Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1890-07-03
THE DEADLY COBRA.
Killing Two Immense Serpents on
q Sunday Morning.


without cloud in the brazen skies,
writes correspondent Of the Christian
Intelligencer. We had just come homo
from early morning service, and had
taken our seats at the breakfast table.
At the open door of OR dining-room our
Telugu school teacher appeared, saying:
"Sir, big cobra has just been chasing
frog through tho whole longth of your
front veranda. He struck at it again
and again as it sprang past the open
doors Of your sitting-room, but the frog,
uttering piercing shrleks (as frog can
when pursued by q serpent), sprang
each time quick enough to elude its
jaws, and together they rushed off tho
end of tho veranda, and the frog sprang
under box that Is Standing there, too
near down upon the hard floor for the
big cobra to got under, and so escaped"
'Well," said 1, "where is the cobra
now?" THAT is just what don't
know" said he, "for while 1 was look
ing to see what had become of the frog,
how he had got away, the cobra disap-
pearcd among the flower pots, and 1 can
not seq where he has gone" "He must
have hole there close by tho veranda
somewhere" said I. evil you please
go and watch until come, and sec if
you can got sight of him again, for he
must be killed If possible If he lives as
near the house as that"
Two large native flower pots STOOD
about six feet from the end of the YER
anda, with each beautiful roso growing
in 1T, of which my wife was very fond,
and beside which she almost daily stood
picking off dead leaves, or watering and
tonding the roses. soon discovered O
hole in the ground about as largo as nv
wrist, partly concealed by tho grass that
was growing right between tho two
flower pots, which were far enough
apart for person to stand between
them. Tho hole won't down perpondicu-
larly, growing larger as it went deeper.
1t took but moment to bring hand
mirror and throw the reflection of the
bright sun right down into the hole. It
revealed horizontal chamber only q
foot or so deep, and the glisteninR
scales Of cobra coiled up ut rest.
Taking pieSe of broken wagon
tire in my left hand to stop up the hole
ingly in the hole, fred down into tho
holo. Not q motion was seen. 1 had
missed. Turning the tire up cdgewise,
fired again. What squirming there
was! The cobra had boon wounded.
He struck up viciously at the iron,
whlcn was turned down nat as soon as
lad fired, to keep him from darting out
at us. turned tho iron edgewise and
fred again, and again. When had un-
loaded the sixth barrel let him strike
his head out, and caught it against tho
side with the iron tire. / had brought
out with mo a pair of large hedge
shears. With these caught hold OF his
protruding neck, and, with stout pull
with both hands, pulled him out and
gavo him flirT out into tho compound.
What a scattering there was of men,
women and children! My attention had
been so taken up by the snake that I
had not noticed what q crowd had
gathered around. How they screamed
and ran! for they did not know that tho
grip of tho shears had dislocated the
fellows neck, and, seeing full-sized
cobra flying out tcTard them, they
seemed to think that he was springing
at them.
AS ] had grasped the head of the
cobra with the shears, 1 had given tho
wagon trio to the teacher, asking him
to insert tho end again instantly that
drew tho cobra out, for whero ono cobra
is you will usually find second.
came back and throw the rays Of tho sun
in again. Yes, there were bright
oobra's scales and another COBRA wrig-
Cling. Loading my pistol again ro-
peated tho firing, hoping that he would
strike his head up out. so that could
catch his head also. Squirm and strike
as he did, his head did not como out of
tho hole until had flrod many times:
but it finally came, and secured him
also. On drawing him out and examin-
ing him closely, wo found fourteen