The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1882-10-19
cs;o,gay Tough Stories.

L. t&4sstass3 u p ? - ''}xSss tEaBl1 :
One of the characters. of this village is
a venerable man named Uncle John
HufT, who settled here more than afift,y,
years ago, and he, takes great pleasure
IN relating incidents and stories of pioneer
tunes. Last evening there was quite d
large party assembled under tbs. NAPLES,
anu the conversation turning on snake
stories, ex-Sheriff Piatt, the proprietor
OF the hotel. asked Uncle John to tell
I the strangers something aboutsshow
EPlenty rattlesnakes were fiftv wears ago.
u fear you would not b leeve me, !"
sad the veteran, ''if I was, to tell YOU
what have seen the snakes don Yas}5
''lsi it true that rattlesnakes were SO
plenty on these mountains once that the
settlers hadto fire guns inthelerening to
friisghten them away and prevent them
4 from swimming the creek p'' ~ ~
t., "That'sa fact" replied Uncle John,
"but L can tell you something stranger
I than that about the pesky varniints. wv
g Lets have it." all hands exclaimed
| at once 800 ea&48 Ez T5T89 q 4gggE sR.
f "Jist keep quiet an 7 tell how a big
blacksnake once treated me. "
f, I"Weil, once, about forty-hine years
11ago,sl Went up on that mountain. one
afternoon for huckleberries. They were
very plenty IN those days, and SO were
tthe: snakes. i carried . small. basket,
ana 1t was not long before bad it well
filled with very choice berries i sot the
basket down bysa big stone and was list
reachin' for some more berries when I
heerd o terrible trashin' hinsthe bushes.
/ bn IS
comm toward me-. knew it was big
| black raeerlat once, an as Railways cars
fried stout hickory stick IFprepared to
give battle if it tackled me-" and Uncle
John took off his spectacles and wiped
What did it doe'' inquired ai Judd TIC
miller. .sgnz4lfo. .hs2 audBsaeaenysrs
H. ''What did it de9, Why it list sailed
up to my basket, and seizin' it in les
mouth sailed off through the bushes
holdin' it as proudly as ifsit had gathl
cred every berry, fiistg sse &sszx,g7 F,,t,s
Now, Uncle John, you don't mean
that the Snake carried of Soair basket,:H
hr1ckleberries in its mouth?' 'asaids Bin u,
syeatman, the minstrel, who was one
II the summer visitors. sd1ssss s'yhnRA l..
= Il jist mean that,ia sreplied the ;pio-
neer, as he brought his stout cane down
on the platform with i ithwack Chat
made the boards crack. Ian, that's not
all; I'm not done with that snake vet"
q sbets have the soJsole story, N said
DHiy. gessBs I'D Ssed assy IA Egxa
well, / didn't like the idea of 1osin'
my basket, an SO Z gave chase 10 the
racers an the way we 9tArashed around
among the bushes for half an hour was
a caution, the snake holdin' my basket
all the time in its mouth. Finally / got,
near enough to hit it blow on the back
as it was crawlin' over a log, and that
d .'Did you get the basketa,'; they all
asked. .sts,s, egstsEEsi.gasssT sg5 sa.asf ayss i
=, "Yes, Stree; but had to pry its Jaws
open with a stick before it would let 90
of the handler,, ls..s.s,sf AFR =.
I"Was it a big snake?'' inquired the
village blacksmith. ssaTElsE1J E1 va
y 5'.Aabig snake D It just measured nine
feet long, and was as thick.as a young
sapiin',' said Uncle John, as he pointed
to amapae about four inches in thick
ness. And then he removed his specta-
cles and leaned back in his chair like a
Congressman after voting for some bic |
bill.
Genera1H. W. Farley, a eandidatefor
Congress in this district. happened alohgFf
before Uncle John had finished his snake
story, and became an interested listener.
Everybody knew him, and they all de-
manded that he should tell story. Sd
The General took seat oand, zreinov-
ing lg his spectacles, began, By saying: i
3. I"When was up the Sinnemaponing
Greek last winter, lookin' for timber I i
discovered a black bear coming down.
the mountain pretty fast not far from
where I twas standing Zand, Surprising
that something had ightened, him, / did
not attempt to hide or climb tree, az r
thought he woald keep on. ButiI soonb
discovered that heFwas mad, and that I |,
had made mistake, for the moment
that he discovered mehe gave a growl,a
and opening his mouth very wide, rushed
at me. l had no weapon with me but a 7
stout pocket-knife with long blades,
and [ hurriedly opened it, determined to
sen my life, dearly If theiferocious beast /
attacked mes,I didn't have to wait. long
before bruin came up III front of me.
and. rearing on his hind legs, prepared
to embrace me. As r he, reached out his
paws and undertook to hug me. I jumped
around to his back, and, showing the
knife blade into his snsck,-.drewit clear
down to hiss tail, cutting him 80, conn
plete.y in two that he fell. apart at my
feet.o There was q powerful pressure on E
hat knife- blade, boyss butit saved neil
: FruI Run Cor. PHILADELPHIA Tines.
essSsRHTk u o. u a.aeaaA Hsgf'T swH
Getting "a New Bibleg 009 .SG /.
The pulpit Of the little church at
Hamilton, N. j., needed a new Bible.
Thes esyorshippers were all poor, aud dtheYjj
lid not feel justified in going to the ex- :,