Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1878-07-31

All About Big SNAKE from Ohio.
u ,n Philade lphia Times. NLIl

p. Inc .OlllO SultOIS visited tnG }LOOlOg-
ical Garden yesterday morning. The
brown bears, the moment they saw
them, plunged into the water and never
came out till the editors left. The
chimpanzees appeared pleased, and
frisked about and extended their hands
numerous times in token of hearty
welcome. The editors didn't like their
familiarity and withdrew to the snakes.
There was one man in the party who
eyed the boa-cOnstrictOr and other
large reptiles that are wont to arouse
the wonder Of spectators with such in
difference that he attracted the atten-
ton of all who saw him He looked
like deacon. and some thought his
manner toward the snakes was on &C
count of convictions that disapproved
of visiting such a place on Sunday.
But among the other editors whisper
went round that he was the man who
had the recent experience with a large
snake in Ohio. Some had not heard of
the affair, and after they got out in the
shade and seated themselves on benches
near the sea-lions, by dint Of good
deal Of Urging he was prevailed on to
relate the story, as follows: .. ..''
"About q month ago, feeling the
need of relaxation, and knowing | had
an able substitute in my partner and
business manager, [ took brief vaca-
ton from nv editorial duties, and went
down to visit my brother on his farm
on the Sciota. The farmhouse stands
on a sloping piece of ground; below
them flows the Sciota river, clear and
cool, and above them the ground as
cends to a gentle knoll. 1t is very
rocky in that region, and rattlesnakes,
blacksnak esr Of the racer species, and
cOpperheads are said to be thicker here
than in any other part of Ohio. | had
never seen any myself, and SO went
there thinking little Or nothing about
them. My brothers wife is great wo-
man for raising chickens. At the Ohio
State Fair last year, her chickens took
the first and second prize for choice
of breed and for large size. When
| got down to the farm | found Mrs.
---- in great distress. All her large
chickens had disappeared but two or
three, and nobody could tell what be-
came of them. Narmints were not
plenty about there, so the blame could
not lay on foxes. Neither could it be
out on persons, for all the folks about
there were honest farmers and belonged
to the church. One day was up on
the hillside, seated in the shade, as we
are now, reading. Presently | nap
pened to look up, and saw not twenty
yards from me, one Of Mrs. IS
large shanghai roOsters 1t was almost
as large as a turkey, and / remember,
as [ watched him strutting around, I
wond cred whether it wasn't his great
size that had Kept him from going with
the rest. resumed my reading again,
but in less than a minute / heard a
filter Of wings and looked up. The
rooster was nowhere to be seen. The
ground was clear for an area of half a
mile. | got up, and noticed short
distance away, near where [ had last
seen the. rooster, what | took to be
feathers in the hollow of black stump.
[ went to the spot. They were feath-
ers. The stump, as [ came closer,
seemed to recedc short way into the
group, and the feathers with it."
Here the editor paused, and swept
the perspiration from his brow with a
red handkerchief, while the crowd,
with horror depicted on their faces as
plainly as these words are printed on
paper, drew their seats up closer and
pushed their heads nearer.
Gentlemen" said the editor, care
fully placing, his handkerchief in his
breast-pOcket. . if | live to be 900
years old l shall never forget the cold
sensation that seemed to creep through
my blood, when [ saw that stump had
two glittering eyes and q white ring
around its neck. It was a racer and |
saw the tail of the, rooster sticking out
Of its yawning mouth. [ got down to
the house and my legs seemed like
timber pipe-stems as I went Half an
hour later my brother myself and three
or four of the neighbors returned to the
scene with ropes and a log-chain. We
knew it would only be a waste of pow
der and lead to try, to shoot the snake,
so we got above him and rolled stones
down thefhilP till he drew his head into
the ground Then we quickly laid the
log-chain around the hole in a sort of
draw-loop. To- the other end of the
CudlQ We dtIdCuSO Gll0 rope. linen we
got down the hill with the. end of the
rope and waited. We did not have
long to wait. In less than thirty min
utes he came. sout.mWe waited till his
neck protruded for about half a foot,
and then we jerked the rope. The next
moment we had him fast Three of
us pulled the rope while the other two
got handspikes. Yard after yard we
drew out, till we had him tail and all.
His body seem ed a. foot IN diameter
and bis length, Here. the crowd
with one, accord thrust their heads so
close that the narrator was obliged to
move back a little for more room,
=" his length was thirteen feet and six
or eight--let me see; [ made note Of
it," and he fumbled for his notebook,
but the crowd said never mind; they'd
take his word for it. ~" I've left it in my
other -pocket,"o he said. O" But
never mind. 1t was either thirteen
feet six or thirteen feet eight inches; my
~, uroc bo II woo RI irtoor foot