The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-08-18
MA CAVE WITH SNAKES.
~n,. Englishman Who Wanted
g. crawling Life in the West.


FROM the Chicago Times.
t,sspr Heyt, once a cowboy but now
l3s.aire owner of rich asphaltum
'ne --'' a. Indian Territory, is stopping at
nm ,,.,r Jackson park. Yesterday he
4 bo-s. t,u1wing to "a Times reporter as
i0l Wv. and insect story that he knew to
Be true me- oo,vbovs seven in num-
Sre Getting ready TO so out from
H8.sII 10 round up stray cattle. Prepa-
rus were completed and the hour had
i r. set for departure, when stranger,
oTorng English traveller, put IN ms APP
alUu,,,a and begged leave to go along
2g salLL"apsitated about granting his request,
w The idea of having tenderfoOt in
u, was not an attractive one. But at
eamf ,n,.tlIre it was discovered that the
Ilnnl;sbmau had an abundance of fine
LEL57st,ias and tobacco in his hampers.
w case Al. once assumed an altogether
,,snrsnt aspect, and our new acquaint-
uLlLl' ',,,,e received with open arms. You
sn, we had been drinking the vile stuff
~ ~ traders furnished so long that taste
~ realIv GOOD liquor was regarded as
.bino IN be desired above all others. Our
.nba9co both chewing and smoking, was
SIso of very inferior quality. A Whit of
tho kind the Englishman had was
tioosllrp we had not experienced since we
~ home and mother and the Sunday
.obooI Years ago away back in the east.
NJ Tyonder. then, the Englishman was a
welcome guest.
GBnt YOU ask why the fellow wished to
40 With us2 Well, that's the amusing
mart of the matter He wanted to see
rrsttlesnakes and other vermin in album
dance and thought Indian Territory the
lie IN 90 TO find the object of his search.
Ifaarad he would be disappointed, but l
5id not tell him So If had and he had
turned back in consequence the boys
would never have forgiven me. They
wanted that Englishman to stay with
them. at least as long as his whisky and
tobacco lasted
ns to the likelihood of seeing any reptiles
was wholly erroneous. 1t seemed as
though all the rattlesnakes, centipedes,
and tarantulas for hundreds of miles
around had gathered along our way to
give the stranger a reception. 1t became
positively dangerous to go about without
a heavy walking stick as a weapon of de-
tense. had never seen so many snakes
In that country before, although l had
sDent many wears there. Centipedes, too,
were everywhere. 1t seemed impossible
to spend a night without having one
crawl over the blanket. One got into the
coffee pot in some way and was boiled
with the coffee and poured out to Pete
Saunders, the foreman of the party. Pete
was overcome, but had presence of mind
enough to ask for some of the fine brandy,
several copiOus draughts of which seemed
to restore him. .
But no one suffered so much from
these creatures as did the Englishman
himself, the only one of the party who
had any desire to see them. Once he felt
sure one was crawling up his back.
tore the clothes off him. Fortunately the
venomous insect had been walking on the
shirt and had not touched the skin with
its poisonous legs. On another occasion l
was sleeping with him and happened to
wake early in the morning. Looking at
him was Mortified to see three large cen
tipedes in his hair, which he wore rather
long. l seized an end of the blanket and
brushed them away in an instant. The
Englishman fairly trembled when 1 told
him Of it. A careful examination of the
scalp, hawever, failed to reveal any of the
deadly footmarks. His long, hair had
saved him from a frightful death.
Like many other people the English
man DID not learn easily by experience.
IL needed another lesson to teach him to
shun poisonous insects and reptiles. The
lesson came very soon. One of the boys
foolishly directed him to a cave where a
great many snakes were said to be. He
went alone in search of it. He afterward
told me the experience he had there
When he entered the cave there were no
snakes in sight. This led him to wander
a good distance further in. Suddenly. as
If moved by some common impulse, there
was rush of snakes out of the walls of
the cavity on all sides and above. Huge
reptiles fell upon the brim of his hat and
dropped to the floor of the cave. Terror
seized him, He wished to rush for the
opening, but he was afraid lest some of
the long, Shiny things hesaw hanging be-
tween him and the mouth of the cave
should coil around him. He stood as
though rooted to the spot. Fear made
every muscle rigid, and it was well that
1t was so, for the slightest movement
would have caused him to be bitten in a
hundred places. Thus he stood for nearly
half an hour. At the end of that time the
last of the snakes passed out of the cave,
and he was free to go. He went directly
TO camp. He never spoke of snakes again,
BUT seemed wholly occupied with smok-
ing long pipe. He also manifested de-
sire to return to the railroad as soon. as
possible Evidently he had had all the