Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1888-06-26
ABOUTRATTLESNAKES.
~ An oBsERvANT WoopMAN WHO
LIVES AMONG THEM

a Remedy Tor the Dreaded Btts-Maraet
Tor Snake skin. and Observation-Disclosures
Kings Consumption Cure-A Popular
saperstitioo- Antidote~
THE splitting of live chicken and ap
plying the warm flesh to q rattiesnake
almost within gunshot Of a rattiesnake
den on the Upper Shohola creek. lis be-
heved BY nine out of ten of the old time
jewellers among the mountains of north
eastern Pennsy ivania to be a never failing
extractor OF the venom Of that reptile
have never known personally of case of
fatal poisoning by rattiesnake bites in
human beings In fact. | cannot remem
Der Of q single person ever having been
bitten within my knowledge. and live
within ten minutes walk Of place where
over 200 rattlesnakes were captured by
one man III the spring Of 1886. and where
l can go any day and gather as many rat
tiers as a customer may desire. Within
the past Eve years there has arisen . craze
among city people who spend the summer
In the Pike county and other North Penn
syivania mountains for specimens Of rat
tlesnake skins and rattles. and have my
self driven profitable business in supply
ing hides and buttons for that purpose
for three summers | know one summer
boarding house keeper who buys these
things on speculation to sell to his
boarders | furnished him more than
fifty big skins and as many sets of rattles
last summer and have now q contract for
100 OF the same this season ! have known
as much as s. so to be paid for one rattle
snake skin Some fanciers have the skins
stuffed and mounted. and others havo
belts. pocketb books, card cases. cigar cases
and even slippers made from the skins.
after q careful process Of tanning. by
which the colors and luster of the skin
are preserved as they are when the snake
is alive and ready to sink his fangs In his
aesthetic utilizer
The person who caught the 200 rattle
snakes two years ago was Elijah Pelton.
big double listed woodman He kept
them all alive without removing q fang,
and was the only person | ever really
knew to handle live. fang whole rattle
snakes with impunity He did this daily
nearly all summer at Shohola Glen before
hundreds OF New York people who visited
that place. and always thought the per
Torrance singular one to be made an
attraction of summer sojourning place,
especially as Pelton did not conceal the
fact that the snakes were captured within
an hours journey of the resort. He had
the snakes In large cage. which he en-.
tered aud handled there at will. to the &C
compartment, of an almost deafening
chorus of rafting from his vicious looking
pets as they darted here and there about
the cage or coiled themselves in the posi-
ton they always assume when about to
rik Dalton fbof ha hittay,
tine and time again but that he simply
sucked out the poison, and did not stint
himself As to whisky
There was once another rattlesnake
king in Pike county named Sam Helms
lie supplied himself with snakes from the
same den that Pelton got his from, and
was never known to be without his bosom
and pockets filed with them He died
some years ago of consumption and his
death from that disease shook the faith of
the old mountaineers in the efficacy of the
rattlesnake as curative power
The high value that is set on rattle
snake oil wherever that snake is found is
widely known | have known as much as
s. to be paid for an ounce of rattlesnake
oil so great was the purchasers faith in
II as cure for rheumatism and many
believe that the oil is lnfallibe as an in
ternal remedy in all kinds of fever, and in
some places ii is regarded as never fail
ing cure for fits 1t is on record hat many
years ago over in Sullivan county, the
settlers on the east branch of the Della
ware got together one fall and killed over
| 200 rattleslIakes at their dens for the
purpose of trying out the oil for bottling
But the uses OF the live rattlesnake as
a medicinal agent are not so well known
The father of one of my present aeighbors
suffered some years ago from an ulcer on
his leg lie did not seem to receive any
benefit from rattlesnake oil. so he took
the advice of an old resident. now dead
and carried live rattlesnake to bed with
him and kept 1t there three days The
old gentleman always insisted that he was
bitten by the snake, and that the poison
simply counieracted the poison Of the dis
ease that was in his blood and drove it
out How true that may be | do not
know but 1t Is certain that the mans
ulcer disappeared. and he got well and
lived for several years don't know
whetb her the snake died or not, but very
likely it did
Then there was. and to some extent is
yet. a belief that II a consumptive should
bite deep into the neck Of live rattle
sthht Ut SSt tdili tiiiCo Iho OlSSuoS "oulu
he cured When 1t was found that Sam
Helms had the consumption the live rat
tlesnake treatment was tried on him
From all accounts he must have bitten
the necks of a whole den of live rattle
snakes but consumption's hand was not
stayed and Sam was gathered to his non
snake biting fathers
Another popular superstition among
the old resideuters and one that some of
their descendants believe in yet was to
carry a set of rattles in their hats to pre-
vent or cure headache and render sun
stroke impossible 1t was also once be
Iieved that If person bitten by rattle
snake should swallow a few drops of the
poison itself the former would have no
effect Not a few woodsmcn | have
known always had a little wal of the
poison. which they extracted from the
sacs at the base Of the faugs of rattle
snakes they killed for their oil, TO be used
internally in case they should have the
misfortune to be inoculated by a snake
bite in their tramps through the woods
But ] never knew of any o. them having
occasion to use the alleged antidote,
although If some of them are to be be
lieved they have taken pints of the venom
during their lives The antidote they
took. guess, was carried in much larger
bottles, and was purchased at the nearest
tavern
There used to be a man named Geer
who lived near Long Eddy Sullivan
county and who claimed TO have an in
fallible cure for rattlesnake bites that his
grandfather obtained from the Indians
The composition of the cure was a secret
bu, Geer would go any distance to doctor
persons who were snake bitten He
claimed to have saved the lives of many
people suffering from rattlesnake poison
Geer died year or two ago, but the secret
of the rattlesnake cure is still in his
family 1t is a singular fact that
none of the alleged an;idotes for rattle
snake bites is effectual In case of poison
ing by the copperhead or pilot.-Hawley
Pa Cor. New York Sun.
Senator Sherman's Suggestion.
How to become an orator Is too broad a
question for a newspaper article The