The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1871-09-21
THEuoME OF THE REPTILES.
Serpept. In Conventional New De-
parture OF Snakes-Six Thousand
Five Hundred Slaughtered I'm n
Portutrbt-A Fascinating Story.


Five Hundred Slaughtered I'm
Fortnight-A Fascinating Story.
We condense the following marvel
GUS snake story from an Iowa paper,
which guarantees the truth of every
word, and gives the names OF a number
of distinguished public men of the State
as additional vouchers. 1t appears that
certain Mr.. Cummins owns gypsum
quarry near Fort Dodge, and employs
force Of about twenty-five men in the
stone. He has worked it only year
or two, but ever since he opened, every
spring and fall his men have suffered
serious inconvenience from the myriads
OF snakes that have den in the crew
ices, and swarm in during the fall and
out in the spring. The quarry has a
northern exposure, the one that is
always chosen by snakes as den, for
the reason that it is not affected by the
premature thawing and freezing of early
spring, as a southern slope would be.
AS soon as the weather gets settled in
the spring and the effects of the April
sun is felt the serpents begin to show
themselves, and the battle begins. From
out the crevices and the hooks of the
rock the reptiles swarm, crawling up
the slope of the bluff, basking in the
sun, or Fastening away over the prairie
TO their summer haunts Now comes
the tug of 'war; the foreman Of the
quarry is compelled to detail two men
to fight the hideous things that the men
may work, and one is kept carrying
away the dead in a wheelbarrow and
burying them, so that the numberless
fostering bodies may not breed disease.
And from all the surrounding country,
the snake hunters throng to enjoy the
sport of killing snakes, and in among
them they go slashing and striking until
the poisonous odor compels them to
beat retreat Twenty five snakes in
fifteen minutes is common haul.
The editor Of the paper in question,
in company with number of other
gentlemen, recently paid visit to the
quarry. The sun was just warming up
the northern slope when the party arri-
we'd, and this is his description of what
followed:
From out the crevices the snakes
were crawling in all directions, and
"swash, "swash," went the huge clubs
of the two men who were defending their
fellow workmeD, and every blow was
the death OF a snake. Just at our feet
crawled a deadly moCcasin, while to
the right and left spotted adders and
.chasers squirmed and Missed as they
twined among the stones or escaped
up the bluff. Directly in front of us lay
a pile OF dead serpents as large as a
| two bushel basket, while on the face Of
the sloping bluff were probably three
hundred reptiles who had escaped the
clubs Of the men and were Fastening
away to the prairie, their elevated heads
and writhing bodies Transforming the
bluff into no mythical Gorgon head.
Just above US on ledge OF rocks was a
huge adder, and Mr.. Cummins picked
up piece of rock heaved it on him
pinning him to the ledge, but the snake
was game; some three feet OF his body
was free, and gathering himself up
would leap full at us with all his force,
kissing and opening his jaws in a way
that made the blood run cold, and the
next leap he made, a blow from our
cane sent his head spinning score OF
feet and the bleeding trunk dropped to
the earth below.
The snakes are said to retire in their
dens about ?. NJ. every day, after
which all is quiet until the suns rays
again reach the quarry, when the same
thing is repeated. Two hundred and
seventy-iive snakes were killed that
day, the number for two weeks footing
up $500, while it is supposed that ten
times that number escaped. On the
l+th Of October, the snakes commenced
20 return and enter their dens for the
winter, when the same slaughter is re-
peated. The ledge OF the quarry is
twenty-five feet in height, and nearly
! perpendicular, and down that distance
they crawl, roll and tumble, catching
on a crag, and with a twist of the tail,
they disappear in the dark crevices OF
their long sleep.
Last fall, the l4th day of October
came unnoticcd by the men; they were
busy with their toll in the rock below
The foreman was half STOPPING, drilling
a rock, preparatory for blast, when
suddenly across his neck dropped a
monstrous spotted adder, hanging and
Missing, half his length on either side.
On looking up they saw fifty or more
snakes pouring over the edge OF the
cliff, and crawling down the ledge.
Then it occurred to them that the 18th
day Of October had come, and for the
next two weeks swarms Of snakes kept
pouring in. This qnarry, with its den
Of snakes, is worthy Of the attention OF
the curious and scientific. 1t has,
doubtless, for centuries been resort OF
Serpents, for, at the bottom OF the ledge
Of gypsum, where it joins on the iron
ore, are found the petried bodies OF
snakes. How long has this twenty-five
feet OF gypsum taken to !orm2 Doubt
less, ever since the waters subsided, the
Shiny denizens OF the prairie have had
their winter homes in these rocks, and
there is certainly there to-day curious
subject of inquiry for the naturalist and
scientific, as well as a subject OF horror
for those who hate the wriggling ser
pent.