The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1877-11-30
OLD RI It'll ESNAKE JOHN.


Some months ago the Pennsylvania Ed
| itorIal Association made an excursion
| through the eastern portion of the State
| staying n brief while at the Delaware Water
! Gap. The day was a hot one, and while a
J number were sitting on the piazza they OBJ
served a curious looking figure straddling
! forth from the woods, and making towards
them. lie was clad i'll blue jeans, heavy
cow-hide boots aud an old straw hat, with
| iron gray whiskers, long hair, aud a rather
wild, rolling eye. He stopped somewhat
with age, but was still active and muscular
1t was noticed that he was dragging
something by string, aud when he halted
| directly III front of the astounded ladies and
! gentlemen they SAW that it was an enor-
/ nous rattlesnake, which he had brought
! out for their inspection. The old man. in
/ his slow aud solemn way, released the snake,
while the horritied feminines screamed and
scrambled out Of the way, each certain that
the reptile would instantly dalt for them.
! The old man told them there was no danger,
and by and 10y they ven.ured somewhat
/ closer, assured by the sluggish movement Of
| the snake auo the evident MASTER of its
captor. With its rattle erected and con-
stantly going, its head slightly raised, and
It's inky, forked tongue playing about its
! head and bcad-like eyes, it glded cautious
! lyforward, seeking to reach the cover of the
woods close at hand. The old fellow con-
! tnualy got i'll its way, sometimes turning
| 1t with his fOrked stick with his boot,
and thus keeping it in the open space i'll
! front of the visitors. This was continued
for awhile, when the reptile was imprisoned
again by means of loop of twine, and the
owner shutf1ed off with it to the Photograph
! gallery, stationed between the W Water Gap
aud the Kittatinny house, where it is still
an object Of curiosity to the visitors. 1t is
| couhned i'll a wooden box, with a glass
! cover, and, whenever desired, the owner
| turns it ont 20 crawl and rattle for the de-
! lectation of visitors. 1t is somewhat over
| four feet in length, and has had fourteen
| ra,tieS. several of which we;e knocked off
against the box. During the three months
| OF its confinement it has not eaten a mouth
| ful on drank swallow. A toad was placed
within its reach, aud was Immediately
struck aud killed, but tie reptile would not
| touch it further. 1t has shed its skin
twice, and appears to have lost somewhat
| i'll flesh, but there seems to be ground for
| the general belief that the rattlesnake eats
! nothing at all during hot weather.
John Nanscoten, the old fellow who cap
! tured the reptile, is nearly seventy years of
! age, and has killed and :akeu so many of
the venomous reptiles that he has been
known for years through the Water Gap
section as Rattlesnake John.
Il seen the reptile asleep on the fence
said the old fellow, after placing himself
outside of stiff drink Of whisky, land
/ just shared him, that's ALL"
'1ow was that done ?''
/ "The easiest way in the world. | Just
made loop of twine, slipped it over his
head and there he was
''Did you ever cat ch any of them before?"
! The OLD man, who is never known to
| laugh, turned a sort of reproachfnl, solemn
hook upon the questioner aud heaved IA pIo-
digious sigh.
"The first one I ever catched - he mutt
tered to himself, that's worse than a bite
from one of the serpents. Young man,
| I've catched and sold more than 1000 and
I've killed eighty i'll one day with the help
! of d young darkey. There ain t any rattle
| snakes o" copperheads around here in the
Water Gap, but there's plenty Of 'em 'moug
the bills over there in Jersey. When [
/ feel laundering arter the reptiles, that's
{ where | 60 and | always fetch 'em. The
fust varmint | seen about fifty years
ago when | was ploughng. | didn't know
what it was aud | killed it afore | leaned.
Afier that | sort!of took IT, the business aud
| couldn't begin to tell half OF a quarter
of what I've done. That introduced me to
the perfessiOn, and | belonged to a rattle
snake family"
Being asked to explain what he meant
by this, the old man said:
AN uncle of mine, ninety years Of age
and revolutioner, stepped on snake one
! IL
were mad and my uncle kept jumping on
it until it was smashed from head to tail.
! Afore that, hovsumever. the snake bit him
| three or four times. But the old fellow
hadn't fit through the revolution to be kill
| ed by a rattlesUake, so he belted Gown
about a gallon of whiskey, and was all
right in few days."
''Some years ago | was out hunting
! sheep with my step-son over in Jersey,
I w her n of he lpft mt
enough 10 wake the dead. I went thrash
! ing through the bushes, and when | reach
! ed him there was sight such a man
don't often see in a lifetime. There was
den of rattlcsnakeS, and, as it looked to
me, about sixteen million of 'em, rafting
and crawling about. HowsumeveI, my
boy and me sailed in with long sticks aud
went to slaughtering them. 1t don't take
much of d blow to kill one of 'em, and we
never struck one of 'em twice. Often they
was so close together that one belt would
| knock the stuffing out of a half dozen. We
! kept it up ill the smell of the pIsJn made
us both deathly sick, when we went home.
The next morning was Sunday, aud we
went out 10 see he prospect. We killed
/ four more, and there was a mighty lot that
got away. Altogether it was over eighty
| that we laid out.
''IIowsumever, the rattlesnake is
square. up and down reptile tha' gives you
notice afoIe he strikes but the copperhead
is an ornery cuss that II sneak up and sting
you without the least notice. One hot day
| was moving near Bethel, when | cut the
tail oft one uf the critters, and the other
part got out of .he way, somehow, SO |
couldn't find it, though | looked long
time. | don't 'spose you'll believe it,
stranger, but the next summer | found that
identical tail growed fast 10 The rest of she
snake, and noJling but a scar to show where
the wound bad healed. A half bro Eer of
mine was bit III the heel 10y oue of 'em, and
| cut the bite open and washed it out about
forty times that's all that saved him.
Il used TO sell the snakes for from : to
$50 apiece. few years ago ! caught a
big black spotted one-that is a female
and it had eighteen small ones, which used
to run down it's throat when scared. | let
"A Mr.. Reading see this performance several