The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-05-17

Klein, hardware merchant at Hartford
and one of my customers. ! dubbed PRO
fessor" and set up in an imaginary observ--
atory at Hartford. The dispatch was dated
day pre- vious, the professor. while looking
through his telescope. saw an eruption on
the surface of the sun. One of its huge
spots seemed to be projected with great
violence beyond the suns center of at
traction, and the mass appeared to be COM
ing directly toward the earth. About 10
O'Clock on the Sunday night following the
citizens of Litchfield were startled by
brilliant light. which illuminated the
country for miles around, and which was
accompanied by terrible roaring, kissing
noise. 1t struck in some pasture land be-
longing to Mr.. Stone. 1t was about 3, 0G9 feet
high and covered 40 acres of ground. 1T
has probably sunk into the earth at least 400
feet" said my dispatch. l described it as
glowing metallic mass, emitting ter
ritic heat, so that the thousands of people
who tiocked to the scene were unable to
approach nearer to it than 1000 yards,
and added: THE fall of such a wonder
full meteor in such q locality was indeed
fortunate, as had it struck densely popu-
lated district many lives would have been
lost and much valuable property de-
stroyed."
Improbable as this story may sound, it
was accepted for the truth by many of the
leading papers of the country. and the
prominent citizens to whom l had re-
ferred as substantiating 1t were deluged
with letters of inquiry. Some, however,
were skeptical, among them an NJ. l..
Winfrey of Leesburg, Texas, who said he
had seen the account in the Atlanta Con-
staation, but could not bring himself to
accept it for the truth.
DOWNS THE CHAMPION TEXAS LIAR.
At intervals varied the cave discoveries
with accounts of numerous prominent
drummers whom highwaymen attempted
to hold up in lonely places all over the
South. The drummer was always hero,
sometimes killing as high as three men.
The boys always enjoyed such notoriety
hugely. In 1882 accepted a position with
Louisville house, which had a branch
establishment at Galveston, and / was sent
to take charge of it. In Texas L met Tom
Ochiltree, who had been noted as the
champion liar of the Lone Star State. /
determined to defeat him and thus main
tain the honor of Kentucky. To accom-
plish this enormous feat | brought down
another meteor. 1t fell near Williams
ranch III Brown county, Embedding house
full of Mexicans 200 feet in the earth and
covering an acre of ground. in which was
flock of sheep, who shared the common
fate. mass eight feet in height was left
exposed to the light of day. This meteor
was red hot, blasting everything about it,
and from hinge assures proceeded sui
phurous gases of baneful strength.
fhe Fort Worth Gazette pub
lished this incredible fabrication in collu-
sion with its author. \ press agent read
the account in his hunger for news swal-
lowed it, and telegraphed it to the main
Office in New York, whence IL was dis
tributed over the length and breadth of
the United States. The morning after its
universal publication the Gazette received
ia kilograms of inquiry respecting the
alleged phenomenon, of which several
were from Europe, and letters asking for
further information poured into the Office
for months.
Three requests for further particulars
came by cable. One was from the Paris
GdIois, another from the Edinburgh Scots
man and the third from the London Times.
That from the Times read:
please dispatch correspondents to where
the great meteor fell. Send fullest par
ticulars by cable and draw on us for all
expenses"
Hundreds of letters were also addressed
to the postmaster at Fort Worth, who
faithfully promised to shoot me on sight.
/ afterward met him and had the pleasure
of dining with him at his elegant home,
where l was serenaded by the Fort Worth
band. This was my first visit after the fall
of the meteor and Tom 0chiltree. Threats
were made of sending me to congress in
Toms place on this account, and l had to
leave the district in order to avoid what
was. at the time. an undesirable consum-
nation. In justice to Mr.. 0chiltree | will
add that he bore me no ill-will on account
of my triumph, but with characteristic
chivalry acknowledged his defeat
From Texas | went to Mexico, where /
sold goods and picked up good deal of
the Spanish language. l was much inter-
ested in the quaint and primitive manners
of the people, and entertained them with
many marvellous tales, all of which they
accepted with unfailing credulity.
TELL SOME SNAKE STORIES.
Returning to Kentucky / told in the
Lexington Transcript of the wonderful
lotion employed by Patrick Cunningham,
of Richmond, KY, by which he made his
body impervious to snake bites. The
moment the fangs of a snake came in con-
tact with it a powerful electric current
was generated, which drove the snakes
own poison through every blood vessel in
its body, causing almost instant DEATH
Cunningham in one summer killed 1900
snakes in Madison county alone and real
ICED quite a handsome sum as the result of
| his wonderful skill in Kidding the premises
| OF the good citizens of the reptiles. He
could locate den of snakes by their scent
as easily as dog can track a rabbit. He
did not wait for them to come out of their
! hole but when it was at all practicable he
crawled in after them and killed them
right and left with a club he carried. The
farm of J. Il. Parks, which was located
| near Richmond, was overrun with rattle
| snakes and black snakes, which had. killed
several fine Jersey cows and carried off
| hundreds of young chickens. Cunning
| ham visited the place, killed 1000 serpents,
! big and little, and Mr.. Parks was not
molested further. The snakes had multi
| piled wonderfully in Madison county since
the war. 1t is supposed that they were
! frightened by the roar and din of battle
near Perryville and congregated for safety
| in that vicinity.
Colonel Irvine, who lives on the out
skirts of Richmond, had three barrels of
| Anderson county whisky fourteen years
| old in his cellar he left the bung holes
| open to age ii faster and make 1t mellow.
| Judge of his surprise, therefore, when he
| went TO show it to some visiting friends
| one morning to find that it was nearly all
| gone, and in one of the barrels only about
| two gallons were left. In this barrel over
| forty large black snakes were discovered all
coiled up and in beastly state of intoxi-
| cation. while in the dark corners of the
| cellar groups of rattlesnakes were coiled,
| some SOLDERING up, others in various stages
| of intoxication. They had gone in through
| hole III the basement door, and as Colo
| mel Irvine was away with his family for
| about three months it is supposed the
| with the whisky and did not draw a sober
| breath during all that period. This was
| last September. Patrick Cunningham
| was called in, and he succeeded in killing
| over 5000 snakes on that place within two
weeks