The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-04-13
liz A,eut su.kss.

"Oncet me an m son, Jerry We wa
. settin' under . tree in our meddef
where we'd been . haydn. Ne an
Jerry was . settin' thar eatin' of our
bite what tn OIL woman he'd put in
III basket for T. stay our stummicks till
dinner, when all t. Qncet see . snake
20 a sailin' past. Sich . snake as thet
fer t were q blacksnake-Tve never
zee afore. It were eighteen feet long b.
actual measurin'."
"why, jerry" said Judge Ridgway,
"a blscksnake never grows beyond six
seet in length, never!"
"Well, T don't make no diff 'ence:
this yere snake were jest nineteen feet
long, cause me an Case measured it,
Jest t. satisfy ourselves" retosted the
champion storyteller.
"a moment ago you said it was
eighteen feet long," remarked Asher.
~ never said nothin' o. tn kind,
Asher; We must "a been dreamin'. ]
said that tn snake was twenty feet
long, an that me an Jerry measured it.
'Well, ez / were tellin' of it, me an
Jerry we see this yere snake. BY jim
kers, pap SEE Jerry, 'lOok't that
snake!' / SEE t. him, seq 1, IN show
ye leetle trick, m SON., SEE /. Well,
[ Jumps up an made dash arter tn
snake an grabbed it by tn end o. its
tail. Well, ez 1 told We oncet before,
that snake were twenty-one foot long,
an as big around as mans leg. jest
ez soon ez tn snake felt me grab i'm by
tn tail, he turned round an made fer
me with mouth open an eyes spittin'
fire. just ez Mister Snake was a goin'
t. bite me, l stuck tn end O. his tail in
his mouth. Is'pose he thought he had
me sure, for he shut his eyes tight an
commenced swallowing.
"Well, he kept on a swallowing and
a swallowing of himself, till fin'l there
wasn't nothin' left o. that twenty-five
foot snake 'ceptin' his head, and then,
Jest ez soon's l could git breath from
latin, 1 up an grabbed a rock an
smashed his head t pieces, an thet's
tn end o. tn story, though l alters
think that jest ez 1 was a goin' t smash
that thar head the snakes eyes opened
an seemed t. say t. me: We'll, Jerry
Greein', we've played me fer sucker
an took me in NICE Yes, stree; that
snake looked as 'shamed o. bein'
fooled as Asher did the day he went t.
kick tibet tramp out o. tn s'loon an he
got so beautifully thrashed hisself.
"But never see nobody so struck OF
a heap as my boy Jerry was when he
saw me make the snake swaller hisself.
Where did We ketch on to that?' SEE
he. Then 1 told him bout snake ad-
venture my Uncle Joseph oncet had
with snake. His wife had gone over
n tn ten-acre lot t milk the black
heifer, an left tn baby in tn cradle.
1t were in tn early spring, when snakes
is awful hungry an they hain't par
'tic'lar what they eat so longs it's fill
in. But, as was remarkin', Uncle
Joseph's wife he'd gone t milk tn
black heifer in tn ten-acre lot, an
when Uncle Joseph went into tn house
he see something tibet made his hair
stand straight on end. Thar was the
baby lynn asleep in tn cradle, an right
longside O. tn cradle was a snake ez
big round ez barrel. Afore he could
grab anything t. kill tn snake with he
was just paralyzed with fear, fer, jest
ez he was a gettin' his gun ready t
shoot tn reptile, tn snake opened his
mouth and swallowed tn cradle, baby
an all!
"Yes, Sir, it's tn gospel truth, tn
snake swallowed tn whole thing an
commenced movin' out o. the door.
Uncle Joseph was so s'prised tibet the
snake he'd gone some distance afore he
could grab tn AK an follow it. He
chased tn critter, though, an finally
killed it. He cut tn snake open with
tn Ratchet, an there he found tn baby
sound asleep in tn cradle. Ye see, tn
queer motion snakes makes when they
crawl had kept tn cradle rockin' an
tn baby was asleep and well. "-Detroil
Free Press.