The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-09-04
JACK l. SLIDE
The Ireenious LADS seheme was sueeessru,
In Kidding the County of snakes.

and pastures OF the pest OF rattlesnnkes. Ev
erybody In the localities mentioned had Gus
tanned heavy losses. md It became necessary
Tor the safety not only OF the stock but OF th'
settlers themselves that something be dono.
Bill Wheeler was spokesman for tho com
mittee that lined up In front OF Jim Felrs
cabin that morning. Twelve men were there.
and every one was armed with q hickory pole.
When old jim Fell appeared In answer to the
knock of the committee. Wheeler said:
"ier boy Jacks to hum. beint hc un
"Yas. Kun out yeer. Jack. Thar's a bunch
O. fellars wants to see ycr.' called old Jim to
some one in tho house. and jack Fell. Siinp-
son Creeks prodigy OF ingenuity. appeared.
I'VE uns over to the Bend an Niger
Branch an Snake Ridge are bout ct up an
ruin'd by the tarnal ~rattlers. an the folks hev
sent we uns ez a committee to get you to
kun over an hep US out"
Then the Chairman went into a bill OF par.
t~Iculars. describing the ruin and devastation
committed by the swarms OF snakes. and end
ing In an appeal to Jack to git rite up and
kun along back with the committee"
.Whar does them snakes stay. mostly" In
CURED Jack.
"Theyse got a den In n big cliff under SIP ol;y
Mountain. an you un ken see a thousan'
sunnin' themselves any bright day"
Jim concluded to 70 and see for himself. and
In the course Of n couple OF hours was stand
ing at the foot OF q tremendous cliff OF brown
and Jagged rocks. moro than two hundred feet
high. in the side OF the mountain. About 100
feet up the side of the mountain a big fiat
stone. ten feet wide and sixty feet in length.
lay. with the upper end against q cliff lined
with holes and cracks and %crevices. while the
lower end reached down within fifty or sixty
feet OF the bottom Of the cliff at an angle OF
seventy or eighty degrees. On the upper end
OF this big slab Of stone and about it for many
yiS,iSou s Gokans dnlI,sol0rsd fG1r:tootGrs:
iFe!rs calculating eye there must have
in Sight. lie took ik"n Mental Iu nots Of the ea seems
nnd, its surroundings. The big stone cspe-
eially struck his attention. as he saw that It
Ing moysment Of an. old :fashioned spring
rest on a ston as4 a iitt +. his hisR RtF t iiont ts hos % aboa Ut
It. and the surplus weight at the top caused it
'' !Gos nn din ns!l e r. th y ups snnt eiy Sssnt o.teetor,n,
thnGmselvSs.. said Jack: and that was a fact;
,o mhe P snakes iSs r FL, aaEpea nS ! s 70 enjoy the {,
overlooking the surGing mass raised its head
and began to rattle, Then the "teetering'
S s9hkss sth wsis slsSt e up a s,aId tSok Of shs she p sissns:
The big snake on the rock was keeping time.
ana ut the expiration, OF every, five minutes q
the swinging stone and Just laid themselves
out Ger enjoyment.
Jack Fell said nothing. but stood by himself
the the e Sns4mes en and nis Said rroseA'IS he turned to
We Kin fix them snakes. Of you uns II do
Jes' es l say"
o. course the committee was unanimous on
Wal. less 60 to Dillum's house" said Jack.
for although everybody was filled with curl
81 SS 81, yu 10 Know what Jack was up to. they knew
t u,m Mei hs ehh9 , 6lnn o " r seIrnn1taa tnrR to to e. satisfy them
When they got into Dillum's yard, Jack told
hin to get two OF three gallons Of lard: and
OF the committee to work hewing q wooden
trough out q u small six-inch log about four
feet long gs;ti Two on or three others were put 70
incnes thick. These pieces were dressed
creased with lard until it was smooth as glass.
.n mdr29ie. y9n bring that lard; an, BIZ Wheeler
yyon ken fetch q bucket NV pitch. an you. Tom
i giliup 81; KIP kerry . iupplo Of mallets an
no wanted With ali this stun. the m en- picked sEei
up their loads and started.
.v when ma .ne SuF F0 sftsr S,s to t the cliff 1}5as:sss sent lent
lighted: With the burning Pine sI Knots glazing
the cliff; The rattlesnakes set IN q terrihc
s ssfves out nts iar 3 o c1a F rat ,bs 5 Hna lad td them:
their holes. and in five minutes not a
Tattler was seen; AS soon as the coast
men to work The broad. fat stone. which
was found to be almost smooth. was. as they
nad supposed. hung upon q stone near the
which acted like q pivot. allowing the
stone to rise and fall nearly three feet at a
tered on one edge with pitch. and then laid on
the lace OF the stone somewhat in the shape Of
ab Si PIT ftr wit ies the "t apex ,Ps left left o ,%ss to g Width ! Of
ends We're ten feet apart. The face OF the
stone and the smooth inner surfaces Of the
which the warmth Of the broad surface soon
sufficiently to cause it I? run and fill
al bS o. the little st IRE rTFeg suiar II ie th on . TIE stone o3 wood
about four or five feet above the lower edge Of
the rock q shallow groove was cut. terminating
wooden trough vas placed underneath the
lower edge and the work was done. BY that
tine W th si sun IN was va L dissppe "r soio Jack. "an.
we'll yum back in the mornin'. an then you
BY dayl 'ght the next day Turkey Bend. Mig
ger Branch. Snake Ridge. and simpson Crock
"a turned = wn"t out e NINA mass SEM Ii i, e! MINI MIN I uW 'GsHy
nifty yards from the foot OF the cliff. anxious
md impatient.
IS it grew Lotter and hotter the snake could
30 seen COLLECTING. ut the mouths OF tho dsns
and c~revices. until hundreds OF ~rattlers lay
lbout aud glided here and there. Their rat
'lins. sounded in the ears Of the crowd like the
Of n dozen hives Of bees. Presently n
dig rattler crawled to the top OF the rock over.
ooking the swinging stone. and began to rat
lie. Then q couple of dozen snakes Crept out
IN tho upper edge Of the stone and began to
for fun. but they wero mistaken In the
Of fun they were going to haye. for no
sooner had they struck tho creased surface
han they shot down ono after another
Up by the wooden strips. shot back
tho contre. and then or the
'ock. sliding and slipping ten or fifteen feet
on the sandy slope below. Tho sight
10 astonished the big snake on the rock above
Int he. INADVERTENTLY began to rattle Igain.
md that sign being understood by the snakes
,Iovo as 4 call to crawl w and enjoy them:
way they went sliding down the incline. This
Did fellow ratified again and again. and as fast
IS he gave the call others crept vi and took q
shoot down the slide. BY that time the first
of snakes had crawled back up the cliff
md onto the stone and down they shot. thus
orming a perfect line OF snakes from the top
II the stone to tho bottom OF tho cliff
back again. By the time tho shaker
lad. made two or three round trips over
Al "a ID all nl.N~- M thar had annn,