The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1871-10-06
HOME or THE s,ErTILn;.

in For.m'ght-.A Fascinating
Story.
We col lease the following marvc-
lois snake story from an Iowa paper.
which guarantees the truth of every
word, aud gives the names of a 1 number
oi distinguished men Of the State rs adj
litional vouchers. Ii appears that Il ccr-
tain Mr.. Cummins owns gypsum quar-
~ near For; Dodge. and employs "A force
OF some twenty-five men in the stone.
lie has worked il only n year or two.
bat ever since he opened every sprin.
anh fall his men have suffered scrious
Inconvenience AMI annoyance from the
myriads OF snakes TINT have a den in
the crcviccs. ana swarm in during the
till aal oui in the spring. The quarry
has a northern exposure. the kind that
is always chosen by snakes as
n den. for tho reason that ii is not nj
icctcd by the premature thaMing and
freezing of early spring. rs southern
slope would be. A. o . as the wealth
or gets settled in the spring. and The eff
fleets of the April sun are felt. the SER
penis begin TO show them selves. and the
battle begins. From out the ~crcviccs
AMI the hooks OF the rock the reptiles
sAarnl. crawling up the slope of the
bluti. basking in the sun or fastening
away over the prairie TO their summer
haunts. Now comes the bug OF war;:
the foreman of The curry is compelled
10 detail Two men to fight the hidcons
things. that the men may work, and one
j, kept clrrving the dead away in n !
whccl-blrrow. and burrying them. so !
that the numbcrlcss fostering bodies Z
will not breed disease. And from all u
the surrounding country the snake hum :
tiers tlirong TO enjoy the sport Of killing
snakes, and in among them they 90.
s~llshing and striking until the poison
Gus odor compcls them to beat a retreat.
Twenty-Five snakes in Is minutes is a
common hanl. II
The editor OF the paper in question. q
in company with number OF other gem ,i
tlcmcn. recently paid "A visit 10 Tie quar- IN
~. The sun was just warming no the s,
northern slope when the party arrived. 81
and THIS is 4 description of what follow II
ed: IN
From ont the c~rcviccs tie snakes
were crawling. IN all directions. and
'swa-lI. '>waSh. Went the clubs OF the
two men who were defending their fell
low men. and every blow was the death
rfa make. just ut our feet crawlcd q
deadly moccl>in. while TO tho right and
LEFT spotted ladders and ~claScr> suuirmed
and Kissed as they twincd among the
stones or escaped up the bluff. Direct Ia
~ in roni of Us lay Il pile of dead SER =,
penis "a biz n Il two bu>Iicl basket. Bi
while OH the face Of the ~loping bluff SO
were probably three hundred reptile. III,
Who had escaped the clnb. OF the mon t~l
and were fastening away IN their FASH ~,
ion to tho prairie. their elevated head. le-
ana writing bodies transforming the III
bluff into no mythical tiorron head. ~,
Inst al,f 80 N. On a 1n1.rn .f ,..I- 49, Z
huge adder. and Mr.. Cummins picked y
a piece of rock and hcavcd it on him. Ne
i~iiniirc him to the ledge bur the snake
was game some three feet Of his body
WAS free. aud gaiherim. himself M he
would leap full at H. it'll all his force.
kissing aud opening his Jaws in a way J
that made the blood run cold. and the rig
next leap he made. a blow from our pnr
came sent his head spinning Il score of fcc'
Sect. and the bleeding trunk dropped to r .
the earth below.
The snakes are said to retire into their Il
don> about 2 r. VI. every day, after which sis
all is quiet until the SIMS rays again "
reach the quarry. when the same thing dne
is repeated. Two hundred and seventy nd
FIVE snakes were killed that day. the eN'
number for the week footing up six sex
five hundred. while il Is sup cas-
N'Fs'h tabat WI tttl'S tHtI I'LL u -
capped. On the 10Th Of October the
snakes m to return and enter
their lens for the winter. when the same
slaughter is repeated. Tho ledge Of the
quarry is twenty-five feet in height. and GU
perpendicular; and down that
they crawl. roll and tumble. N
G catching on a crag, and. with n twist of : n
the tail. they disappear in the dark GREY by
i,cs for their long sleep. mr,
Last fall the llth day OF October came Poi
nnnoticcd by the men they were busy I
with their toll in the rock below. The sha
foreman was half STOPPING. drilling q tina
rock preparatory for a blast. when sud- mo,
denly across his neck dropped mon Y
strous spotted adder, hanging and his s .i
sing. half his length on either side. On lin,
looking up they saw fifty or more snakes dol
pouring over the edge OF the cliff. and
down the ledge. Then it oc-
to them that the 18th day of De-
fobcr had come, and for the next two
weeks swarms Of snakes kept pouring n
in. This quarry, with its den of snakes.
Is worthy Of the attention Of the curious
and scientific. 1t has doubtless for cen can
turtles been n resort of scrpcnts, for at ,on,
the bottom Of the ledge of gypsum. bu,i
ii Joins on the iron orc. arc found etc
the pctriied bodies of snakes. How IH,e
long has this TWENTY-FIVE feet of gypsum are
taken to form Doubtless ever since SOW ,1
the waters subsidized the shiny dcnizcns clca
of the prairie have had their winter and
homes in these rocks, and there Is cer- va.
tainlv there to-day q curious subject of Cd !
inquiry for the naturalist and scientific. ~,
well as a subject Of horror for those pro,
who hate the wriggling serpent. BY.
- for