Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-04-26
A WOMAN swALl.O ws A SNAKE.
IL Lives q Year In Her Stomach and
b Elected IT Last,

From the Vancouver Nv. IT, Independent.
| The heroine of this remarkable oc-
currence is Mrs, Sarah Linderner
who lives on Reserve street, Vancou.
yer. She came there in September
last from Camp Bidwell, Modot
county, California. where she had
previously resided with her husband
on rancho. She relates the story
substantially as follows: One day
in the month of March, year ago
she had been washing during the day,
and when aisht came was tired and
thirsty. Not having any water in the
house, she took cup and repaired ia
spring, or hole in the ground, where
her husband had sunk a barrel, near
small creek. The dusk of evening
had faded into darkness, rendering
it impossible for her to see what
might be in the cup when she drank.
She drank q deep dranght from the
cup and fell something weighing
down her thraat, seemingly ahout the
size OF q horse hair and two OF three
inches long. She attempted to raise
it up, but could not, aud thinking it
would, if an animal, be unable to live
in her stomach, for the time being
dismissed the subject from her mind.
Three or four months thereafter she
began to manifest symptoms similar
to aggravated dyspepsia, terrible
burnings and pressure in the stomach,
and constant cravings for food and
yet never satisfied, like one afflicted
with tape-worm. She was treated
from time to time for her troubles,
but for long time would not think
she had a snake in her stomach.
She came to Vancouver with her
husband last fall, in the meantime
her truHbirs }nrrrusing, ana, fvr-tir
past three mouths, assuming the most
frightful symptoms. She could feel
the mountaineering about in her stOm-
ach, clearly manifesting its presence
by nnmisfakable evidences such as
biting her stomach Severely. and rem
dering her almost beside herself with
pain and horror. The animal would
seize hold Of the lining Of her stom-
ach and bite until some warm food or
drink was administered to the pa
tient when 1t would subside and be
quiet. The poor woman was kept
constantly eating and dosing for the
benefit of his snakeship, and it may
be imagined her life was one round
Of nnmitigated horror. Despairing
of cure she wrote to a California
physician who sent her o prescription,
which was simply to starve herself
and drink nothing but brandy. Fri
day morning Of last week March I'D,
after haying suffered fearfully the
day previous, she began the now reg
linen. Building mp hot fire, she
dosed heavily with the liquor and
reclined on the Hoor, with her face
close to the fire. Along In the fore
noon, she became deadly sick at the
stomach and vomited violently. Aft
er several severe retchings, she felt
the snake coming up. Its head was
SO near her mouth as 70 ;mpede her
breathings. when, rising to her feet
in her agony, aud leaning her head
against the niantlepiece, directly over
the fire, she thrust her fingers down
her throat stretching it to the widest
tension, and the snake glidcd from
her mouth and fell into the hot Goals
OF the fire below, and was burned up. |
Al thts time there was no one present |
but girl l2 years old, and she did |
not dare to take the alilaal from the
fire, and the woman tainted away.
The snake is described as closely re-
sembling common garter-snake and
was about sixteen inches in length.
1t thrust its tongue from its mouth
as it came forth, and sqnirmed in a
lively manner when it fell into the
fire. One or two neighbors were
and they say the coil of the
snake was plainly visible, in its entire
shape upon the Goals of fire, The
woman who has pinned away from $50
pounds to living skeleton, feels
a wonderful sense Of relief i'm getting
rid Of the lOathsome reptile.