Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1890-04-10
CAMPFIRE STORIES.
THREE SNAKE STORIES.
Caressed by Rattlers-BoiIing Down .
COiler-Bitten nv a snake.

q
COiler-Fitten by snake.
Captain George Mckay tells a story in
which war and snakes are mingled in .
fashion which is interesting. His regi-
ment, the Seventh Ohio while in West
Virginia in the late disagreement, be-
came entangled with an entire brigade
OF the Confederate forces and hard
fight of several hours duration ensued,
with chances against tho Union regi-
ment. outnumbered as il vas. eight 10
one. Toward night Captain Mckay got
away with twenty Of his men and made
tracks mp a branch of the Kanawha
river. They moved cautiously along
one bank whiie the opposing forces
we're following them on the opposite
side of the river and silently gathering
about them on all sides. The beleagur-
ed UnioRists finally reached sheltered
spot in the side Of a hill whore a cave
like hollow afforded them refuge.
They dropped YEARLY upon the ground
TO rest. but they slept little that night.
One OF them. after few minutes quiet,
exclaimed. in "a loW voice:
we must have got into some old
woman's cucumber patch Cant YOU
smell enc
Several OF the men noticed the pecu-
liar smell. and one experienced hunter.
after shifting about. exclaimed:
Lie still. every man Of You. II you
make move you're goner. Them's
snakes -rattlers. too.
The men resisted the supreme impulse
of every son Of Adam 90 fight the rep
tiles and lay silently through the night,
while the reptiles crawled over and
about them until morning dawned at
last The sensation Of a man lying on
his back and allowing the slimy,I
creatures to craal over his face and
body. while every now and then the
FOOTBALLS of squads Of the hostile army
could be heard moving about tho river
bank, can scarcely he imagined Toward
daylight the hunter who had first dis
covered the presence of tie reptiles
contriyed in some manner to cntice
them - the mouth 81 the cave and gave
the doably imprisoned twonty.one men
chance rs move their joints They
escaped from their dangerous position.
and most Of them lived 70 tell the tale.
Squire Bauder supplements this tale
with another He says that during
hot fight in the war he Was sent by his
Captain TO look for man who had
Jagged out OF the line. and found him
comfortably ensconced behind a rock.
The laggard was drunk, and a rattle
snakes head was within an inch Of his
hand Bauder called him away, and
threw stone at the snake, missing it.
The reptile Immediately coiled itself up
and prepared 10 strike Bauder threw
another stone, cricket fashion, and
struck his snakeship in the neck The
animal darted at him and struck his leg,
but failed to insert It's fangs in the flesh,
and dropped dead
A Clevelander. recently returned from
Nebraska, says he was removing tho
yoke from pair 81 Nen. on the sand
hills just south Of ollwalter's claim
when big rattlesuake stuug him in tho
calf of his leg. the Young man heard the
rattle and was looking for the make when
ii sprung at him. ani consequently
caught ii III HE body about a. soon
as he felt he bite. He brought the
snakes head down upon one of the
horns Of the nearest OK, killing H. and
then started on run for the chicken
coop Hastily binding newly killed
fowl upon Ills leg to draw the poison, he
jumped upon tha back OF Wild bfoncho
and rode three miles to town. where
quart of whisky WAS secured and tho
narrator of the story went ON his first
drunk His leg by this time had swol-
len TO twice its normal size. lie went
to hotel, dragged himself to room
and swallowed whisky until he did not
know whether he stood on his head or
his feet. His last recollection is fruit
less search for the bottle, which stood
on table beside him When he awoke
the swelling had begun to subside, his
friends were doing what they could for
him and in fow days he was as good as
new
CHASING GENERAL TOOMBS.