Morning journal and courier., 1889-05-27
THE SERPENT OF FIDDLE LAKE,
 George Sehoevel. Who Saw 1t Dsvour a Dog, Says Ie Is As Big As a Saw

|
 Log.
 From the Carbondale Leader.1
 Fiddle Lake, body of water of unknown | depth, is located midway between Ararat and Herrick on the Carbondals branch. The l public highway passes along the left side of 1 the lake. The land at this point is heavily timbered, but between the road and the lake the ground is comparatively clear, affording a fine view of this beautiful sheet of water. | A rocky ledge skirts the east side Of the lake: and about the csnter of this ledge is "A cayernous opening into which the water fows Boatmen have frequently attempted to explore this cavern, but it's extreme dark ! ness and the difficulty of working boat into | the narrow opening has made it impossible ! except for few feet.
 ! The lake is much frequented by fishermen, and for several years the story has been kept alive by members of the fraternity concern l ing the existence of a monstrous snake or | reptile of that sort, which, according to res port, has been seen on several different oc- | casions near the entrance to the cavern. All | the stories concerning the appearance and movements of this serpent, which was said \ to be of enormous size, seemed to agree; but | 6shernen's stories are so often based upon ! the use of too strong bait that the reports | were discredited, and we only mention them \ because of their connection with the adven- ture we are about to relate, the facts of which are as follows:
 George Schoevel-s German citizen whose ! short residence in this country has been ! characterized by a strict attention to busi- | ness and to the truth in all his doings and | ssyings-on Friday last hired horse and wagon to go to Herriek, where he expected \ to meet friend whom he had known in the sFaderlsnd." He reached Ararat without | mishap and it was between that place and | advAUfnr6 OfpurraN which l will finger in his memory until the day of his death He took dinner at Walkers ho-
 tel and was driving slowly along the shore l of Fiddle Lake when his attention was st-
 tracted by the pitiful yelping of dog in
 the woods which line the shore on the west
 side of the road The noise came neare,
 and nearer, and finally the sound of crack ling brush and 'sswishing" bushes an
 nounced the approach of some heavy body
 The horse seemed terrified and uneasily
 snifed the air. While endeavoring to quiet the animal, which began to tremble, snor
 and back, Shoevel glanced in the direction
 of the sound, and to his horror beheld tht
 head of a mons.rous snake holding in iii
 mouth a small dog, which it was afterwart
 learned belonged to 8 farmer about mill
 distant.
 'sGott in Himmeli whol ged oudtl'
 yelled Sehoevel, as the reptile, with iti
 head about three feet from the ground
 proceeded leisurely to cross the road to l ward the lake
 As it left the road and passed over thu l open space Schoevel had ample time, afte l onieting his horse and himself as we'll a
 possible, to observe its frightful propor
 tions, and later on he solemnly averret
 that ''Dot shnake was long as dwenty fee
 and bigger as saw logs"
 He also noticed that it's progress over ths
 ground was unlike that of e snake, being
 accomplished by curving the body into
 series of half circles, the latter part of tn,
 body adhering to the ground, while tht
 head and forward part were protected forward
 by straightening out the loops, the action be ing SO rapid that the motion was almost con
 tinuous. When it plunged into the lake i l seemed to have reached it's native element
 and, at once diving below the surface, the
 "ki-yi-ing' of the unhappy dog, which hat | been continued until that time, ceased for ! ever.
 As Schoevel stood in terror and wonder ! watching the lake where the monster ha6
 disappeared, the water near the center rip ] ! pied and suddenly the reptiles head again ap ! peared still holding its prey in it's mouth l Making directly for the cavern before men tioned, it disappeared within it's walls SchoeveI continued his journey, and the nex
 morning on his return stopped at the Jeffer
 son House here and excitedly told us th, story in substance as we have written it ? He said ssI sleep me not @ tam bit all d. night long, and dond't go oudt py minesel
 in dis country some more, py chinksl" Tn truthfulness of his story no one doubts wh' . has heard him tell it, and now that the iden . tity of the "Fiddles Lake serpent" has beer established beyond question, the enterpri sing residents of that section will doubtless f contrive some means for its capture or de struction, and the loss of numerous lambs chickens, &c. by the residents of that 10 1 cality will not be accredited altogether tt dogs. skunks and other destructive quadru. = peds.