Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1894-01-06
Biii Woodrum ON Truth.

" OOuTuin Icld'cu INV
warn about snakes to offset the one
told by the Galena Times man, ana
then declared that as it was New
Years Day he proposed to swear
off and would resign as president OF
the club in favor of John Hartley:
"If there was one thing that my
mother was perticklar l shouldn't
rit in the habit o doin', that air
thing was lynn. Them teachin's o
my mothers o course KEEP me from
fallin' into the unfort'nit habit, but
I'm come to the conclusion that a
good many fellers know didn't
have no such teachin' as l did when
they was to hum"
Two or three of the club had been
entertaining Mr.. Woodrum with
few warns about snakes. His opin-
ion as to their veracity was deliv-
cred i'm the above delicate manner.
The most o these yer snake sto-
ries what YOU hear is lies, an the
DAVIS roIlin' round when it'll go
durn hard with them ez gifts 'eIn up,
b'uosh. unless there's Il good deal o
virtue i'm some q the camp meetin's
that's gointcr be held bout these
parts next summer. an we GIT
regular old-fashioned distracted
mectin' thatll gether in the sinners
like scoop net gobbles suckers.
Thev's enough in the true nat'ral
hist'ry o snakes to git yarns non.
an warns cz could raise the hair on
a bed O. mortar. too. without yer
havin' to bust up nary command
ment. nuther. a tellin' on 'en.
Snakes knows a big sight more'n
YOU felIers gives EN- credit fur.
Nebbe you don't believe that snakes
has their mass meetins, an their
little discussions, an their quarrels
an that they kin talk to one another
and do lots q things that nobody
would 'spect 'em of. | tended
little confab q sIaieS winSt. i'll
Devils Holler that was better'n any
Populist convention | ever see.
They was all kinds o sarpints. from
the little garter snake that didn't
have much 70 say. to the big blue
racer that wanted to run the hull
durn business. They was Il big
sprinklin o rattlers, few milk
snakes, an one durn piZen hoop
snake that didn't say nothin' but
wunst in while. but when he did
Git up to make a pint want you to
understand that he made it and no
mistake. fur Il hoop snake allus
means business, and don't allow no
foolin' with the interests o his con-
stituents from any other sarpint
that wiggleS b'gosh. They was two
or three BLOWN ladders in the geth-
erin, but they seemed to be dele
gates that want o much account,
though they KEEP IA putin theirselfs
up and lettin' off il good deal O
steam every little while. The pilots
was represented by half Il dozen
copperheadS cZ knowed what their
rights was an was present to see
that they weren't tempered with.
Altogether they must been hun
dred snakes. They was collected in
flat place in the holler about forty
foot squar. II was just eZ warm
weather begun. an the 'casion o the
convention, | take it. was to settle
the deestrictS the 'diifernt kind o
snake tribes was to skirmish in for
the season. They do that, YOU know.
every year, SO they won't he no
overstockin' q decstricts with sar-
penis that might be uncongenial TO
the regular snakes hangin' out thar.
| must Il come along just as the
convention opened. l heerd the
consarndest rattlin' just ahead o
me an / stopped. | was UP the
ridge bout twenty-five foot, an
! looked down and see the snakes all
collected round in a circle. In the
center was "a big fiat rock an on that
was six big rattlesnakes. They was
| iiist peelin theirselfs, an maxim