Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1895-12-19

tarantulas, poison
Gus scorpions, and
the most deadly insects from the burn
ing chimes of the south are to be found.
For twenty years. the gray-haired
enthusiast tells his visitors, Il have
been travelling up and down the coun-
try, across the desert and in the noun
tains, getting these strangest specimens
of animal life. Now to this day many
people think there is no such thing as
ella monster. And yet throughout the
Colorado desert, especially along the
CHA River, you may encounter thou
sands. On the other hand, too, you may
scarcely see one. The ella monster
He1oderma 'horridum) is almost as
thick as your upper arm and about
eighteen or twenty inches long. It has
ahead which is pretty near all mouth
and opens clear back to its ears. The
head is about as big as a common tea
cup, set with little vicious eyes, and the
mouth is powerfully muscled and set
with four sharp fangs and lot OF
grinders. The color OF the monster is
reddish, with brown spots. 1t has
blunt tail, as nearly all poisonous liz
ards have. I found these monsters l1v-
ing in the hot sand. They are not good
to fool with, and a man who is in the
ella monster business must know what
he is about. One day last June I pulled
up from the hot desert to little ranch
on the Colorado River. The man who
owned the place had a pet ella monster
which he kept in barrel. He stopped
down to get him out to show him to me
~, fri dc Of - c xxyt,a
and the monster shut down on his
thumb. The monster gripped the
thumb so tight in his awful mouth,
which was like a wise, that his jaws had
to be pried open with an iron bar. The
man lived only few hours, and died in
terrible spasms. Another man bitten
while I was down there has ever since
been paralyzed in the side. Hardly
anybody ever gets over bite from this
terrible animal.
What physical effects come to man
who has escaped death from poison by
ella monster? Why, have seen sew
erai different results. For instance,
there was the case of a barkeeper in
Benson some years ago. He had pet
Eila monster that he kept in box on
the bar, and sometimes he would let it
out and play with it. He ridiculed the
stories the cow punchers told him about
the poison of ella monsters. He would
put one finger in its mouth and drag it
up and down the bar, and the thing
seemed to enter into the fun, and would
hold back and wiggle its tail and appear
as pleased as dog. I told him once
that he was taking terrible chances, and
be- Ioxy %10 n 70
him, sure as fate But he laughed at the
idea OF its biting him, it knew him SO
well; and even if it should bite, he
didn't believe it would be poisonous.
well. one day he put his finger in it's
mouth when Mr.. ella monster didn't
happen to be good natured, and it sent
its teeth to the bone. Its jaws closed
down like wise, and the men in the sa-
loon couldn't pry them. open. 1t just sat
there and blinked it's wicked little eyes
at them and held on, and they had to
cut it's head of before they could make
1t let go. That poor fellows arm soon
began to swell, and he suffered intense
pain in his arm and hand and in his
back. And after a while the flesh began
to shrivel and the muscles to become
weak, and inside Of three months the
whole arm, from the shoulder down,
was as shrivelled and helpless as para
iytic's. That was some four or five years
ago, but his arm remains in that con-
dition to this day, and there is no pros
pect that he'll ever have the use of it.
There was no permanent ill effect, moth
ing but the temporary pain, in any other
&aft of his body.
"
sl'he Postmaster down at Yuma told
me OF d little Yuma Indian girl who
stepped on a ella monster one night in
the dark along the muddy banks of the
Colorado River several miles below
Yuma. She was bitten in the ankle.
Two army physicians were called at
once, and by the use of powerful drugs
they managed to save the girls life,
but she was crazy with pain for two
weeks. Her leg and foot from the knee
down have been so tender that now,
some seven years after the bite, she
cannot bear the least pressure or weight
without excruciating pain. She always
sleeps on her stomach with the injured
scot in the air. and has not walked for
ue7eral years. Externally the leg and
4oot look as well as ever. Doctors don't
know what the poison did to affect the
Indian girl 50. and they have tried hard
- ind out. It's a queer case