The Van Buren press., 1894-08-25
iE EARNED HIS MONEY.
nat uxd to nriIi fhrec Pinte OF "ni'"'
~. nd XII 1s6 Ra,fis<:;a'@ss to Do II

fi.if,e, said Charles Campoch, -,
ras;,or of tliis city. .but l had TO KIN
pns hundred and swenty-six rat.ie-
snakes TO do it. wou1dts do the Jo'
over aoain for less than one huh@sea
dollars per snake. l was In haru ia .u.s
on the coast and happened TO oril. nv
the fine gold district of the san ooaquin'
Wi,sfs : company was working the
White (,Usfik nine. At the time
dronped in on ,em thsf found that they
had to bring back into the sei'iee again
a shaft that had been abandoned ssV-
cral years before. The smart was
eighty feet deep, and there was tu,'-
sai 1T the bottom Of the same leng.h,
Through long disuse the shaft hao
become ehoked with debris at the
mouth of the tunnel, and it had f9 oe
cleaned ont before the shaft could oe
used again.
The very day got there the COM
pany had sent two workmen down the
shaft to dig out the debris, but they
had hardly landed at the bottom before
they signalled frantically to be hauled
nm. When the bucket got to the top
tbs two men were covering in the
bottom of the bucket pale as ghosts,
and so nearly scared to death that they
had to be helped out. 1t was some
time before they were able to give any
explanation.
aRattlesnakes was what allied them.
The shaft. they said, was full of rattle
snakes. living about everywhere, big
and ugly. They were so thick, tney
declared, that the noise of their rattles
in the depth of the shaft. when the
men disturbed the colony. almost made
them deaf. The men had not dared
step from the tub, but had signaliea
hastily to be raised to the surface.
"a lantern lowered to the bottom OF
| the shaft showed that the men knew
| what they were talking about. The
depths were literally alive With big
rattlers. and they writhed and tumbied
about, furious at the intrusion OF the
light among them. Some of the savage
| old chaps struck their fangs against
| the glass of the lanterii, 50 that we
| could hear the sound of the cOh'aef
where we stood gazing down on the
cheerful sight from the mouth of the
| shaft. and the noise of the fierce chorus
of rattles was like the rasping of field
full of Kansas locusts. The sight and
sound made me homesick. | haven't
seen or heard anything like that fol
years-not since | left my native place
in the Big Coon country, Tennessee.
THAT rattlesuake music at the bot
tom of the mine shaft way out on the
Pacific coast made me homesick. | be
gan to pine for the Big Coon country
but hadn't cent. If | hadn't beer
so homesiek | don't believe I'd have
Jumped at the offer the superintendent
of the mine made after he found there
was no other way to get those rattler'
out of that shaft.
".I'll give one hundred dollars il
gold, he said, to any one who viii
clean out them snakes.'
| / stepped to the front.
"sMake it hundred in gold and ;
quart of whisky and I'll go you" sai'
l.
''He added the whisky and we closet
the deal right there. 1 borrowed
pair of buckskin leggings and a pal
of buckskin gloves. Arming niysel
with long club and the bottle o
whisky, and taking lantern, jumped
into the tub and they lowered me t.
the bottom of the shaft / hadn't in
tended to be hoisted until l ha,
bagged all the rattlers in sight. Bu
after threshing away for twenty min
utes at the snakes as they hurriet
away to hiding places or showed fight
ank killing all that could get my clu'
in on the. poisonous odor that exude
from these deadly reptiles when the.
are angered, WAS too much for NE
Even Pacific coast whisky couldn'
counteract it, and felt myself grow
ing dizzy and faint.
II had thrown into the tub the ra,
tiers had killed, and was getting int
it myself to signal for hoist before
succumbed to the noxious rattlesnak
air l was breathing, when, in Mich
in one side of the shaft, even with m
shoulder, not a foot and a half ava
from my throat, | caught sight of
big rattler coilcd and ready to strike
Mechanically threw my head an
shoulders back, just as the snak
launched his big, arrow-like head a
my throat. That movement of min
saved me. The rattler's aim fell shor'
His fangs were buried in the collar c
my coat, an inch from my jugular.
instantly clutched the reptile with on
hand around it's neck, and with tn
other, as | tumbled unconscious int
the tub, pulled the rope.
'"I did not know when reached tn
top, but the superintendent told m
when | came 10 that when the me
who were at the windlass saw me i
the tub and what l was bringing IL
with me, they dropped the crank an
ran. But for the fortunate presenc
Of a stalwart Mexican, a giant mine
named Valarez, who caught the Gran
as it came around and held it. | woul
have gone plunging back to the bo
tom of the shaft, and my fate woul
not have been pleasant.
"And | can't say that | blame tn
men much who were manning tha
windlass. Lying in the bottom of tn
tub, apparently dead, was still clutcl
ing the big rattler by the throat, HI
fangs almost in mine, and lying abou
me were twenty-seven enormous an
hideous-looking rattlers, victims of m
club. Seems to me I'd have droppe
something myself and ran if had see
such a sight as tina: coming up out {
the dark depths of a mine shaft.
81 revived in few minutes, and wa
soon feeling in shape to go down an
finish my contract. don't know ho'
could have done it, but in the twent