Milford chronicle., 1893-08-04
1--we CARPET Rags.
A Mothers Suspense as She Saw Her Child
Playing with a Copperhead.

/ A Mothers Suspense as She Saw Her Chile
Playing with Copperhead.
For some reason it has always been tn,
general belief among the people who live
/ in the mountains in York, Lancaster and
other counties where copperhead snakes
abound that this venOmous snake win moi
bite children, and there are numerous won.
derful stories told, especially in the Wish
mountains, about the copperhead's leniehcy
toward children. Outside of the noun.
taineers these stories have never received
credence, but a well known family living
on the York county side Of the Susque-
hanna are ready to accept them hereafter.
The family consists of Jacob Loan, his wife,
and two children, the youngest a little girl
years old. CopNrheads are always un-
comfortably plentiful in that locality, but
this season they have been more numerous
than usual The haying and harvest hands
killed from three to ten a day during q
week on the Loan farm.
One day last week the little 3-year-old
was playing in the front yard, and her
mother noticed her sitting in the grass
near the front gate Every now and then
she would be heard laughing gleefully,
and Mrs. Loan finally walked out to see
what was amusing the child so much.
When the little girl saw her mother com
ing, she called out to her:
Come, mamma, and see the live carpet
ragsr'
At the same time she held up to her
mother snake, which she grasped in the
middle of the body, and which twisted and
squirmed in the air. Mrs. Loan saw at
once that it was copperhead. Although
she was almost swooning with terror, the
child's mother acted with rare presence oil
mind. It occurred to her that if she show.
ed her alarm by crying out to the child the
latter would undoubtedly become fright
ened, and che change that would naturally
follow in her handling or sudden dropping
of the snake might anger the copperhead
and cause it to bite. With a great effort,
Mrs. Loan said quietly and coaxingly;
Fetch it to mamma, dear. Don't hurtit - |
but there's two Of 'em, mamma, " re. /
piled the little girl 'Pll fetch EN- both %
She reached down and picked up another
copperhead that lay in the grass and which
Mrs. Loan had not seen and came toddline
along the path toward her mother with /
them. She retained her calmness, and
when the child was within a couple Of yards |
of her spoke to her and said:
PUT them on the ground, darling, and |
let mamma see them walk
4AAa sctiAAHu 70 llAgflaG AAlU EAllts anu bNG
placed the copperheads in the path Thet
two snakes caught sight of Mrs. Loan, and
instantly their manner changed. The cop
per spot on the top of their heads began to
deepen in color, as it does when this snake
is enraged, and they both made toward the
child's mother, showing great rage The
little girl clapped her hands and started to
catch the snakes again. Her mother rushed
out of the path and around the snakes, and
the child up in her arms flew to
the house and into it, closed the door be-
hind her and fell to the floor in dead
faint. The other child, a boy s years old,
was in another room making a kite He
heard the noise of his mothers fall and
his little sister crying and ran into the
room. His father was at work near the
house, and the boy quickly summoned him.
1t was some time before the farmer sue
ceeded in restoring his wife to conscious
ness and learned the cause Of her swooning
Farmer Loan went into the yard, and
the copperheads were still there ayr2, still IN !
belligerent mood. They were soon killed. |
So great was the shock to MI. Loan that
she is still confined to her be and the lit
tie girl mourned for her deatlly playthingsl
for two or three days.-CoryN York Sun