The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-09-04

When more than the family remained
all night, curtains were stretched across
the room, and comfortable lodgings
given to our guests. There were no
conventional rules sitting the nobler
feelings of the heart, thereby destroy
ing the pleasures of society.
SNAKES.
In those days this was the finest snake
country that I have ever seen-the rat
tlesnake, the rusty highland moccasiin
and the cotton-mouth, with their stumpv
tails, which were the most venomous.
Billy Rushing, robust and remarkable
for hls line appearance, lived across the
branch, about two hundred yards from
our cabin, and as he stepped out about
nine o'clock on an autumnal night, he
was bitten upon the naked ankle by a
Tattlesnake, I heard the scream. Nv
father ran down and I followed to see
what was the matter. The force of the
lick on the ankle where the poisonous
fang was driven in was so violent that
Mr.. Rushing thought it was one of the
weight poles on the roof of the cabin
that had fallen on his leg, and could
not be convinced otherwise until the
swelling began to rapidly extend up his
leg, when by close inspection, the en-
| trance OF the two fangs was discovered.
The swelling was rapidly approaching
| the body. Ny father drenched him as
! we do horse, with bottle of whisky,
and got BEDFORD and tied his foot up
to the joist, keeping it elevated to
make the swelling ascend. My impress
| sion was, though it may be regarded
improbable, his big toe swelled to the
size of a small watermelon. Every
known remedy was applied, including
the various snake roots and the poisoned
stone. Mr.. Rushing suffered greatly
and fingered long time. My opin-
ion is that the whisky was q check
if not an antidote to the poison and
saved his life. When we moved to
Sumner county he was periodically af-
fected by this bite, but survived many
years, and now sleeps with his fathers.
| The next morning we found the rattle
snake under the puncheon floor and
killed him. He had sixteen rattles, and
| was, of course, that many years old.
| This was an awful snake country, sure.
The rattlesnakes lived and terminated
in the cliff, but came down into the
settlements, and when molested struck
with terrible fatality. He is a magnan-
imous snake. The rattle is his battle
cry, and while he is giving warning to
the intruder he gets into the coil, with
his head in the centre, and when he
strikes he throws his whole body.
ANOTHER SNAKE STORY.
If it will not fatigue you, ladies, I
will give you another snake scene of
the olden time, and then pursue my
rambles. A neighbor with q wife and
one child built his cabin on fiat rock
among the cliffs, impervious to floods
| E,rTE ~ 10 ooIr
Peter built his cabin; his winter fires
were built in the center of the house /;
the stack of rocks and mud protruded
through the roof and carried off the
smoke. The fires being kept during
the winter upon this floor, early in the
| sping, thawed the snakes. He and his
| wife and child occupied their only bed
in the corner, elevated some two feet
from the rock. Just before day he was
awakened by the crawling of snakes
over the bed, and their kissing all over
| the house. He soon became satisfied
that his cabin was infested with snakes.
It was dangerous to attempt to walk
across the rock floor TO the door, as he
could not avoid being enveloped by
| snakes, so he whispered to his wife to
cover up her head and that of the child
with the bed-clothes and hold them
| until his return, as he was going to es-
cape through the roof of the house
and would bring relief by morning.
| He thus escaped, alarmed the neigh
bors, who assembled at the break of
| day with guns and ropes. They exam
| ined the situation and found that the
| floor and bed were covered with snakes.
| They got to the roof, made an opening,
let down ropes that had running
nooses," and after great care and diff
Guilty they were placed under the arms
of his wife, and she holding to her child
they were safely drawn up, and thus
saved from destruction.
The rattlesnakes herd together and
lay dormant under the rock and cliffs,
and this rock happened to be their win
ter headquarters, and being thawed by
the fire that night they took up their
line of march. There were upwards of
a hundred slain that morning and found
among the embers of the burnt cabin.
do not know how it is now, but I
know that sixty years ago this was an
awful snake country. But I suppose
the snake, like the bear, the panther,
wolf and Indian, has retired before the
approach of civilization, and is now but
seldom seen.
GEN. JACKSON
was a most remarkable man, the great
est the world has produced since the
days of Washington and Napoleon. I
believe him equal to either. He takes
rank with such men as Caesar,
Charles v, and the Duke of MRrlbor-
ough, Cromwell, the Duke of Yelling
ton, Bonaparte, and our own Washing
ton, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jack
son. Such men are the growth of CEN
turtles. They are bright and brilliant
stars that take their place in history at
long periods of time. And as time
rolls on, and the distant ages come, their
brightness increases and their glory is
not diminished. Many are the interest
ing scenes of Jackson's life which his
biographer Parton has omitted. When
boy, I saw him scare and put to flight
twenty thousand men. The occasion
was this Greyhound, a Kentucky
horse, had beaten Double Head, a Ten
nessee horse, and they were afterwards
matched for five thousand dollars a
side, to be run on the Glover bottom
course. My uncle, Josephus II. Conn
/ who, by the death of my parents, be-
came one to me, giving me such educa-
tion as I received-carried me on horse
back behind him TO see the race. He
set me on the cedar fence aud told me
| to remain till he returned. In those
days not only counties but states, In full
feather, attended the race course as a
| great national amusement, and the same
| is still kept up in France and England
under the fostering care of each gov
eminent. There must have been twenty
| thousand persons present. I never wit