The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1896-12-26
THE CHA MONSTER.
4 STOckMAN TELLS THE STORY OF
WALTER WALLS EXPERIENCE.

The Rsce For Life Of a Bitten Man on
Bitten Pony--No Recollection Of Twen-
ty-fve Mile Ride-The Only Man Who
Ever Survived Monsters Bite.
"Of all the crawling or creeping things
Of the great alkali deserts" said an old
time stookman at the Midland, "nothing,
not even the dreaded rattlor, Is so greatly
feared by plainsmen as the ella monster.
The bite Of this reptile is considered so
deadly that men on the plains into whose
veins Its venom has been injected have
been known to blow out their brains to
avoid tho agony of the inevitable death,
attended with excruciating torture, which
they knew must ensue.
II know only one man." continued the
stockman, "who suffered the agony of
body and mind consequent upon the bite
of ella and lived to tell the story Of his
experience.
Gas some of you gentlemen are aware, I
am Yale man. When came west and
invested my capital in stock, as you will
probably remember, was about rs callow
tenderfoot as was ever spilled by bron-
cho. think, however, am now about as
good Judge of a steer as most of my
neighbors. Six years ago, when. Walter
Vail came out from New York city and
told me that he intended to buy CATTLE
saw no reason why he should not succeed
in the light of my own experience, and 80
encouraged him to go in and win. He
was then an aggravated case Of dude, but
If there Is now man on the range who is
q better or harder rider, more expert with
the rope, or a better all round cowman in
the southwest than Walter Vail, want to
see the color of his eyes.
Zone day, several years ago, Walter was
out on his range, looking over the grass.
He had been In the saddle several hours
and was about 25 miles equidistant from
Pautano station on the Southern Pacific
and his home ranch when he saw, sluggish
ly creeping through a clump of cactus,
ella monster. The reptile was q fine speci-
men of its kind and Walter remembering
promise he had made to send one Of the
creatures to q friend in New York deter
mined to kill this one and ship him east
in alcohol. Now, ella will simulate
death like spider when attacked, and as
Walter struck this one several times with
his quirt, it closed its eyes, rolled over on
its back and lay with its legs sprawling
inortly at right angles to its body--a dead
alligator in miniature. Walter picked the
thing up, tied one of its hind legs to q
leathern string behind his saddle, sprang
upon his pony and started for home.
40 all appearances the monster was as
dead as a picked herring The pony had
not gone go steps, however, when he snort
ed loudly, gave furious plunge and
bucked like mad. Walter, startled grasped
the horn of his saddle with his left hand,
involuntarily throwing his right hand be-
hind him, bracing against the skirt of the
saddle. AS he did so, the ella monster,
which had been no more dead than the
pony was, caught Walters wrist with .
snap and fastened its jaws upon it.
II don't believe Drawer man than Wal
ter Vail ever ado the western range, and
he has told me that us he felt the vicelke
snap of the monsters jaws upon his wrist
he shrieked aloud in abiect terror. In Il
second, however, as if the venom which
had been injected into his system had
crazed him. he was consumed with pas
sionate anger, and tearing bis hand FREQ
from tho monsters mo- tn, he threw HIM
self from tho back Of the plunging pouy,and
still holding to the bride rein drew his re-
volver from his hip pacl:-t and as the pony
continued 10 plunge and rear put u bullet
through the elias head With his knife
lie then cut the thing FREQ from his saddle
skirt and Us it fell to tho ground full
sense of tho horror Of the situation came
upon him.
"Ihen, Walter tCh me. an agoniGinc
pain shot through him, wrenrhins at his
heart ls il some hand wage STRIVING to tea
it from his breast. His brain seemed on
fire, and ths hot, poisoned blood rushed il.
surgss upon his heart, burning its way
through tho aching lungs, only to retG"a
like molten lava thrsugh his already sSo.
len arteries Still lie retained Conscious
hess, and, in q measure, reason.
He was fully 20 miles from human
habitation. Above him an unclouded SIX
reached down on every side IT, a blistor2G
desert, glurng white with nlkali. Tho air,
still and hot, was throbbing in mirage
upon tic horizon. Not II sound hrvin thu
stiffness Of that arid desert spot aud Wal
ter says he mover before and Nus mover
since realized the full horror Of solltut!e.
He considered himself "a morally injured
man. In half an hour, at best. he Thought
ho would be deed But lie determined t.
make u ride for his life
Throwing himself upon lis pony, he
headed for Pautano Urd driving his spurs
/ into tho poor hcast's sides went racing for
| the station. He remembers very little Of
what occurred after his start, hut when no
| dashed up TO the door IF the station he was
| delirious. His arm was enormously ewol-
| len and dsCol0rcd ard it needed only a
, glanca to tell the agent that some venom