, 1880-05-01
"a poetry which llas conso1c1 the sorrows
md purified aud exalted tic devotion OF mill
A SNAKE STORY.
Hfon"tera Twenty Feet in Length III
lndSRna-Furi0us Attack OF a Black
MAKE on n HcmrllnK f.o1f.


MuHfts tfnd., Hprttsl to E4ttnnatt Commercial.
Lnrge finds Of snakes come about rs rcg1t-
Iarly In IhdlnnR as docs the spring. In other
words, sprtnrtime seems to be prolific OF
snake finds, and many rich leads nre struck.
Of NIL tho turtButs nf ffat!ieutls, "copper"
heads, gnrtcrs, cDppersnnkcs, rucers, rattle,
water, and other apectcs Of shakes reported
froln this section OF Indiana, tiere have bee1,
none that have eQualet the one reported To
the Commercial correspondent to-day. And
there never WINS asnnke-flnd anywhere which
clll,sed mbre dreadful, dangerous battle
tlaan did this one.
Mr.. Jnsr,a Mills, a farmer, lives in tho cx-
trenlc northwestern pnrt of this or the south
eastcrn part OF Grant County, near tlle JUNG
tdn of delaware, Grant, md Madison Couil-
ties, md about fifteen to eighteen miles from
thls city. bay before yesterday lle was clear
iitg una patcll Of dcadening on his farm.
The day WIS Dnliny and pleasant. At 10
o'clock lii the forenoon he had ready for
burning threo or four heaps Of brush. anil
when about ready for doing 80 lie conceived
the idea of cresnating at old log h0g-pen
which stood near by. A hundred feet .iIs-
tant was we'll which was uncovered,
tae|'cd to pole. anu was used
"NtlAHltf otVNhs Ih lEEL VI ~
further un was large, shallow pond Of stag-
nant water, surrounded by willows, and dead
1lngs and coarse grass. The surrounding
country is low, wet, and swa.npy. The log
pen WIS Il fair specimen Of ~ tiftlen tfncsty,
-1tlnny. with lngtloorinE hid Oi, the ground
mt! thy structure resting on large iGgy fn-
i,ettle.l y, the earth. After determining upol
blrlI!ng the h0E-pen, Oil Rccoltlt nf tIE many
rats, lizards, etc, hB Ind seen about It, and
because 0f Its having done duty 80 long rs tn
heGnIiIe 4 pest, lie ut once prUcccLed 10 carry
hfs o4 m " ill., throw hsn intG a It ind H. ,s, w"ske sn, M
p!esed hts work, md WAS IN tl,e net
Of picking up the scatteretl limbs ind throw
Ing them into the pen, he was startled Mt
ssslE qY;,, o.lstfons n,.. S watetsrakM crawl
thopond. AIr. MIlls told tile Commercial
correspondents Informant tlmt this snake
was not less th1n fourteen or sixteen fcGt
long i,1 and about eIEl,t Inches ~ dametsr IIe
Gould not move for q moment but finally
ran towards the serpent, and with clubs slc-
ccetetl ~ turning Its course away from the
R @ H. tan 5an ass{ to the o%;H vGde for 4, s @
returned the snake was not to be found. lie
then tire!l the truck In the, pen, and started
nro',td ~, IN riE te other eqls laSig ,s gn
attracted to tho scene n horse and coli,
the latter Il ycarlng, which were run
ming loose IN the clearing. After. a
,apsHi ,si,, ct f., probably twenty InniHs tt after
stl!l.dlng near the fire. IIo lnokcd III. Tho
sHlaS s H. wsIs 2. 80 ynraS ;, SIsant e rst
feet us II wild. The colt was stnlnplJlg with
bis front feet. Finully tho old horse Kicked
High Into the mir nlld nm. and at THO sums
tm9 tn ,r FosinF net fF u kS long rope Wh1Sl Into
there was something wrong going OIL, and
run with nil poss!ble speed tu wtieru tic
trouble was; The horse which hatl rim away
stood III 100 yards distant, watckerIng.h
was not anti Sir. Sills was rIej,t At the I piace
Where stood the colt that he cpnlprrl,ehtlrsl
the situation. Around. tho .body Of tlle colt
Wy;oro Woro almost two coils Of Il large snake.
wrapped around one front leg, ald its head
The colts eyes Grotrnaet, It's breathing was
hars, u paWet, pranced. md cagortetl
Mils had no kniie With Him i Of sstii Sufficient
slzo to cut tho reptile in twaln. Iie hadn't
time to GO md eet one, for tho colt would
dto IN half-'ninl!te's tlIle.- The snake was
Of it the colts flesh protruded, showing tho
terrible strength, Of the twist. Mr.. Mills
took in the situation at q .glance: .iIe. 1ntlst
burst the roptllo with club. nnd do 1t very
on the ground. md Just rs he was picking t
up q wlItrri wl,[rrI was heard from behind,
md, looking up, the forked tongue of lnur-
dernals rnttlesnake presented itselfl
scared the ratttlesnake, md It sped on md
AWAY. But then the colt continued round
md round, md paving, slower nntl slower. As
II re!"ly to fall ut any moment, Its very life
,lcjay III: Nfiils rns!ea tllat way, md WITH
one fell swo0p with hts club burst tia reptile
until Its sentrails were strewn all oyer the a,Il-
lnn and 1t fell to tho ground dead. Strange,
tlln n cot Wns not seriously injured, aud 1t
Dut tho dangcr 10 Mr.. Mills Ind Just be-
gun. When tho horses ran awuy, scoro or |
more OF snakes of various sizes and kinds
s's fss s sas aH nie XIII xii any aad e ta
huge, yellow;;spottetl monsters. Owing 10 tho
racket cnltsesl BY the horses, the snakes had
80 fur run IN another direction, but as soon ny |
fnf II IL %sa seeton sd e e.! M Ht s Ct s Win @sy s sd6 a
10 held IN his hand he succeeded In keeping |
the snakes away from him for Mwhie, but |
finally the number grow 80 large, nllu their /
!,s 6i,''ssif way eamnsie 70 rstrsat. !sI: MH
Mills nntieet! frlm q distance that nearly nll |
Llle reptiles, In their hurry to gct AWAY. from
Il,e a,3o S'co,rciing tln'nSs' wcre pnngng head
FROM the point wl,cru 10 stood liz. SiiIIs
snw, he thinks, forty or fifty llOrribIo inrgo
snakes OF various kinds 60 s,lto TINT well.
a comparatively few were rnttlesnkes,
md they wore not very large, hut sone OF tie
'thers were huge, fifteen tn twenty fcnt in
unRth. Some at tho blue racors cnrrich their
aeads rs higl, aa nlan, nrd swept n1ong like
Fate-liorses. The sight WIS ME which thrilled
he auditor with elckentng horror: When
Tho pen had burned dnwil, 80 TINT there wis
not y probability Ut tI,ert being any mare
:untiles crawling from 1t. Nj. Mills up
1orachel tho well mud looked III. Tho water
yas probably ELK feet deep, and the distance
Q tlie wafer from the top about eight fcct.
From Ills position l,u snw soll,e. Of tho nMst
lqrrIble xnake-ttghts t!at cnn he iinnglnetl.
fwo giants fought until tho water was iiirbl,.
ei,t with mud md blood. spnrts Of which
Sell, causing him who was looking down
Snrt! to , gtnrt back 4 hurry,
Mr., Mills Thought to Qucll the mob by
houting thc1n, l,1it nftur. firing half.tlozcn
t,a!ls down tnto TIC snakt,s aild auiet'lg i
'nGa commenced ruling stoncs Into The
veil. Whcn nearly. tillel with stones nnt
wood lie cenleMtelth well over with dirt.
and now ~ that grIyo are buried nlore
fnt,nff f1tn fhn hS1tt III