The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-07-09

| old man MSS quito thunderstruck.
Will now tell II true story about
snakes One day II gentleman living to-
Hay i'll Suffolk saw in his path through
the swamp large ball of snakes about
tic size of cock Of hay. A great many
other snakes We're constantly joining the
Wrlggling mass. He decided to DISCHARGE
his winchester, the magazine of which
was full at the time. into the massive
serpcntine pill and run. He did so. and
on tho following day he returned to tho
spot, where he found / 800 dead snakes
and us many more wounded He measur-
ed some Of them and found one that
measured rs feet, with waist and bust
measuring 81 inches. This convention Of
snakes, 1t seems, had been called together
as an indignation meeting to pass rcso-
lutions against the Kelley cure.
have made some trifling changes in
this story because Thought that it had
been already tempered with, and I did
not care to have it go forth over INV
nanc with any elements OF improtnbil-
itJ about It.
MIR. Arnold, whose book I havc re-
ferred to as unique In many respects,
says that lone very interesting place
near the swamp is n farm which once
belonged to George Washington. It Is at
the extreme south and now owned by
Mis- John Trot1nan. and she has In her
possession the original title deeds of ev-
cry person who has owned the place mt
various times from Washington down TO
the last purchaser, who WIS Burrell
Brothers, Esq. of Gates county, n. &. ="
This reminds one Of the new title used
III Hickory paper rcccntly-viz. "Rev.
Major James ID. Weston" the author
of Marshal Ney's life i'll North Carolina.
find the following two items Of in
tcrcst i'll my horpc paper, published not
long ago:
"a woman moonshiner of Polk coun-
~ was fined 800 and sent 70 j.il for
three months ~
"A hotel sensation ut Winston has
ended In the assignment of kittcllc, pro
prietor of the Phoenix. 1t is charged
that ico from the dead body Of Charles
Johnston was used for tea and water in
the hotel. The guests left. 1t is clninled
for the hotel that rubber sheet was
placed between the ice and the body
The hotel will be put under new man
dBeluenC Dy the assignee.
Hotels cannot be too careful about
such things, for. aside from all idea. Of
sentiment, as u matter of business two
prices for the slme ice is unfair. In
fact, the typical mean man who used 10
be located i'll New England seems 10
have snapped attitudes
am nowadays In the depths of hay
ing. and, though peace and harmony reign
in the south where once the Shrek Of
shot and shrapnel and she'll married the
summer stiffness. now the red nose brier
and the bull thistle and the crab grass
grow where cnce the army mule and
coup etat possessed the land. yet when
L drive my nice. new red mower into the
bosom of IA hornets nest the old war
memories come back TO me, and I re-
member, with u shudder, how nigh
once came To obtaining grounds for o
pension.
also have "a new Ohio hayrake, or
horse hayrake-not Il quadruped, but a
rake, an Illuminate rake to rake hay
with, yet one that Maud Muller might
rake hay with and yet not occasion talk.
1t was made in Ohio, and 1 bought 1t
of Joseph f. Dickerson of Asheville, to
be paid for out Of the hay.
1t is three feet wider than nv farm,
however. and had to get right Of
way over an adjoining farm or have
trouble.
Mine Is Il very slim farm, and the
crops arc similar III some respects We
have new colt on the place, hut he is
not yet accustomed to his new legs. He
can barely stand up when propped
against the lunch counter of which his
mother Is the proprietor
Corn looks pale and Ill even in this
delightful climate, and when put my
crop on the market this fall prices will
be affected only temporarily. l like to
live OH farm and buy corn to suit my
taste instead of trying to subsist on the
kind we raise.
Farming as I do it is the most indie
pendent and the sweetest life one can
live. / buy the best of corn and hay for
my horses, Of which have four only,
as hire my farm work done, and the
carriage horses Of tho loud, coach variety
would step on my whole crop before
dinner time if used them for blowing
corn.
We keep three COWS, but lny our but
ter for two reasons First, these are ko-
dak COWS and are used by the children
as artists models. We get cream and
photographs from them. The second rca-
GgMy
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