Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-07-19
THE JUG WAS A SNAKE TRAP.
Five Foot Black Snake which Was
Caught in n Curious Manner.

Caught In u curious Manner.
One sultry afternoon in August, on
a hunt, with horse and buggy, for pre-
historic Indian relics, | came to a di-
lapidated fence that inclosed a cabin
and truck patch at the foot of the
bluffs east of the ancient hamlet of
Prairie du Pont. below the Falling
springs.
My horse and myself were both
thirsty and tired. ] opened the rickety
gate and commenced an inspection of
the place, when ] saw a middle aged
negro man coming up from the far
corner of the garden.
On making my wants known he led
the way to a fine large spring, bub
bling up from the edge of the rocks,
and handed me a gourd full of its
clear, cold water. While satisfying
my thirst my courteous host dipped up
large tin pailful of water and carried
it out to my horse, who no doubt APP
preciated the refreshing kindness fully
as much as | did.
the sable gentleman politely asked me
to take a seat on bench in the shade
of his splendid naples and rest awhile,
remarking, as if by way of apology for
not offering more elaborate hospitality,
that his folks were gone to neigh
boris whose wife was very sick, and
obey would probably not return until
night, if then,
The cabin, built of logs, was about
fourteen feet square and at one end
had an annex in the shape of a shed
room without floor, constructed of
rough plank. This room, near which
| sat- rightly inferred, from the
rusty stovepipe that protruded above
the clapboard roof, served the purpose
of kitchen, pantry and dining room.
We had been talking some little
time when we were suddenly startled
by crashing noise in the vacant
kitchen, as though caused by the fall
ing and breaking of glass or crockery.
My host rushed to the door and threw
it open, and | was just at his heels,
but with a glance in the hovel he
started back SO precipitately that /
had to dodge quickly to escape the
consequences of the collision.
Ranying Immediately we advanced
to the door, and saw a great black
snake, five feet in length, writhing
and struggling among fragments OF
shattered queenswaS, as though max
ing desperate attempt to free itself
from some sort of trap that held it and
impeded its locomot>n.
The well aimed stroke of hoe cut
the unwelcome intruder in two about
the middle, and then our autopsy re-
vealed how strangely the thieving rep
tile had shared himself.
Along one side of the room, in a
space four feet wide, were four or five
rude, narrow shelves that fitted the
office of a cupboard, and on which
were ranged the family plates, dishes,
etc.
About midway of some of these
shelves had stood small earthenMare
jug, flanked on either side by few
specimens of the ceramic art.
The matron of the establishment,
before leaving home that morning,
had gathered the fresh eggs from the
different nests about the poultry yard !;
and, in depositing them at random
where space was found on the shelves,
she had placed a single egg on one
side OF the jug before mentioned and
several others on the other side of it.
The serpent, in exploring the desert
ed apartment in quest OF food, had
first encountered the single egg and
swallowed it; in order then to get at
the others he crawled through the
handle of the jug, which proved rath-
Ell narrow passage, and swallowed
another egg.
To more conveniently swallow his
repast he must have attempted to
change his position; but, with his
body through the jug handle, with
one egg incased in front and one be-
hind it, making bulges in his body
that were much too large to pass so
small an oriiice. he could neither back
out nor 60 through, but was held fast.
The result of his effort was to push
the jug off the shelf, which, in fall
ing, carried the snake and two or
three old dishes with it, The fall to
the dirt floor smashed the dishes, but
the jug remained intact and firmly
held its prisoner. Cor. st. Louis Re-
public.