The Red Cloud chief., 1879-03-20
4 Big Sake story.


Gpme .evea or eioht years 60. ssysa
nu5ghkeepsi6 (N. u ie,uss . the Ss~
York World, huch elarm We manSDt-
I'd along the line OF Zee Heusasentc
Railroad by the appearance OF . ire
meudous snake, but Of what ophidtsn
species hs mas . sample no o could
tell. The reptile made lis home in =
dense swaznp IN the vicinity u he nti-
road track. Time and again the reptile
was sho, at by hunting parties, but 10
always mNnaged to get away safely.
The trsck Of the Housatonic Railroad
runs dtEssely thF0ugh the swamp nam
ed. Early morning the engineer
Of a passenger train suddenly discover
ed q long black object lying across the
rails and he shut on steam and whistled
for brakes. While the speed Was slack
ening the engineer sac that u was The
veritable snake, about which so much
had been said, and ne pulled the thro.-
tie again, intending, u possible, TO run
it down and cut il in two, but Just be
fore the Q nsine reach K the end OF the
tail slid OF the rail and almost immedi
ately the entire snake disappeared.
Four or i've years ago two men riding
in a buggy along q road which skirts
the swamp say they saw the now famous
snake wriggling slowly across the road.
I They were certain, from the measure
ment Of the ground where they first saw
il, that IL was over twenty feet long.
Again the snake excitement broke out In
the neighborhood, and parties were or
gained 70 hunt the reptile down, with
out success, and the interest in the mat
! ter soon died out. The cause Of the dis
appearance Of the snake for the last four
| years has been q great mystery. butif has
been completely solved in an e~xtraorfi-
nary manner. Some imagined that the
snake has found his way 10 the Housa-
tonic River, and, escaping death by
drowning, thence to the ocean, and be.
! came q veritable sea serpent. Others
held that he had taken to the mountains.
Really he never left the swamp of his
birth, for his colossal remains have been
discovered. On Saturday last two men
named Kelly and Smith, both well and
! fayorably known in the neighborhood,
| went into the swamp with . sled To get
q load of wood. After a while they
came I o q large buttonwood tree which
had fallen to the ground. They discoy-
cred it was hollow. and in order TO han
die it easily they attempted TO saw II
| up. They had sawed nearly through
one part when suddenly the saw grated
as though it had struck q sto:!s. Think
| ing that it was q curious place To find a
stone they 1T once went TO work to IN
vestigate. They Piled their axes and by
dint of hard labor split the tree, when
% their astonishment the obstacles
which the saw had struck proved " he
bones. Then they opened the tree ms
far As they could find bones, some 81
feet, and the remains proved to be those
of the monstrous reptile so often seen
but never captured. The ribs MEASURED
six inches in diameter and from that t.
pered down 70 smaller sizes. The tail
of the snake was found imbedded in the
upper part OF the tree, and both men
believe he went in backward. II is be
lieved that the last time he was chased,
some four years ago, he sought refuge
in this tree and never came out again
The bones and other remains have been
preserved and will be sent to the SOcie.
ty of Natural Science, together with q
history of the case.