Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1892-12-15
coNNEcTICUT'S DROUTH.
eads to q Startling Adventure in Farmer
Penfield's Old Well.

Penfield's Old Well.
The long drouth in the Connecticut
Valley has greatly delayed the advent
Of winter. and wild flowers, fruit trees
and strawberry blossoms, snakes and
other summer things are still current.
The drouth has also dried all the
small streams and wells, and it was on
account of the drouth, TOO, that Farmer
Alexander Peniield's hired man. Of
rural Portland town across the Con-
nectjcut River from this city, had a
unique and startling experience few
days ago. Like all his neighbors, Alex
ander had been getting his drinking
water in hogsheads for his household
and his Darn stock from the distant
river, and he was tired Of the JOB. So
he said to his hired man, Polander,
the other morning:
Guess We'll give the Connecticut
River a rest; suppose we 60 and clean
out the old well, and see if there amt
water in that for d week or So"
The old we'll. deep and capaclous
one. is on distant part Of Mr.. Pen
fields big farm, and it bad been I'M
used for several years. The two men
found that the we'll had been partly
filled with brush, stones and other de-
bris, but Penfield quickly rugged up
sort of derrick, with rope and bucket,
and sent the Pole to the bottom of it IN
the bucket. The hired man worked
with shovel and sent up bucketfuls of
debris to Penfield, who emptied the
vessel and sent it back to his man. The
Pole had not labored long, however,
before he was disturbed by a singular
buzzing sound like the humming Of q
swarm of bees, and moment later he
began to see snakes. From every GREY
ice in the stone curb of the we'll SER
penis thrust forth their heads. Kissing
loudly, then advanced their bodies,
little by little, into the we'll, which were
followed instantly by those of still more
snakes, all crowding on the frightened
workman, and tumbling one after an
other into the bottom OF the dimly
lighted shaft. There evidently was an
army Of snakes; in numbers no
one knows how many, in the under
curbing of the we'll, and they were of
almost every variety of serpents that
belong in the Nutmeg State. There
were black snakes, water snakes.
striped snakes, and adders-the Pole
recognized all those kinds-and there
were others that ne told Farmer Pen
field afterward, ''the like of which he
never saw BEFORE" For awhile the
Pole waged desperate battle against
the serpents with his shovel, simply to
protect himself from their attack, but
in a few moments he was completely
invested with kissing, writhing.
squirming, tossing, tangle of serpents
in the bottom of the pit, while a shower
of snakes was continually falling upon
him from the walls above his head.
Finally he became terror-stricken, and
shouted to Mr.. Penfeld to haul him out
of the engulfng torrent of reptiles.
Mr.. Penfeld pulled vigorously on the
bucket rope and soon had his man out
of danger. After an hour or so the
serpents returned to their retreat be-
hind the west walls, and the we'll re-
gained it's normal condition ofseemingly
innocuous desuetude. Then Farmer
Penfeld lowered his man into the we'll
again, who found the bodies Of thirty
four snakes on the bottom of it. which
the Pole had killed with his shovel. Mr..
Penfeld has abandoned his project of
using the we'll, and is still getting his
water from the Connecticut River
Middletown Correspondence Neqy York Sun.