New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1890-08-13
THE DEADLlEsT OF sERPENTs.
Killing Two Cobras on Sunday Morning
In Far off India.

u Il
India, without a cloud in the brazen
skies. We had just come home from
early morning service, and had taken
our seats at the breakfast table. AT
the open door of our dining-room our
Telugu school teacher appeared. say
ing: Sir, a big cobra has Just been
chasing a frog through the whole
length of your front veranda. He
struck at it again and again as it
sprang past the open doors Of your sit
ting room, but the frog uttering pierre
ing shrieks Gas frog can when pur-
sued by a serpent), sprang each time
quick enough to elude its jaws, and to-
gether they rushed off the end of the
veranda, and the frog sprang under a
box that is standing there. too near
down upon the hard floor for the big
cobra to get under, and so escaped"
"Well," said I, 'where is the
cobra now?'' THAT is lust what I
don't know" said he, for while was
looking to see what had become of the
frog, how he had got away, the cobra
disappeared among the flower pots.
and, cannot see where he has gone. !"
lie must have hole there close by
the veranda somewhere, said I. sWill
you please go and watch until come,
and see if you can get sight of him
again for he must be killed if possible
if he lives as near the house as that
don't go shooting on Sunday, but
went for my pistol then. for I con-
sidered it decidedly a work of necessitv
and mercy to put an end to the danger
of ourselves or our people being bitten
by that deadly cobra. Soon appear
ing with a revolver, which I keep for
travelling through the iungles by
night, went hunting for the cobra's
hole.
Two large native flower pots stood
about six feet from the end of the We
randa, with each beautiful rose grow
ing in it, of which my wife was very
fond, and beside which she almost
daily stood picking off dead leaves, or
watering and tending the roses soon
discovered a hole in the ground about
as large as my wrist, partly concealed
by the grass that was growing right be-
tween the two flower pots, which were
far enough apart for person to stand
between them. The hole went down
perpendicularly, growing larger as it
went deeper. 1t took but a moment
to bring hand mirror and throw the
reflection of the bright sun right down
into the hole. 1t revealed horizontal
chamber only foot or so deep, and
the glistening scales of cobra coiled
up at rest.
Taking piece of a broken wagon
tire IN my hand to stop up the hole. I
fired down into the hole Not mo-
ton was seen. had missed Turn
ing the tire up edgewise [ fired again.
What squirming there was! The
cobra had been wounded. He struck
up viciously at the iron, which was
turned down flat as soon as I fired, to
keep him from darting out at US. I
turned the iron edgewise and fired
again. When had unloaded the sixth
barrel let him strike his head out, and
caught it against the side with the iron
tire. had brought out with me pair
of large hedge shears. With these
caught hold of his protruding neck,
and. with stout pull with both hands,
pulled him out and gave him firt out
into the compound. What scatter
ing there was of men, women, and
children! My attention had been SO
taken up by the snake that I had not
noticed what crowd had gathered
around. How they screamed and ran!
for they did not know that the grip of
the shears had dislocated the fellows
neck, and, seeing full-sized cobra fly
ing out toward them, they seemed to
think that he was springing at them.
AS [ had grasped the head of the
cobra with the shears. I had given the
wagon tire to the teacher, asking him
to insert the end again instantly that l
drew the cobra out for where one
cobra is you will usually find second.
came back and threw the rays of the
sun in again. Yes, there were bright
cobra's scales and another cobra wrig-
Cling. Loading my pistol again l re-
peated the firing hoping that he would
strike his head up out, so that could
catch his head also. Squirm and
out of the hole until I fired many
times; but it finally came and I se-
cured him also. On drawing him out
and examining him closely. we found
fourteen pistol ball holes through his
body, and still there was fight in him.
Any three of the wounds would have
proved fatal in time; but he died max
ing a splendid fight. We laid the
cobras out in the veranda and meas
ured them. One of them measured
five feet eleven inches, and the other
six feet and tive inches, than which one
rarely finds a cobra larger. Their
hole showed that they had evidently
been living there, right among the
flower pots that were tended daily and
within six feet Of our veranda and
within twelve feet Of my study door,
for weeks or months. Though the
cobra is the deadliest serpent known
and thousands of persons die of their
bite yearly in India, no one in our mis-
sion has every been harmed by one
Christian laatelligencer.
Gander and Rat.