The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1888-01-19
REPTILE wELL-SINKERS.
low q Rsttlesnsls Repaid q
Debt Of Gratitude
A VFnd Yarn that should Can Out q
Fresh story nom Muihatton-An
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A singular Illustration Of preoocity, and
Of the fact that dumb animals Oftentimes
are capable Of manifesting gratitude, was
developed In the experience Of Farmer
Joshua Broadhead. Of Moon township, some
days ago. says the Pittsburgh PED. While
the farmer was riding along one Of the
roads which led back from the Ohio river 70
the wilds Of Washington County his atten-
ton was attracted by the rustliug Of the
dry leaves BY the roadside and on making
q closer examination he found that large,
full raftlesnare had In some manner
got caught between two fence rails. and
with the aid.of its mate was making frantic
sfiorts 70 extricate itself The two snakes
would tElne around one another. giving the
assisting reptile enough stretch 70 Irvine lie
tail about & neighboring sapling. They
pulled and pulled. but their most vigorous
efforts svailed not
Farmer Broadhead. who is q kind hearted
man and a corresponding member Of the
Western Pennsylvania Humane Society,
watched them for some time, and finally,
alighting from his wagon, he removed the
rail and released the imprisoned creature.
The two snakes seemed 20 be electrified with
Joy and happiness, and wriggled around the
road in front Of the farmer in playful
tfy their gratitude Finally one Of them
Wriggled up one fthe wheels Of the wagon,
and crawling on the seat seemed 70 look At
tentively a. q copy Of an agricultural Jour
nal lying there, which the farmer had Just
taken out Of the post-Ofice. Il was I'D
dressed TO Joshua BrOadhead. Podunk Cross
Roads, Moon Township" A minute later
the snake crawled down out Of the wagon,
and Il and It's mate looked attentively, and
il seemed meaningly, at the farmer out Of
their bright little shining eyes, and then
wriggled over into q meadow, sounding
their rattles in q joyous manner.
While Mr. BrOadhead was deeply i'm
pressed At the time by the singular actions
Of the snakes. be soon thought no more Of il
save TO refiest that he had done q humane
act. When he sat down 10 breakfast on the
succeeding morning his wife told him that
. grasping lawyer had been down to sec
him with notice that he was about 10 fore
close q mortgage which be held on the good
old farmers homestead. and, as the crops
had been bad, and he was not prepared 70
settle, he felt very much depressed. Then
there came q rapping 81 the kitchen door,
and with dread in his heart that the sher-
IN had come az last he opened H. To his
infinite astOnishment he found the two rat
tlssnakes that be had met the preceding
day cooled upon the steps. They had evi-
IDENTIFY raped on the door with their rattles
He stepped back o-'icEiy in alarm, but the
playful demeanor OF the snakes reassured
him. Then one Of them firted up It's tail
and beckOncd 70 him 10 come outside. The
farmer could scarcely believe his eyes, bat
finally stepped out into the yard. The
snakes wriggled along IN front Of him,
every now and then turning their heads to
see II he was following them. They started
on toward the barn, twisting up their tails
AZ intervals and beckoning 10 him At last
they led him to a secluded hollow, and here
he was dumfOunded by seeing thousands
and thousands Of rattlesnakes ranged In
lines. As he came into view they all began
70 sound their rattles, and the noise was
like hundred saw-mills and q couple Of
dozen nail factories In full blast
The strange sight terrified him, and he
was about 70 fee when the snake which he
had rescued looked up at him so appealing
ly that he became tranquil Then the snake
which had been rescued from lingering
death began 70 bite the dust and whirl
round and round m great spiral convOlutions.
Il kept right on biting until il had dug
quite q deep hole in the ground with It's
sharp fangs When il had gone down into
the hole perpendicularly until nothing was
seen but the tip Of its tail, its mate took
bold Of the rattle and repeated the whirl-
ing, whizzing operation until Il too had dis
appeared in the hole in the ground. Then
another snake took hold Of its tail and went
down also. Another and another, until
hundreds Of snakes had gone down out Of
sight, did the5 continue to disappear.
This WAS continued for several hours, and
snake after snake had gune down the hole
until il must have contained several thou
sand yards Of rattlesnakes in one string
For some time the farmer was completely
puzzled 10 unravel the mystery, but finally
out Of the hole there ZANE 3 mighty roar
ing, rushing sound. There WAS q great
gush Of dust and snakes, and then q shrill
noise which told the story. Il was
4 monster natural gas rOarer. The snake
that he hal rescued, having seen his name
on the paper in the wagon. had gone 70
Farmer BrOadhead's house. While listen
ing nj the door it heard about the impend- |
ing foreclosure d the mortgage on the |
farm, aud IN order 70 show its gratitude e |
had called in it, associates and had dug the |
well in order that It's humane savior might |
be independent for life.