The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1875-10-21

were in utter confusion, and unable, in
the extremity, to restore order suffi-
ciently to make any successful attack.
->0>--
A Canada Snake Story.
1t is very seldom, says the Hamilton
Spectator, that the newspapers of the
Dominion are called upon to chronicle
a genuine snake story. Rattlesnakes
and copperheads are SO few and far be-
tween that they are seldom met with,
and their depredations are never heard
OF. However, genuine snake story
comes from Ancaster, this week, the
victim being young girl named Lucy
Smith, residing it the village of Ancas-
ter, and the reptile one of those hide
Gus, yellow spotted monsters known as
milk-snakes. The girl Lucy had gone
out in the morning with her pail for the
purpose of picking huckleberries. Her
feet and ankles were quite bare, but
Lucy, like most young country girls,
was hardy and strong and picked her
way through the brambles with as much
grace and courage as q young Indian.
All she remembered of her misfortune
is, that as she was walking through some
burdocks she stepped upon something
soft, Shiny and crawling, and on feel
ing singing sensation in her ankle
like the touch of thistle, looked down,
and to her inexpressible horror, beheld
huge milk snake of extraordinary pro-
portions twine itself about her leg and
strike at it with distended hood and
jaws. She remembered nothing more
than that she screamed, until she found
herself in her own bed at home. For
tunately, at the time of her adventure,
several men were working in an oats
field near by, and having seen the girl
go into the berry patch, and hearing,
shortly afterwards, a piercing scream,
which told Of fear, repugnance and ag-
ony, as plainly as words could have
done, they hastened into the patch, and
after search of half an hour, gave it
up as . bad job, arguing that probably
the girl had been stung by wasp or
some other venomous insect, and had
left the berry patch by some other OBJ
scure way. After the men had gone
back to their work, three little girls en-
tered the patch for the purpose Of pick
ing berries. They, too, shortly after
wards commenced to scream, one after
another, and ran into the field
where the men were working, when
one of the girls fell down in q fit.
The others told the men, as well as
they could through their fear and ex-
element, that Lucy Smith was lying in
the berry-patch, and that big yorm
had killed her and was eating her up.
They Immediately hastened into the
patch, where they beheld a sight which
was enough to make the blood of the
strongest man run cold. There lay
the unfortunate girl in q dead swoon,
and in her lap lay a large milk snake,
which was very jealous of its prey.
The conduct of the hideous reptile as i
the men approached was peculiar in the
extreme. With its hood and head ex-
tended, its red jaws wide open, it long,
supple tongue striking maliciously right
and left, it ran around it's victim al
most erect on its tail, Kissing savagely,
and making that strange grinding noise
which is possessed by only one reptile
Of the snake family, the milk snake.
Rage, jealousy and excitement had
made the creature as supple Is cat,
so that it was almost impossible to strike
it with stone, besides the men were
afraid to throw with any force from
fear of striking the helpless and pros
trate child. Sometimes the reptile
charged with such rapidity and fury that
the men were forced to retreat, when
the creature would return to its victim
and coil itself in her lap. A neighbor,
seeing the disturbance, arrived with .
and succeeded in transfxing
the snake, which measured three feet
two inches in length and seven inches
in circumference at the largest part Of
its body. The unfortunate girl was
carried home, when it was found that
her leg was terribly swollen and OF
spotted green color like that OF the
snake itself. The mother Of the child,
without the slightest hesitation COM
menced to suck the wound and soon
reduced the swelling and drove away
the color, after which drawing pou1-
tice OF red cabbage was applied, and
ere morning all signs Of swelling had
disappeared. The girl has now thor
oughly recovered, and has sustained no
serious injuries save . shock Of the
nervous system. from which III YeQn1s .
tr1zze n spQn Eno0te1