St. Paul daily globe., 1893-05-22
AN ELECTRICAL SNAKE.
A Fiery Monster Which Leaves a
Trace of Icy Slime as 1t
Drags Its Length.
The Thing Was Loose-It Petrified
Two of the Horses, and Was
Fire-Proof.

Mark Weston, farmer living neal
the small town of Alexander, southeast
of Delphi, Ind, relates most wonder
| full phenomenon which occurred at his
! place, which is today being visited by
hundreds of people anxious to see for
themselves the evidences of what Mr..
Weston beheld, says the New York
World.
He says: ''Just after dark night be-
fore last had occasion to go out to the
barn to look after the horses. A public
highway passes within 200 yards of my
house, and the barn is built about
twenty rods from the house due south
and somewhat nearer the road. Istarted
from the house in the direction of the
barn, and had gone perhaps half way
when noticed something playing along
the ground that looked like tremend-
Gus fiery snake.
1.-The object crossed my path, and as
1t did so | felt the air grow much colder,
and q peculiar moaning sound arose,
like the signing of the wind through the
trees, only it was loud enough to drown
mans voice when he would shout.
Then felt something come over me
like electricity, and L became motion
less, as though had grown fast to the
ground.
II was terribly scared, but | never lost
the use of my hands or legs through
fear, though there was something pecu-
liar in the air that simply paralyZed me.
When the thing had got perhaps fifty
feet from me. going west. it turned and
came back, and as it did so the moaning
sound changed to a shrill whistle, some
thing like a locomotive would make,
and when it got Just in front of me it
took a course directly away from me
and toward the barn.
ut travelled very rapidly and looked
like a large, ragged streak of fire, per-
haps thirty feet long and eighteen
inches in diameter. The thing reached
the barn, and in almost an instant it ran
directly up the front of the building
and onto the roof. | expected every
moment to see the barn burst into
flames, but it did not. The great, fiery
snake ran with great rapidity all over
the building, in almost every direction,
up and down, cr0SSWiSe and every way,
| suppose, thousand times. 1t then
came to the front Of the building and
elevated itself until it stood straight on
its tail, fully thirty feet in the air.
II was perfectly conscious all the
time, but, try as | would, l could not
move from the spot. After the thing
had remained in an upright position for,
| presume, three or four minutes, there
was a sudden explosion like the dis
charge of cannon. and the thing dis
appeared entirely With the disappear
ance OF the strange phenomenon | felt
shock like the first one l had felt. and
at the same time | gained control of my
limbs. | hastened to the house. told my
wife what | had seen, and she thought
was crazy, but upon my insisting she
consented to accompany me to lnVeStl-
gate the matter.
"YOu can imagine our surprise upon
reaching the barn to find it covered
with a remarkable network resembling
large ropes of ice. They appeared to
pass around the building IN exactly the
same way the fiery monster had passed.
1t was not ice, however. but seemed to
be more of a crystal, for it would not
melt, even when we held flame to it,
and when struck with hatchet it sim
ply gave a dull-like sound and did not
break.
Upon entering the barn we were
amazed, as two good horses stood in
their stalls immovable. They were
alive, but neither could move muscle.
They seemed to be paralyZed and stood
there more like statues than anything
else. They were warm and breathed
all right, but aside from this you could
not tell they were alive. 1 applied the
whip and they never flinched. A dog
that sleeps i'll the barn was dead and
apparently completely petrifed. He
was lying on the ground, with his head
ON his paws, just like he was sleeping.
When left home this afternoon every
thing was just as L have described it to
you"