Smyrna times., 1888-04-25
SMYRNA, DEL. WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON APR
First of the Season.
THE WICOMICO NEWS" REPORTER
HAS A BAD CASE OF SNAKES.
The following narrative was told a

| The following narrative was told a
reporter of the WicomicO Ne1Us recently
by fisherman while the reporter was
spending few hours by a campfire
on the WicomicO River: q know a
negro down at NanticOke Point" said
the fisherman, "whO kills carloads OF
snakes every year. Caleb Nutter is
death to snakes and venOmous reptiles
OF all kinds. The snake that bites him
dies in great agony, frothing at the
mouth and swelling to almost double
its former proportions Nutter has dis
covered poison more deadly than
that of the reptile, but harmless as a To-
ton to the human body, and as soon as
the tangs Of the snake come in contact
with 1t that moment a powerful cleo
trlc current Is generated that drives the
snakes own poison through every
blood vessel in its body. Blood poi
soning is the result, which, with the
terrible electric shock, causes almost
instant death. Nutter killed during
last summer in Somerset county over
seventeen thousand snakes, and real
lzed quite handsome sum by his won
derful skill in driving those offensive
reptiles from the premises of our citi-
zens. J. B. Parks, who owns a .beauti-
iul farm near Kingston, was over-run
with cOppeTheads and black-snakes.
lie lost several head Of fine JERSEY
cows, which died from the effects of
snake bites. Then the black-snakes
carried off hundreds of his Young
chickens. The place fairly swarmed
with snakes, SO Nutter had to be call.
ed IN. He can locate a den Of snakes
by their scent as easily as IA dog can
track IA rabbit. He did not wait for
tEem to come out of their hole, but
when 1t Is at all practicable he crawled
IN after them and killed them right
and left with club he carried An
that bit him died, but of course the
best number Of snakes he encountered
IN his days labor could not all get
chance to bite him, and had to be dis
patched with a club He estimates the
number Of snakes killed on Parks
farm at four thousand.
Colonel Parsons, who lives lust on
the outskirts of Salisbury, had three
barrels OF apple brandy fourteen wears
old, in his cellar; he left the bung-
holes open to age it faster and make it
yellow. Judge his surprise, therefore,
when he went to show it to some visit
ing friends one morning, to find that it
was nearly all gone, and in one of the !
barrels only about two gallons were
left. In this barrel over forty large
Olack-snakes. were discovered, all coil |
ed up in beastly state Of intoxication.
while IN the dark corners of the cellar |
groups Of the copperheads were coiled. |
some SOLDERING up, others in various |
stages OF intoXicatiOn. They had got |
N through hole in the basement door |
Is Colonel Parsons was away for about /
-hree weeks it is supposed the snakes.
not being disturbed, Just STAYED with |
-he brandy, and did not draw a sober
breath during that period. This was |
asst September. Caleb Nutter was
called in, and he succeeded in killing |
over three thousand snakes on that |
place within two weeks, receiving for |
MS services the neat sum of $500. or
500 per thousand.
Nutler has engagements booked for |
clearing out the snakes on numerous !
arms in this county during the coming
Also those on the farms of .
}. w, Jones, Seth Garner, of Worces- |
Ter, Col. Polk and Isaac Rumsev. of
somerset. Nutter is a rather small .
man, very dark, with a thick mat of
hair. He has keen, piercing eyes, and
talks with wonderful rapidity. He |
was born in India, near Calcutta it
was in the jungles of India that Nutter
discovered the formula for making the
deadly lotion so fatal to poisonous rep
tiles. The natives all anoint them
selves, and are thus rendered snake
proof. Nutter says he will keep on
killing and driving the snakes until
there is not one left in the State of
Maryland, if the people will only pay
him for it. OF course that would be an
mpOssibility for one man to accom-
plish, but he says he likes the business,
and hopes to do good work in the
State if his life and health is only
spared for few years"