The news and herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1876-1881, 1879-07-09
FISHING FOR 4 SNAKE.


FISHING TOR 4 SNAKE.
There are lots Of whisl;oy listiIcrs
around the mountains. '.Mo0nsiin-
crS,@ the men who diSiill in IL small
way and cvadr taxation, are very
scarce in this district. The deputy
collector keeps sharp lookout, is
| thoroughly 1umiliar with all the Signs
and quick to follow them up, and il
takes q EoonShincr OF the sharpcSt
stamp to ciudc his careful search. The
! distillcrs tell some marvellous tales,
and are ready to back them UP with
atlidavits at any time. ''Julkin' about
silakcs," said one of them, who in
habits the Blue Ridge, near LccsburW,
! the Othcruay: ''talkin' about snakes,
why look ycrc," ,"and he opened his cabin
! door and pointed to tho walls. They
were iairi" covered with the skins of
! monsters o. The reptile kind. Thrru
were stuffed ratllcsnakcs looking down
ut YOU from over the door. Rattle
snakes hung by their tails from the
! corncts> and ono big fellow coilcd up
{ Oh Il box seemed all ready to SPRING.
! Touch one Of them and the peculiar
sound Of the dry rattlcs would send Il
chill all over Il person.
"Arcnt you afraid Of thcm?'
"Airaid Of what? Snakcs?' and the
/ distIlcr laughed contcmptuously. ~
! f0'Ght with Gen. Early in the Valley,
faced thc Yankee cannon and didnI
rur. DO yo' s'posc I'd get scared at II
snake? We don't kcarc for 'cm. |
/ Kill dozen or two every mornin'. Just
10 keep my hand in. How? Why
knoo' ,cm over with sticks and shoot
'cln. Nothin' easier. Sometimes [
fish for en-. That's fun, but yo' have
to work harder to Ito it. Per-
haps YOU would like TO soc it donc?'
and, receiving Il nod in the affirmative.
the distil!cr led the way in front Of his
cabin.
Standing up against The door was q
long pole with Il moose at the end. The
dIs,il!cr took il down, shook il for Il
moment in his hands and looked
around. "ivc kcaught lots Of snakes
with this thng.' ho said. ''lf YOU
look around right sharp you'll find one
somcwh here"
About forty feet away the sharp
shipiaas aa SNIa Nas sl,hn;n" ThG SmaEG was IiS M
side of log" nIolloiiuiS WINNIE ~ ,i,, ,I,.
dlStillcr crcpt up TO within Dolc's
length and danGlcd the moose under
the snakes nose. Ills snakcship
stirred uncasily, raised his head and.
seeing the cord, began striking at il.
Pretty soon his head went through the
moose. The fisherman had bite and
he pulled. In a moment the hu"r
snake was dangling in the air and q
bioW or two against Il tree finished
him.
PRETTY BIG YARN.
The distiIcr smiled as he replaced
the pole against the cabin. "rhnr's no
use III gettin' scarcd," he said. 81
DON'T mind 'cn. kcau"ht big fell
low !aSl summer in just tllat way. n
h'cuicai student from Pcl'nrylvanv
was up we're and wanted one TO take
nome with him. kcaught one, Stuff
cd him and kcoilcd him up in a cheese
boX, and he was the most beautiful
snake yo' ever saw. They don't both
er me much. Sometimes one or two
OF 'cm go TO bed with me and roll
themselves up in the blankets, but
that's nothin'. There's only one snake
IN these ycrc mountains that l'vc 90.
a spite against" and the distiilcr
looked solemn. "That snake has rot
to die or have. I've sworn it," and
the man rubbed tear from his rvc
with The sleeve Of his coarse Nonncl
shirt and shook his head thoughtfilllv.
"Ihat snake killed my dog"
! There was a pause of IL moment O.,
two, and then the old distillcr, BRIGHT
cning up, went on with his STORY.
''This we're snake is monster. Hos
twenty feet if he is an inch. IsiyI.t ID
him about month ago, or rather he
sighted nc. was climbin up Wonder
among the rocks, when heard 4 rattle
and looked around. The snake was
Just springim. jumped back lust in
time, and he went by like a flash.
Scared? reckon L was, slightly. I
never saw such q monster. lie looked
as thick as that log over Wonder. He
was like big black cloud, and cover
cd up the sun almost as completely.
dldnt sec that snake again until two
weeks ago. DO you believe it? I
lcatt an uncommon noise IN the
mountain looked up char and saw
u whole army Of them. Thar must
nave been q hundred snakes and thcy
were comin' down with the monster
at the head. | reckon hos the king of
thc snake tribe on these ycre noun
lalns. got inside and crawlcd I'D TO
that little window o'cr the dor. Down
they came, and such q rustlin' and
,attiin' yo' never heard J. fired into
'cm and killed nine Of 'cm at one shot.
ana the others glidcd Off in a biz
hurry: That same night 1 heard nv
ilttJe dog yclpin' outside. l oponcd
inc DOR, and thar he was shvcriiii' and
shaliin' and that big snake all in a
heap right alongside of him and
lookin' down at him with his bio
mouth wide opened. I rushed for nv
gun, but 1cfo' l got back snake and
log were both gone"
INC distillcr stopped again and
shook his head sadly. sIIc was d
Sood dog and | miss him. What be-
came Of him? Why, l don't reckon
mars much doubt about that. IIc
went down that snakes throat and
tnats tho reason that snakes cot TO
a WOMAN KILLS. FOUR HUNDRED Am
EIGHTY SNAKES.
Ihls story may sound big, but it is
nothing by tho side Of some Of thn