The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-03-09
puEA WITH A MoNsrER Boz.
TIE Reckless Assertion OF . Young I'm.
gineer, and Its Accomplishment.

TIE Reckless Assertion of . Young En-
gineer. and Its Accomplishment.
A Newark engineer, who had served
on the engineering corps employed in
the construction of the Nicaragua
canal and was home on short fur
Tough, tells the story of duel with a
boa constructor by a fellow engineer
Life in the canal country is dreary,
and various schemes are resorted to in
order to relieve the monotony. One of
the parties stated one evening that he
could kill boa single-handed. The
rest of the crowd tried to convince him
he was wrong. but he stuck to the as
sertion. Finally handsome bet was
made that he could not kill a boa alone,
If the deadly reptile was in its natural
condition. The young engineer
promptly accepted the terms of the
wager. The next day a gang of natives
were sent into the forest to find boa.
They came upon a well-grown speci-
men, fully fifteen feet long. It had
eaten heartily few days before it was
discovered, and, being torpid, was
captured without difficulty and taken
back to camp. 1t was deposited in a
room, where it was securely bound,
and then left until its sleep should be
over.
The young engineer who was to
meet the monster of the forest in a
duel to the death probably repented OF
his rash bargain many times, but he
never let any one know it and was
'dead game" as the saying goes, from
first until last Boas often remain in
torpor for three weeks, and 1t was
nearly fortnight before the pinioned
snake showed signs of returning activ-
ity The engineers then appointed a
night for the combat, and the young
man who was to face the serpent went
into active training 1t had been stip-
pulated that his only weapon was to
be knife, and the young man relied
on his clear brain, iron nerve and sup
pie wrist to carry him through the en-
counter in safety. When work was
over on the appointed day those who
were in the secret entered the room
and proceeded to cut the ropes with
which the serpent was bound. 1t had
been coiled up and several bands
placed about it. These were all severed
but one, and the snakes opponent
entered while his companions beat a
hasty retreat to coignes of vantage
from which to watch the strange bat
tie and to give succor in last extrem-
ity.
The young engineer was lightly clad
and carried in his right hand long
knife, highly ground and sharpened.
The monster, half-famished as it was,
was in a most angry humor, and its hor-
rid head, oscillating to and fro, and, with
distended jaws and viciously shining,
beady eyes, must have made the young
mans flesh creep. lie strobe straight
up to the boa, and, with lightning
stroke of his knife, cut the remaining
band that bound it. He jumped back
the instant the stroke had fallen with
the celebrity of tiger cat, but his
swiftness was snail-lilse compared with
that of the serpent Quicker than
thought the boa descended upon his
enemy. Before the man could scarcely
move the snake had fallen upon his
arm, had wound its way up its entire
length, and was biting at his shoulder.
The arm around which the snake had
wound itself was the young fellows
knife arm Luckily the hand and wrist
were free. He did not wait to transfer
the knife to his free hand, but sum-
moned all his power and cut at the coil
of the serpent nearest his pinioned
hand. 1t was splendid stroke-a
backward cut-and it was clear through
the body. The upper portion of the
Shiny coil dropped to the floor, and the
intrepid engineer had won his bet. The
entire contest lasted but a few seconds,
and so quickly did it pass that the
breathless onlookers scarcely realized
what had happened. The young man
was pretty thoroughly exhausted. His
shoulder was quite badly lacerated by
the teeth of the snake. The strangest
part of the episide was that the young
mans arm was lame for weeks, aad all
up its length was a spiral black and
blue mark where the snake had encir-
cled it.-St. Louis Globe-Democrat