The morning call., 1893-01-01
CHARMED BY A SNAKE.
4 Strong Man Made Helpless by the
Serpent's Subtitle Spell.


J. W. Felts. q prominent and reliable citi-
zen. of the adjoining county of Cheatham.
says GAINESVILLE (Tenn.) correspondent Of
the ST. Louis Gobe-Democrat relates the
following extraordinary story of the infu-
ence exerted upon him by rattlesnake
short time ago:
81 started out one day in company with
colored man to cut some timber. having
measuring pole in hand, the negro carrying
an ak. After a time we separated. and l
had not gone far before l noticed a large
Tattlesnake in the path ahead of me. Ap-
parently we discovered each other about the
same time. and both stopped. My first
thought was to kill the reptile, but he at
ence threw himself into q coll, and con-
eluded, as the space around was open. and
not fearing his escape, TO wait and see what
the snake would DO. | was soon Intently
watching his movements. He cut up more
antics than / had ever seen performed by
q snake. To ME it was picture calculated
to attract and Ttvet attention. and my pur-
pose of destruction was soon forgotten.
Ere l was aware Of il | stood, or rather
STOPPED, spellbOund, as If tranShXed to the
spot, without the power OF speaking or
moving, save in obedience to tho VIII OF my
captOT. | felt the distance between us con-
tinually lessening, and. although / was con-
seious of my peril0us position, l seemed
poweress to change it. ami. what may seem
to be more strange, had NO desire 10 do so,
only to approach nearer the OBJECT that
under different circumstances would have
1een one Ct terror rather than attraction,
knew We were gradually nearing
each other, but how ! could not tell,
not being conscious of moving, and
the snake seemed TO occupy the same
position relatively az at hrst. l only know
that In the beginning | stood erect now
L fTrrr- l-rffi ion nod in
elining forward my right hand extended,
gradually nearing the snake, not In
line. but 0scillating, and at each move
ment lessening the distance. From the
first moment that l caught the eye Of The
reptile there seemed line extending from
each of his eyes to mine about the size of
ordinary sewing thread, which seemed to
exert power over me sufficient to hold me
and make me subservent to his will.
''HoW long l remained in this position /
know not. The cOlored man becoming I'M
easy at my prolonged absence commenced
calling me. ! could distinctly hear him,
but had no power 10 answer Finally
searching for me he found me in the att-
tnde described. he again called to ME, but
as before paid no attention to him. Then
he came nearer and discovered the huge
reptile within a few feet Of me. coiled for
the deadly spring. my right hand within
few inches of his mouth, each gazing
intentIy into the others eyes. He
eomprehended the situation at once
and took hold of me violently and
threw me backward from the snake,
thus partially breaking the spell. No
effort WAS made by the snake to escape.
The negro az once killed the snake, while l
all the time was begging him not to do so.
1t measured about six feet in length and
fourteen inches 10 circumference, and had
eight rattes.
az was SO completely under the influence
af naE a hal / off
nor, in fact, had any disposition to do so.
The hallucinatlon was not only pleasant
but exhilarating. and there was only lack
ing one undesirable omething-I could not
tell what, but it seemed almost within My
gTasp-to make my happiness complete. So
powerful was the effect upon my system
that was stricken down with severe spell
Of sickness"