The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-08
SNAKES PLAYED BALL.
The Reptiles Picked Sides and Con.
Quoted a Lively Game.

Horace McVicker has returned to his
old love says the Chicago Tribune. He
has quit peach farming in Southwest
Missouri, and is now back in the threatri-
cal business. Horace tells his most in
innate friends wild, weird reason for
leaving horticultural pursuits. Here is
what he says:
Southwest Missouri has a most singu-
| lar climate, a most remarkable people,
and produces the strangest phenomena of
any section of the globe l have ever
visited. A month ago, just after the
country had settled itself down to calm
ness succeeding the celebration of free
dom's birthday, a violent snOwstorm
swept over the Ozark mountains one
| night. What! Never heard of a snow
| storm in the middle of July in MisSOuri2
| My boy, remember that remarked some
thing about strange phenomena, and
don't be surprised at anything l may tell
you.
About o'clock in the afternoon of
the day before this storm had set in I
took my gun and wandered off into the
hills in search of any game which might
find. Night came on suddenly, and with
it a storm. | was miles from home and
| soon found | had lost my way After
tramping around for some time and firing
| MY gun repeatedly and eXhausting my
y
ter to find some sheltered place and camp
| for the night. Picking my way through
! the underground, ! soon came to the side
of a hill where a ledge of rock seemed to
jut out and offer some suggestion of smell
ter. Creeping close to the rock, / found
! there was an opening beneath it, and,
crawling inside, found myself in a cave
of comfortable size, where everything
was dry and pleasant. l gathered to-
| gether some brushwood, built a roaring
fire and was soon stretched before il,
sound asleep, and didn't awaken until
dawn. l felt hungry, and, taking my
| gun, crawled out into the open air, to
find the sun shining brightly and the
snow melting rapidly | tramped around
through the slush for nearly an hour, and
finally shot a rabbit. l then started back
to the cave intending to cook it at my
fire.
There was clear place in front of the
opening about fifty yards in extent, and
before stepping into this open / stopped,
guided by the habit which had grown
upon me through long years of frontier
life, parted the limbs of the trees, and
gazed cautiously out. / have had some
| marvellous experiences in my time, but |
| think the sight which greeted me was the
most astounding | have ever witnessed
or ever expect to see. I had actually
made my bed the night before in a cave
which was alive with rattlesnakes. They
! had crawled in for shelter from the
storm and had crept to the back part of
| the hole, so that | had not seen them, and,
as the weather was very cold, they had
| been chilled into a torpor, so that my
| presence had not disturbed them; but the
bright blaze of the fire and accompany
ing warmth had livened the 'varmnts'
up so that they had sought the open air
| again.
Here they found the ground covered
! with snow. 1t was something which l
| suppose ninety nine out of a hundred of the
snakes had never seen before. But a
snake is always equal to emergencies,
and the soft, slushy condition of the snow
| had suggested to the younger snakes a
possibility of engaging in a good, old
| fashioned snOw-balling match. So there
the critters were. They had chosen up
sides just like school boys, and the two
lines were about fifty feet apart, and
| some of the snakes were writing and
| twisting and rolling the snow into neat
| little balls about the size of a world S fair
| glass of beer, while the rest of the snakes
| would stick their tails into the snowballs,
and, standing on their heads, wave back
| ward and forward for a second or two,
and then let Ay. Every time ball would
hit a snake he would have to 90 over
to the other side. The older and more Sc
date snakes and the young lady snakes
sat in a little circle at the mouth of the
| cave and seemed to be enjoying the sport
immensely. When any particularly Wig
Orous play would be made they would
sound their rattles and make noise like
| thrashing machine. The snakes far
| thest up the hill seemed to be getting the
better of the lower line, and finally only
| one young active snake was left. But he
| was daisy. A perfect shower of balls
fell around him. but he lodged every one,
| and, rising on his tail, opened wide his
| mouth and ran his tOnur11a ont Savet.al
inches right at the faces of his opponents.
| And then wild sally of applause broke
| out up the hill.
II had been standing all this time liter
| ally shaking in my boots. To tell the
truth, / did not know just what to do, the
situation was so strange. But | began to
get chilly, and so | moved my feet in order
to warm them little. AS l did so, the
| hammer of my gun caught on the limb of
a tree, and this was just at the moment
| when the solitary snake was having SO
| much fun with the other fellows and
standing on his tail, The noise of applause
drowned the report of my gun, but it did
not prevent the bullet from speeding
straight to the snakes head, and he
dropped like flash. The applause stopped
| suddenly, Then a young snake crawled
cautiously down the hill to investigate.
He rushed back in One-third of the time
he occupied in coming down, and all the
OLler SHAKES CltStu dIOuuu nm do ALC
made an exhaustive report Then all the
snakes came down the hill and gathered
around their fallen comrade Finally six
able-bodied snakes gathered together on
one side, and one by one eye-witnesses
seemed to be telling what they knew about
| the deceased, about the manner in which
he had met his death, just like they would
| in Coroner McBale's court.
FINALLY spry young snake spied a
chunk Of ice about two inches in diane
ter and he brought it before the jury. It's
members wagged their heads a moment
and settled OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES that some
one of the bombarding party had 'trm'
| that chunk of ice, that the ice had hit
! the snake, and that was the cause OF his
demise. There seemed to be no way in
tho minds of the respective snakes to
figure ont who the culprit was. so slowly
and sadly a delegation of them wrapped
their tails around the dead snake, drag
red him up the hill, and disappeared in
the cave
Don't You Know