The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1893-02-03
RIsEPmANT SNAKES
One 81 EIneIe 1ixess iEsrue Stories
OF a RsiE Reptile on NRya
gone Days,

! -A{1s hnleAA
Whats wrong now, uncIe ?"
/ The old man laid down his paper ant
looked at me.
Did yon ever see rattlesnake thai
would jump tHiest its len til ?"
why, no, admitted.
Ever seen one I would jump mp an
bite man on hoss p
s'No."
Ever seen one that'd chase a fellei
fer a mile ~
"Certainly not.
Arattlesnake oain't jump MY when its
kyled mp, AM then ib CANT reach MORN
q foot"
FWho has been slandering the
snakes r. ] inquired.
why, this here newspaper. / don't
mind hearin' extra extravygant yarn
ef it's tole fer yarn, but teller ort,n,t
to tell Ell lie an swear it's the truth
. You ought to know something about
snakes, uncle %
Well, yes; ] know sump'n bout lem,
but they have no SIGH snakes here as
they uset to be,
What kind we're they and what be-
came Of them ~
They was elephant snakes. ] reckin
men Tom King killed the last one in
this part Of Arkansaw more'n forty year
ago. Say, them 'nz big snakes. -
How big were they, uncle o.
Nov. looky herel Tom Kings dead
anil han't got nary single witness to
that elephant snake.
You don't need any, uncle. I'm
willing to take yonr word as gospel
truth .
We'll, hits the gospel truth, though
my own wife didn't believe It when I
told her, an I han't told nobody since
though I don't mind telIin' YOU. nj.
an' Tom was hnntin' board timber on
the Sugar Loaf mountain one day an
we come to path that was worn down
deep am slick in the mountain side"
Says Tom, What on earth made
this traiiP
Says /, BLESSED if ] know but here's
some spankin' good board timber
The tree was about thirty foot from
the path, an was apurty a piece o. tim.
Der as ! ever laid eyes on. We com
menced cutting il TO fail aerost the
path, an iist as rs givin' the last ticks
on my side ] heerd TOMS teeth chat
TERM together
Great Scottr he SAID, lookin' MP the
bill,
4 looked an seen q elephant snake
comm down the path, with his head
about SIX feet above the groun' slidin
along as If he didn't see us.
: Les fall the tree on him, seq I in a
whisper.
Albright, SEE he.
When the snake got fernist us I gin
two or three hicks with the ak and the
tree commenced craekin'. The snake
stopped when he heerd the noise ard
looked torze us. He bowed his neck
aud commenced hissin' an blowini 4
swan, the nose sounded like q hnrri.
cane into the tees, au' tho snakes
breath blowed our hats of IAN, come ~
nighas peRse q BLOWN the tree right
back onto u.s. ltswung uncertain fer a
mint an then iell smack acrost the
snakes back. He commenced thrasbip'
round in the tree top an the bresh
fairly flew, Thought once he was goip'
to get loose, but soon seed that \ bip
limb had broke off am stuck Figbf
through his body, pinin him tight an
fast to the ground.
Well. sir, shores you born, that snake
heayed an set an squirmed tel he drug
the whole treo twenty foot from whar II
fell, with them broke linibsa plowip' M
the gronnd foot deep. Finally he not
lodged agin another tree am laid aniet
tel we chopped his head off with our
axes"
How big was he, uncle, = Z endured
with as much ealmness as could as.
sumo.
Well, he want so very bignot SO
otfel big fer elephant snake. They
uset to be q heap bigger ones that the
ole settlers tole about when I was a
boy. I've NO doubt some On en- was
twicet 90 big as this nm, but / hant'
goln' 10 tell no lie iist TO have d extry
big yarn. The one We killed was abolt
, foot an q half through, AM list d
lew inches short o. sixty-one foot