Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1891-09-13
COL. CoRYELL's WATERMELON.
1t Had q Remarkable Interior that Made
Good Bass Bait.

". !. sun.
A remarkable story comes from Putt
eney, and 1t is vouched for by Pilot
Harry Morse Of the Lake Keuka team
er Urbana. 1t was told him by Alder
man Baker, OF Pulteney, who
had it directly from the lips OF
Col. James Coryell, also of Pulteney
81 had been fishing over along Bluff
Point for two or three hours the other
day and couldn't get bite" said the
Colonel, "and so thought I'd go ashore,
get in a nice shady place, and cut
watermelon brought with me, aud get
some satisfaction out OF that | raised
the watermelon In my own patch and
knew it had right to be a good one. |
had three hooks on my leader, baited
with young frogs, and l left the bait
on, placing the line on the ground, so
the frogs could go in the water or stay
out, just as they pleased. Iripped the
watermelon open, and hadn't any sooner
done so than | dropped 1t and jumped
ten feet and l guess yelled some.
"Some people might have had nerve
enough not to jump and yell, but It's
nv opinion that any one who had been
emitting a watermelon as / was, and saw
three green snakes, over foot long,
come squirming out OF the inside OF the
melon. would have been likely TO jump
and boiler just as l did. The snakes
came out OF that melon In n hurry as
soon as it was cut, and tumbled to the
ground. They paused thcre a minute
and then all three OF OF EN- made a
break for those young frogs was baited
with, and the first thing | knew l had
three green snakes hanging to my
hooks, with the frog bait inside OF 'em.
They kicked and wiggled around and
tried to get away, but there they were.
| went and picked up the watermelon,
and found that 1T was,nothing but shell.
The snakes had cleaned out the inside
until It was as smooth and dry as a
tobacco box. There wasn't hole any
where where they could have got in
that melon, but they came out OF 1t,
certain, and l began to get little
scared. But there those snakes hung
to nv leader, and | didn't know what
the dickens to do. / didn't want to lose
my leader, and didn't calculate to take
those snakes of the hooks, so l made up
my mind to drown EN-.
81 jumped in my boat, rowed out in
the lake, and chucked the snakes in the
water, letting out line to get 'em as far
away from me as possible. l hadn't
rowed more than three rods when / felt
n tremendous strike, and before / knew
II was having a nice little bout with a
big fish OF some kind. 1t was more than
that. Those little green snakes had
inst happened 10 strike the fancy OF
three whopping bass, and / landed 'em
after a hard fight. The smallest one
weighed four pounds.
"Well, / just rowed for home as fast
as could, and went 10 my melon patch
and broke open, guess, a wagon load
of melons, looking for some more OF that
boss bass bait, but I couldn't find an
other one. and l never was so disap-
nointed in my life. asked Deacon Hess
NJ Pulteney il he could explain how
those snakes got in that melon. He
| said he could, but he hadn't heard OF
any Of these snakes being In the country
| for forty years.
1.-THE female OF this snake lays her
eggs in watermelon blossoms, and they
stay there until the melon takes mp the
blossom, when the eggs are enveloped
by the melon and hatch. The young
snakes live on the pulp of the melon and
wait the first opportunity OF getting
out. The three released had been de-
layed so long that they were pretty
near starved when they did get out, and
promptly went for those tempting young
frogs OF mine. Deacon Hess forgets the
name OF them snakes, but I'd like TO
have some seed OF 'em. They're the
hest bass bait ever saw"