had they
never been born. Or reaching the spot
where the dog wss JsrkiDg they saw
short distance from a deg q large OBJ
ject eoiled at the foot 2. a stuWp, in a
b stile attitude, keeI * 7he dog at bay.
H4.a, EHrN fsf 20
TO capture the supposed game, and not
thinking OF danger. me- knowing the na-
ture Of the prey, they approached the
hideous monster that in fatality of attack
" OutvenOms al the worms Of Nile"
The oldest Of the two boys approached
first, with bis little hands outsuetcaed
and his face aglOw st the prospect Of his
prize he said PHI get him, bTOther.n
One step more and he rushed 70 q death
more terrible and speedy than were the
tOrtures of fabled EsacOOn. With one
dart Of nis fOrksd tongue, with one
death rattle Of his tail, the huge rattle
snase-fOr it was nothing less-drew back
his scaly folds and with one dart forward
planted bis enyenomed fsngs in the flesh
Of the boy, and left the deadly poison
coursiDg hot through his young veins.
Again and again was the 10Y bitten by
the fatal REL tile till he feu exhausted in
the coils Of the monster.
The other little fellow rushed forward
to the relief of his little brother, and he
also received the deadly ftugs Of the ser
peut in several places. The screams of
the boys alarmed the mother, who was
still washing st the branch, aad leaving |
her baby girl, she ran frantica!iv TO the |
spot. What a sight there met Ear gaze! |
! 4
and bitten in many places, one Of her |
boys was already dead and the other /
dying from the same cause. The snake /
had crawled away, and the living boy |
lived just long enough 70 tell the circum- |
stance Of their death. Overwhelmed !
with an intensity of agony which moth /
ers alone can feel, she remained ct the (
fatal spot q short time, when she be- /
thought her Of her little girl st the branch 4
and hurried back.
On reaching the spot, horrible as Il |
may seem, she found that the little girl
had walked to the washtub, into which
she had fallen head foremost and was
drowned, and it too was gDue.h The
cup Of misery was full not an
other drop could be added. BeTeft Of
and almost Of reason, she sank
lnder the accumulated horrors Of the
lOur. Assistance was procured, the
leart crushed wOmau and the remSins
II her nestlings were taken charge Of
md cared for A short time after, a
arCe r3ttlesuake, with thirteen rattles,
vas killed near the spot where the boys
we're bitten.
The event created a profound sensation
q the community, and has scarcely a
larallel even in the exciting annals of
ur early and hardy pioneers.