Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1883-10-18
ADVERTISING RATES.
For THE CLARION
Job Work-CASH.
LOBSTER Hollow, Oct 9th, 1893.
Mr. EDlToR:-

LOBSTER Hollow, Oct sth, 1888.
Mr. EDIToR:-
Our locality and sur
roundings still exist although smoke
asccnds from the Chimney Rock,
snakes crawl and potatoes are plenty.
There is no end to the potatoes
and snakes ditto, (Which means the
same } During the summer there
has been u large number Of the ophi-
dian tribe killed on our neighboring
mountain $, and some of them of an
unusual size. But the "boss" of the
snake ring, (not the canal ring for
that would have been q sea scrpenN
met an untimely death, a few days
ago, at the hands of Mr. Ezra Will
lard, an old hunter of our vicinity.
According to his statement, and we
know Mr. Willard to be IA man ofver-
acity, the snake was some thirteen
feet and two inches in length, We
are very sorry that the way round
the snake, that is the circumference,
was not taken, but good guessing and
comparative anatomy would put the
size Of his corset, (I think that is the
name) at about two feet. If this
surmise as to his thickness is correct,
had there been Il little more strain by
Mr. Willard in the stretching Of his
length it would have brought his
Snakcship up to the dimensions of u
respectable sized Boa Constructor or
as Mrs Partington calls it boy
Constructor.
This boss sarpcnt may have been
the "nighty monster" Of North Caro-
lima that recently spread so much
terror through the tar country by
eating up so many children, horses,
dogs, handcarts, wheclbarrows and
other live stock, which by some met
amorphis, shed his wings and scales,
and then crawled up to Maryland to
die. Who can tell? Echo answers
who?
1t isa great PITY that some of its
remains were not secured before de-
composition done its work, as they
were valuable. AS for ins tance, inst
'ook what excellent mail bags the
skin would have made, totally i'm
porvious to the weather and would
last an age. Then the ribs would
have been grand for either corset
STAYS or the frames for sun umbrellas
while the dititrt Mt pieces Of the spine
would have answered we'll rs nuts on
the spinalcs Of bUgsics or spring wag-
Ons.
We feel conf lent that It would
have been much better for the neigh
borhool, if all of the snake had in
some way been utilized, for it is the
of this monster no doubt,
that hHs caused great deal of the
poison that seems to have
gathered very suddenly in some near
by localities, It's the decay of so much
ann Il matter in one place would be
sufficient to affect Il whole election
district especially when the district
is like the snaAe, so big for length
There is no telling what the end may
be, through the oversight Of the slly-
er of the snake in not removing Of at
least as much us he could carry, to
some other place in ord + that the
decomposition be distributed over i.
large scope of country as 1t is, no
one can 90 nigh the spot on account
Of the offensive atmosphere at and
around the place, and in fact those
Jets of smoke or vapor seen recently
on the mountain are thought by
some, to be nothing else but the gas
arising from the decomposition OF
shake, that when heated
by the sun, escapes into the air in
that peculiar manner.
Many things more unlikely than
the above theory have happened
heretofore and many things far more
plausible have never been accounted
for BIZ science 'or any other man,
md fear that the presence of a snake
in thus locality, such as Mr.. Willard
SAYS he killed is one Of those very
hings that will in all future bati'
1. II A f,r